Patients' satisfaction and opinions of their experiences during admission in a tertiary care hospital in Pakistan – a cross sectional study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>It is often felt that developing countries need to improve their quality of healthcare provision. This study hopes to generate data that can help managers and doctors to improve the standard of care they provide in line with the wishes of the patients.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>It was a cross sectional study carried out at a major tertiary care hospital of Karachi. Patients between the ages of 18 and 80 years admitted to the hospital for at least one day were included. Patients in the maternity, psychiatry and chemotherapy wards and those in the ICU/CCU were excluded. A pretested, peer reviewed translation of a validated patient satisfaction scale developed by the Picker Institute of Europe was administered.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A total of 173 patients (response rate: 78.6 %) filled the questionnaire. Patient satisfaction was at levels comparable to European surveys for most aspects of hospital care. However, nearly half the patients (48%) felt they had to wait too long to get a bed in the hospital after presenting to the ER. 68.6% of the patients said that they were never asked for views on the quality of care provided. 20% of the patients did not find anyone in the staff to talk to about their worries and fears while 27.6% felt that they were given emotional support to only some extent. Up to one third of the patients said they were not provided enough information regarding their operative procedures beforehand.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Although several components of patient care equal the quality levels of the west, many sections require considerable improvement in order to improve health care provision. The healthcare team needs to get more involved with the patients, providing them greater support and keeping them informed and involved with their medical treatment. Efforts should be made to get regular feedback from the patients.</p

A bibliography of parasites and diseases of marine and freshwater fishes of India

With the increasing demand for fish as human food, aquaculture both in freshwater and salt water is rapidly developing over the world. In the developing countries, fishes are being raised as food. In many countries fish farming is a very important economic activity. The most recent branch, mariculture, has shown advances in raising fishes in brackish, estuarine and bay waters, in which marine, anadromous and catadromous fishes have successfully been grown and maintained

Responses of isolated scale melanophores of a fresh water carp, <i><span style="font-size:14.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:black;mso-ansi-language:EN-IN; mso-fareast-language:EN-IN;mso-bidi-language:HI" lang="EN-IN">Cirrhinus mrigala</span></i><span style="font-size:14.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:black;mso-ansi-language:EN-IN; mso-fareast-language:EN-IN;mso-bidi-language:HI" lang="EN-IN"> (Ham.) to zidovudine</span>

74-77<span style="font-size:14.0pt;line-height: 115%;font-family:" times="" new="" roman";mso-fareast-font-family:"times="" roman";="" color:black;mso-ansi-language:en-in;mso-fareast-language:en-in;mso-bidi-language:="" hi"="" lang="EN-IN">Zidovudine (AZT) induced concentration related aggregation in C. mrigala melanophores. Denervated melanophores failed to respond to AZT. Specific and nonspecific alpha adrenoceptor antagonists completely blocked the responses of fish melanophores to AZT. Histamine and prostaglandin antagonists also inhibited aggregation of the melanophores, induced by AZT. The results suggest that AZT may release a mixture of neurotransmitter like substances, which cause the aggregation of this fish melanophores.</span

<img src='/image/spc_char/alpha.gif'>₁ and <img src='/image/spc_char/alpha.gif'>₂ adrenoceptor mediated melanosome aggregatory responses <i style="">in vitro</i> in <i style="">Oreochromis mossambica </i>(Peters) melanophores

984-991Effects of specific and non-specific adrenoceptor agonists and antagonists were examined on the isolated scale melanophores of O. mossambica in physiological Ringer solution. The responses were recorded as melanophore size index. It was observed that adrenaline, nor-adrenaline, phenylpropanolamine, clonidine and phenylepherine induced melanosome aggregation in a dose-dependent manner. Denervation of the fish melanophores increased the sensitivity of the melanophores to adrenaline but not to nor-adrenaline. Phentolamine (3.5510-5 M), prazosin (2.3810-5 M) and yohimbine (2.82110-5 M) significantly inhibited the aggregatory responses of the fish melanophores to adrenaline, nor-adrenaline, clonidine and phenylepherine. The blocking effect of yohimbine was significantly higher than that of prazosin. It is concluded that the effect of adrenaline is directly mediated through the receptors and 2 adrenoceptors are predominantly involved in the aggregatory responses of this fish melanophores, while 1 adrenoceptors presence has been indicated

