Empirical study of QS-9000 using principal components analysis and robust regression

In 1994, the automotive industry took the lead in the development of industry-specific standards to introduce QS-9000 (Chrysler, Ford, and General Motors 1998). the study presented in this article addresses the impact of organizational variables on both operational and business performance measurement of automotive suppliers completing QS-9000. A study completed by Curkovic, Vikery, and Droge (1999) focused on different aspects of business performance an competitive dimensions of quality as compared to this discussion. Because there is little empirical research regarding QS-9000 (Johnson 2001), the literature review included quality management systems, ISO 9000 studies, and organizational variables that impact quality initiatives, and served as a basis for the development of a mail questionnaire. A database with more than 6200 U.S.-based QS-9000 registered locations was used to randomly select 1000 individual location to receive the mail questionnaire. This study was completed during the summer of 2000 with 153 respondents. final results suggest that companies are focusing on a few organizational variables from a high-level perspective to predict operational and business performance. Management supports the QS-9000 change effort by empowering employees through the use of team-based problem-solving methodologies

The Promise of Abortion Pills: Evidence on the Safety and Effectiveness of Self-Managed Medication Abortion and Opportunities to Expand Access

Since the Dobbs v. Jackson Whole Women’s Health Organization ruling, medication abortion pills have received an enormous amount of attention. The two medication abortion pill regimens, mifepristone used with misoprostol, or misoprostol used by itself, have been the subject of extensive public health research. Less discussed in the legal scholarship are the differences between the two regimens and their uses for self-managed medication abortion. In the United States, when people refer to medication abortion pills, they are often referencing mifepristone used with misoprostol. But in other parts of the world, when people refer to medication abortion pills, they often mean misoprostol alone. Public health researchers have examined the safety, effectiveness, and acceptability of self-managed abortion using both medication abortion regimens. This Article draws on this evidence base and provides opportunities for expanding access to medication abortion pills. This is especially important now that some states have legal climates similar to countries where abortion has long been restricted and researchers anticipate that people will increasingly seek access to medication abortion pills and turn to self-managed medication abortion

Drivers of patient satisfaction in medical clinics

Prior research was extended to model patient perceptions of behavioral dimensions of service quality and its impact on patient satisfaction in a rural health care organization. SEM was applied for three years of data and each individual year. Results suggest improved patient satisfaction and statistically significant differences existed between years.https://digitalcommons.mtu.edu/techtalks/1054/thumbnail.jp

SEM of service quality to predict overall patient satisfaction in medical clinics: a case study

This study analyzed patient satisfaction surveys to determine which process attributes affect overall patient satisfaction. The authors conclude that the strongest impact is the care provider\u27s interaction with the patient. Healthcare providers/practitioners value business analytics as a means to focus and redirect their continuous improvement efforts and to encourage appropriate provider behavior. The data for this research were gathered from patient satisfaction surveys from 18 diverse medical clinics in a rural, Midwestern U.S. healthcare system. Overall patient satisfaction was measured by four separate variables. Quality service was measured by five dimensions and related constructs. All were measured through the use of a five-point Likert-scaled survey. Confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling were applied to identify the factors that impact overall patient satisfaction at the clinics. This research, and the surveys from which the data were derived, focus on process dimensions of service quality, rather than the technical aspects of the healthcare delivery system

Life-cycle energy and GHG emissions of forest biomass harvest and transport for biofuel production in Michigan

High dependence on imported oil has increased U.S. strategic vulnerability and prompted more research in the area of renewable energy production. Ethanol production from renewable woody biomass, which could be a substitute for gasoline, has seen increased interest. This study analysed energy use and greenhouse gas emission impacts on the forest biomass supply chain activities within the State of Michigan. A life-cycle assessment of harvesting and transportation stages was completed utilizing peer-reviewed literature. Results for forest-delivered ethanol were compared with those for petroleum gasoline using data specific to the U.S. The analysis from a woody biomass feedstock supply perspective uncovered that ethanol production is more environmentally friendly (about 62% less greenhouse gas emissions) compared with petroleum based fossil fuel production. Sensitivity analysis was conducted with key inputs associated with harvesting and transportation operations. The results showed that research focused on improving biomass recovery efficiency and truck fuel economy further reduced GHG emissions and energy consumption

