The study on factors influencing performance in general insurance : a case study of an insurance company in Kuala Lumpur

The case study is on an insurance company, which has a physical presence in 53 countries and commercial and individual customers in more than 170 countries. As a multinational company, managing people and connecting their performance to corporate objectives will always remain a concern and a challenge. A majority of organizations today have some sort of formal appraisal systems which make use of a standardized rating form that is used to evaluate employees’ performance. This research shows the benefit of the ‘balanced scorecard’ (BSC) which measures the employees’ performance based on the Key Performance Indicators (KPI). The KPI is aligned with the company’s value, strategy, mission and goals. In order to develop the performance management system, the KPI, performance indicator, Service Level Agreement and the Project Performance Measurement will be identified. This study is done on the factors influencing performance in general insurance. Performance Management and BSC comprise the goals, feedback, training, appreciation and the employees’ career development. With the usage of ‘SMART’ technique, a more realistic and achievable objectives can be created. The research was done through the analysis of the survey questionnaires that were distributed to the employees and the interview which been conducted with one of the managers. Through the analysis we will be able to identify the factors influencing performance in general insurance. Plus, it identifies whether the BSC is suitable and benefits the employees as a tool to evaluate the PM of the employees. (abstract by author

Behaviors of the Curtain Wall Façade in the Tall Building Under Dynamic Actions- An Overview and Recommendations

The flourishing growth of tall building construction with advanced technologies adopted façade structures is the new trend around the world. This study is mainly focused on the design and construction techniques of the curtain wall façade system and its behaviors under dynamic actions. Generally, a unitized curtain wall system is used as a building lope in the tall building due to its faster installation techniques. The provision of stack joints is a crucial part, especially at the design stage to accommodate the horizontal and vertical movement of the tall building under cyclic wind and seismic action. The effect of the deflection, story drift index, and column shortening of the tall building is analyzed using Finite Element Analysis (FEA) with 41 store building model on the façade wall is well discussed and recommended suitable measures to increase the life span of the façade wall under heavy dynamic repeated loading. On the other hand, lateral torsional buckling of the mullion, especially for the long span plays a vital role in the material and cost of the curtain wall panel. Therefore, this study is focused on the provision of the Anti-Buckling Clip (ABC) to increase the lateral torsional buckling capacity as well as flexural buckling capacity without increasing the stiffeners of the mullion

Dietary fibre intervention for gut microbiota, sleep, and mental health in adults with irritable bowel syndrome: A scoping review

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a common functional gastrointestinal disorder affecting 4–5% of the global population. This disorder is associated with gut microbiota, diet, sleep, and mental health. This scoping review therefore aims to map existing research that has administrated fibre-related dietary intervention to IBS individuals and reported outcomes on at least two of the three following themes: gut microbiota, sleep, and mental health. Five digital databases were searched to identify and select papers as per the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Five articles were included in the assessment, where none reported on all three themes or the combination of gut microbiota and sleep. Two studies identified alterations in gut microbiota and mental health with fibre supplementation. The other three studies reported on mental health and sleep outcomes using subjective questionnaires. IBS-related research lacks system biology-type studies targeting gut microbiota, sleep, and mental health in patients undergoing diet intervention. Further IBS research is required to explore how human gut microbiota functions (such as short-chain fatty acids) in sleep and mental health, following the implementation of dietary pattern alteration or component supplementation. Additionally, the application of objective sleep assessments is required in order to detect sleep change with more accuracy and less bias

Problematizing ‘Knowledge-for-Development’

This article argues that measures designed to improve the availability and accessibility of information as a key strategy to facilitate development have become ends in themselves, de-linked from their potential to have an impact on Southern knowledge systems that may lead to improved development outcomes. The production and dissemination of ever-greater volumes of information in response to concerns about the uneven availability of infor- mation, particularly for individuals and intermediaries based in the global South, are unable to address the persistent problem of the fragmentation of knowledge systems that result from knowledge for development (K4D) initiatives in which information and knowledge are treated as isolated enti- ties. The article presents the findings of a study into the K4D practices of a network of women/gender information intermediaries. It reveals that at- tempts to strengthen Southern knowledge systems are forestalled by efforts that merely improve the supply of information rather than engaging with knowledge processes in their entirety, thus limiting their potential to pro- mote improved development outcomes. Proxy measures of success are used that fail to challenge the typically neoliberal underpinnings of the dominant knowledge infrastructure. The author concludes that, if knowledge-based development interventions are to be made more effective, K4D stakeholders need to find ways to engage not just with the supply but with the demand for information, as part of broader efforts to strengthen entire knowledge systems in ways that take account of concerns around hegemony