Exploring Kanban in software engineering

Abstract To gain competitive advantage and thrive in the market, companies have introduced Kanban in software development. Kanban has been used in the manufacturing industry for over six decades. In the software engineering domain, Kanban was introduced in 2004 to increase flexibility in coping with dynamic requirements, bring visibility to workflow and related tasks, improve communication, and promote the pull system. However, the existing scientific literature lacks empirical evidence of the use of Kanban in software companies. This doctoral thesis aims to improve the understanding of the use of Kanban in software engineering. The research was performed in two phases: 1) analysis of scientific literature on Kanban in software engineering and industrial engineering and 2) investigation of Kanban implementation trends in software companies. The data was collected through systematic literature reviews, survey and semi-structured interviews. The results were synthesized to draw conclusions and outline implications for research and practice. The results indicate growing interest in the use of Kanban in software companies. The findings suggest that Kanban is applicable to software development, software maintenance, and portfolio management in software companies. Kanban brings visibility to task and offering status, limits work in progress at any given time gives people greater control over their work and limit task switching. Although Kanban offers several benefits, as reported in this dissertation, the findings show that software companies find it challenging to implement Kanban incrementally.Tiivistelmä Ohjelmistoteollisuudessa Kanbanin käyttö on yleistynyt vuodesta 2004 alkaen. Sillä pyritään tuomaan joustavuutta muuttuvien vaatimusten hallintaan, tuomaan näkyvyyttä työnkulkuun ja toisiinsa liittyviin tehtäviin, parantamaan kommunikaatiota sekä edistämään imuohjauksen hyödyntämistä. Kanbania on käytetty valmistavassa teollisuudessa jo yli kuuden vuosikymmenen ajan. Olemassa olevassa tieteellisessä kirjallisuudessa on kuitenkin esitetty hyvin vähän empiirisiä tutkimustuloksia Kanbanin käytöstä ohjelmistoyrityksissä. Väitöskirjan tavoitteena on parantaa ymmärrystä Kanbanin käytöstä ohjelmistotuotannossa. Tutkimus toteutettiin kahdessa vaiheessa: 1) Kirjallisuusanalyysi Kanbanin käytöstä ohjelmistotuotannossa ja tuotantotekniikassa ja 2) Empiirinen tutkimus Kanbanin käyttöönoton trendeistä ohjelmistoyrityksissä. Tutkimusaineisto kerättiin systemaattisten kirjallisuuskatsausten, kyselytutkimuksen ja puolistrukturoitujen teemahaastattelujen kautta. Tutkimustulosten synteesin pohjalta tehtiin johtopäätöksiä Kanbanin käytöstä ohjelmistotuotannossa sekä niiden merkityksestä alan tutkimukselle ja Kanbanin käytölle yrityksissä. Tutkimuksen tulokset osoittavat kasvavaa kiinnostusta Kanbanin käyttöä kohtaan ohjelmistoyrityksissä. Tulosten perusteella Kanban soveltuu käytettäväksi ohjelmistokehityksessä, ohjelmistojen ylläpidossa sekä tuoteportfolion hallinnassa. Kanban tuo näkyvyyttä ohjelmistokehitykseen, niin meneillään olevien tehtävien kuin portfoliotarjoaman osalta. Se myös auttaa rajoittamaan työtehtävien ruuhkautumista ja antaa kehittäjille paremman tavan hallita työtään rajoittamalla työtehtävien vaihtoa. Vaikka Kanbanin käytöllä on mahdollista saavuttaa väitöskirjatutkimuksessa esitettyjä hyötyjä, tulokset osoittavat, että ohjelmistoyrityksillä on haasteita Kanbanin inkrementaalisessa käyttöönotossa

Software factory project for enhancement of student experimental learning

Abstract Providing opportunities for students to work on real-world software development projects for real customers is critical to prepare students for the IT industry. Such projects help students to understand what they will face in the industry and experience real customer interaction and challenges in collaborative work. To provide this opportunity in an academic environment and enhance the learning and multicultural teamwork experience, the University of Oulu, Finland offers the software factory (SWF) project. This paper presents the design of the SWF course and the learning environment and assessment techniques, and it discusses the importance of reflective learning diaries and serious games. Additionally, this paper examines factors in the SWF learning environment that affect student learning in the SWF course. Survey data were collected from the last six years of SWF projects. The results show that students consider the SWF to be a good collaborative learning environment that helps them achieve academic triumphs and enhances various professional skills. The learning diaries are effective for increasing students learning experiences as well as providing an opportunity for teaching staff to monitor students progress and offer better facilitation. These results are helpful for academic institutions and industry when developing such a learning environment

Enhancement of experiential learning in software factory project-based course

Abstract To better prepare the next generation of software professional, it is important to provide opportunities for them to work on real software project along with real customer during their studies. This is the reason universities around the world offer project-based capstone course. Such courses help students to understand what they will face in the industry and experience real customer interaction and challenges in collaborative work. In regards, University of Oulu, Finland offers a software factory (SWF) course to enhance the learning and experience multicultural teamwork. This paper presents the design of the SWF course and student and teacher experiences. It discusses the importance of reflective learning diaries and serious games. Additionally, this paper examines factors in the SWF learning environment that affect student learning in the SWF course. Survey data were collected from the last 6 years of SWF projects. The results show that students consider the SWF to be a good collaborative learning environment that helps them achieve academic triumphs and enhances various professional skills. The learning diaries are effective for increasing students’ learning experiences as well as providing an opportunity for teaching staff to monitor students’ progress and offer better facilitation. These results are helpful for academic institutions and industry when developing such a learning environment