Using GES DISC Data to Study Kilauea Volcano of 2018

Kilauea volcano in Hawaii which erupted in early May 2018 injected massive amount of SO2 and ash into the atmosphere. The lava flow during the eruption destroyed many home and neighborhoods. The SO2 plume during the eruption of Kilauea volcano is analyzed from May to August 2018 using multiple satellite products such as Level 2 TROPspheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI) and Level 3 Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) from the NASA Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center (GES DISC). GES DISC hosts multi-disciplinary Earth science data sets that can be used to analyze natural disasters, such as the Kilauea volcano. Additionally, GES DISC's Giovanni tool can be used to visualize these data. We acquired OMI through the subsetting function, which is processed by the GES DISC in-house developed backend software Level3/4 Regrider and Subsetter (L34RS) and TROPOMI using OPeNDAP.Data from the OMI OMSO2e product showed elevated levels of SO2 amounts during the eruption between May to August 2018. Similarly, ground-based stations at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park recorded higher SO2 concentrations during the same time period. This study uses wind direction from Modern-Era Retrospective analysis for Research and Applications, version 2 (MERRA-2) to analyze the transport and dispersion of SO2 plume and map lava flows from the volcano using thermal images from Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS). Furthermore, satellite observations combined with socioeconomic and public health data are used to analyze its impact in public health

Effects of Opportunistic Shooting on Trap Visitation by Wild Pigs

Wild pigs (Sus scrofa) are a non-native, invasive species that cause in excess of $1.5 billion of damage annually in the United States. Although lethal removal by trapping is oftentimes the most cost- and time-effective means for managing local wild pig populations, many landowners and natural resource professionals implement additional non-trapping techniques such as opportunistic daytime shooting, night shooting, hunting with dogs, and shooting over bait to further enhance removal rates. However, these non-trapping techniques may significantly alter the behavior of wild pigs and subsequently reduce trapping success. Our objective was to provide a preliminary assessment of the effects non-trapping techniques on wild pig visitation to traps. During the summer of 2012, we monitored trap visitation of wild pig sounders and boars using game cameras at 26 corral traps on 6 study sites in Alabama. We implemented combinations of non-trapping removal techniques (recreational stalk hunting, night shooting, and shooting of pigs at traps) coupled with increase vehicular (ATV and truck) traffic along property trails (hereafter collectively termed disturbance) for 3-5 days on 3 study sites while continually monitoring sounder and boar visitation to traps on all 6 study sites. On each site, we prebaited traps for ≥2 weeks to condition approximately 3-4 sounders to visit traps and used game cameras to determine sounder composition. Once sounders became conditioned to visiting traps daily, we recorded the total number of days traps were visited, number of visits per 24-hour period, and the duration (min) of all visits during a one-week period prior to the implementation of disturbance. Repeated trap visits were segregated by ≥ 1 hour absence of pigs between image recordings and visit duration began when the first pig of a sounder was recorded on camera until after the last pig of the sounder left the trap. After one week of monitoring visitation metrics, we applied disturbance to one of each pair of sites. We classified non-trapping removal techniques as either direct or indirect disturbance. Indirect disturbance was a combination of non-trapping removal techniques that were not knowingly applied directly to wild pigs, such as stalk hunting and the periodic discharge of firearms and cracker shells in the immediate vicinity of traps and increased vehicular traffic. Direct disturbances were applied directly to specific wild pigs, mainly the shooting of non-trapped pigs while they are at a trap which is somewhat of a common practice among novice pig control operators. To simulate this direct disturbance, we set several traps to capture a portion of pigs from a sounder. Once captured, we then released the pigs while discharging several rounds as the pigs exited the trap. After disturbance was implemented, we continued monitoring trap visitation metrics on both sites within each pair of study sites. We used a Before-AfterControl-Impact (BACI) design to test for interaction effects among the visitation metrics between treatment and control sites before and after disturbance implementation. We monitored trap visitation of 16 sounders and 8 boars and 10 sounders and 8 boars on treatment and control sites, respectively. Overall, we applied 39 hours of indirect disturbance and 3 hours of direct disturbance (via use of dogs) including the discharge of 112 cracker shells and 63 high-powered rifle rounds on treatment (disturbance) sites. Additionally, we simulated the shooting of pigs while at traps (direct disturbance) on an additional 6 sounders. Total number of days (P=0.349) and total number of visits (P=0.130) 1-week before and after disturbance on treatment and control sites were similar; however, total visit duration differed before and after disturbance on treatment and control sites (P=0.038), demonstrating a change in pig behavior in response to disturbance. Although we did not detect treatment effects for total days visited and total number of visits, we speculate this may be due to our relatively small sample sizes coupled with inherent variability in pig response. Moreover, we only applied disturbance for a relatively short period of time (3-5 days) with somewhat minimal levels of disturbance. Within the context of one year of data, we suggest non-trapping techniques be implemented cautiously, and strategically, when conducting wild pig removal as these techniques may reduce overall trapping success