Applications of digital electronic computers to gravity and magnetic interpretation

Imperial Users onl

Like Mother, Like Child: Maternal and Child Factors Associated with Diet and Weight Status Among Preschool Children

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, 25% of 2-4 year olds and 28% of 5-7 year olds were classified as overweight/obese in 2017-18. In recent years, there has been particular interest in how mothers influence young children’s eating behaviour, as they are frequently the primary-care givers during infancy and play a pivotal role at mealtimes from food purchasing, preparation and food habits. This thesis hence aimed to evaluate early life eating behaviors and obesity risk by investigating child and maternal factors in the preschool years. This research investigated: preschoolers’ diet quality; mother-child dietary intakes; trends in dietary behaviour and predictors of childhood obesity using information from an existing dataset, collected as part of the Healthy Beginnings Trial (HBT), a trial to test the effectiveness of an early childhood obesity intervention during the first two years of life. HBT data was used to examine nutritional outcomes in preschool children and associated changes in weight status over time. Key findings were i) the Diet Quality Index developed for Australian pre-schoolers has good reliability but limited validity; ii) two year old children’s diets were characterized by low vegetable consumption and high discretionary food intake with high-correlations between mother–child dietary intake; iii) maternal socio-economic status, in particular, young maternal age (<25 yrs.), low household income (<$40,000 /annum), and maternal country of birth (outside Australia) were associated with poor child diet quality in young children; iv) maternal overweight, maternal single parent status and child BMI at 2 years were key predictors of child obesity at 3.5 years, while child BMI at 3.5 years was the only predictor of child overweight/obesity at 5 years. The findings suggest that mothers may play a pivotal role in shaping early dietary behaviours predisposing obesity risk and findings can inform future interventions

Effect of Anodal Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation on Motor Learning in Healthy Individuals

Practice is required to improve your shot in basketball or play a musical instrument. Learning these motor skills can be further enhanced by non-invasive brain-stimulation. Prior studies have shown that transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) applied concurrently with practice of a motor task, results in better skill performance, than practice alone with sham-tDCS. This thesis sought to investigate how many additional days of practice it will take for individuals receiving sham-tDCS to reach the same performance level as individuals who receive anodal-tDCS for 1 day. Skill, composed of movement time and error-rate, was the primary dependent measure. A trend towards a greater proportion of individuals in the anodal-tDCS group (n=11) obtained the pre-determined skill level earlier than individuals in the sham-tDCS group (n=11), however skill level at 24-hour retention was comparable between groups. These findings suggest anodal-tDCS does not have additional benefits on motor learning after a period of rest.M.Sc

Selvmord i psykiatriske avdelinger

Sammendrag Bakgrunn: På verdensbasis begås det i snitt ett selvmord hvert 40. sekund. I Norge er selvmordsraten fire ganger høyere enn antall dødsfall i trafikken, i tillegg vil koronapandemien trolig øke selvmordsraten grunnet den psykiske belastningen. I 2017 begikk hele 58 personer selvmord i psykiatriske institusjoner i Norge. Som sykepleiere er det viktig å bli tryggere i møte med suicidale og ha tilstrekkelig kunnskap om selvmordsforebygging for å gi helhetlig sykepleie. Hensikt: Å undersøke hvordan sykepleiere kan forebygge selvmord hos innlagte pasienter i psykiatriske avdelinger. Metode: Denne systematiske litteraturstudien er basert på åtte forskningsartikler, både kvalitative og kvantitative. Søkene ble gjennomført i Cinahl, PubMed og PsycInfo. Analysemodellen til David Evans (2002) ble brukt for å gjennomføre analyse av funnene i forskningsartiklene. Resultat: Funnene i studien viser hvordan et godt grunnlag for kommunikasjon og relasjon samt god kartlegging og observasjon bidrar til forebygging av selvmord i psykiatriske avdelinger. Videre viser funnene i studien at forbedrende tiltak innenfor organisatoriske forhold også påvirker forebyggingsarbeidet. Konklusjon: Sykepleiere kan forebygge selvmord i psykiatriske avdelinger gjennom økt kompetanse om kommunikasjonsferdigheter og god gjennomføring av prosedyrer. Det selvmordsforebyggende arbeidet vil ha en gunstig påvirkning gjennom økt bemanning og støttende arbeidsmiljø