Resources and future availability of agricultural biomass for energy use in Beijing

The increasing importance of lignocellulosic biomass based energy production has led to an urgent need to conduct a reliable resource supply assessment. This study analyses and estimates the availability of agricultural residue biomass in Beijing, where biomass energy resources are relatively rich and is mainly distributed in the suburbs. The major types of crops considered across Beijing include food crops (e.g., maize, winter wheat, soybean, tubers and rice), cotton crops and oil-bearing crops (e.g., peanuts). The estimates of crop yields are based on historical data between 1996 and 2017 collected from the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Statistics. The theoretical and collectable amount of agricultural residues was calculated on the basis of the agricultural production for each crop, multiplied by specific parameters collected from the literature. The assessment of current and near future agricultural residues from crop harvesting and processing resources in Beijing was performed by employing three advanced modeling methods: the Time Series Analysis Autoregressive moving average (ARMA) model, Least Squares Linear Regression and Gray System Gray Model (GM) (1,1). The results show that the time series model prediction is suitable for short-term prediction evaluation; the least squares fitting result is more accurate but the factors affecting agricultural waste production need to be considered; the gray system prediction is suitable for trend prediction but the prediction accuracy is low

Recruitment and baseline characteristics of the Community of Voices choir study to promote the health and well-being of diverse older adults.

Objective:To describe the recruitment and baseline results of the Community of Voices study that aims to examine the effect of a community choir intervention on the health and well-being of older adults from diverse racial/ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds. Method:Using community-based participatory research methods, we recruited adults age 60 and over from 12 Administration on Aging-supported senior centers in San Francisco into a 2-arm cluster-randomized controlled trial of the community choir intervention. Multiple outreach methods were used. We tracked outreach, screening, and recruitment metrics and collected demographics and baseline outcomes via community-based, interviewer-administered surveys and performance measures of cognition, physical function, and psychosocial variables. Results:The study contacted 819 individuals, screened 636, and enrolled 390 diverse older adults over a 42-month, phased recruitment period. The mean age was 71.2 (SD = 7.3), and the majority were women. Two-thirds of the sample are non-white, and 20% of participants reported having financial hardship. Discussion:Outreach and recruitment methods used in the Community of Voices trial facilitated enrollment of a large proportion of minority and lower-SES older adults in the final sample. Similar recruitment approaches could serve as a model for recruiting diverse racial/ethnic and socioeconomic older adults into research