CAFFEINE BEVERAGE CONSUMPTION BEHAVIOR AMONG WORKING AGE GROUP IN KHON KAEN PROVINCE, THAILAND

BACKGROUND: A nonlinear association between coffee consumption and CVD risk was observed in meta-analysis. Moderate coffee consumption was inversely significantly associated with CVD risk, with the lowest CVD risk at 3 to 5 cups per day. Heavy coffee consumption was not associated with elevated CVD risk.There has been an increasing trend of caffeine beverage consumption in Thailand. However, little was known about the consumer behavior on caffeine beverage among the working age group in Thailand. This study aimed to describe caffeine beverage consumption behavior among working age group in Khon Kaen province, Thailand. SUBJECT AND METHODS: This descriptive cross sectional study was conducted in Khon Kaen province, Thailand. A sample of 412 coffee drinkers aged 18-59 years old was selected by multistage random sampling from the working age population. A structured questionnaire was developed and tested for content validity by 3 experts. Cronbach alpha coefficient was 0.89. RESULTS: The majority of 412 coffee drinkers were female (59.95%), with the average age of 36.61±13.20 years old, married (64.32%), 36.41% finished senior high school and 25% working in agricultural sector. Their median monthly income (min, max) was 9,000 (0, 70000) baht. Over the past month, 88.83% reported consuming caffeine beverage (95%CI: 85.78% to 91.88%). Caffeine beverage most commonly consumed was cola (38.10%). The median amount of coffee (ml) per time (min, max) was 250 (180, 1500) ml. The median monthly expense (min, max) for caffeine beverage was 600 (90, 3000) baht. Most coffee drinkers got coffee beverage information from television (61.75%). However, only 27.67% had high level of knowledge on caffeine beverage. 75.00% thought it was easy to access, 65.29% liked the taste, 53.64% believed in the caffeine beverage advertisement. 58.28% perceived price was appropriate, and 41.26% thought caffeine beverage was good for health. CONCLUSION: Almost all of the working age group in Khon Kaen province, Thailand, drink caffeine beverage. Information, environment and marketing may have influence on their consumption behavior. Keywords: caffeine beverage, behavior, working age grou

Health care utilisation under the 30-Baht Scheme among the urban poor in Mitrapap slum, Khon Kaen, Thailand: a cross-sectional study

Background: In 2001, the Government of Thailand introduced a universal coverage scheme with the aim of ensuring equitable health care access for even the poorest citizens. For a flat user fee of 30 Baht per consultation, or for free for those falling into exemption categories, every scheme participant may access registered health services. The exemption categories include children under 12 years of age, senior citizens aged 60 years and over, the very poor, and volunteer health workers. The functioning of these exemption mechanisms and the effect of the scheme on health service utilisation among the poor is controversial. Methods: This cross-sectional study investigated the prevalence of 30-Baht Scheme registration and subsequent self-reported health service utilisation among an urban poor population in the Teparuk community within the Mitrapap slum in Khon Kaen city, northeastern Thailand. Furthermore, the effectiveness of the exemption mechanisms in reaching the very poor and the elderly was examined. Factors for users' choice of health facilities were identified. Results: Overall, the proportion of the Teparuk community enrolled with the 30-Baht Scheme was high at 86%, with over one quarter of these exempted from paying the consultation fee. User fee exemption was significantly more frequent among households with an above-poverty-line income (64.7%) compared to those below the poverty line (35.3%), χ2 (df) = 5.251 (1); p-value = 0.018. In addition, one third of respondents over 60 years of age were found to be still paying user fees. Self-reported use of registered medical facilities in case of illness was stated to be predominantly due to the service being available through the scheme, with service quality not a chief consideration. Overall consumer satisfaction was high, especially among those not required to pay the 30 Baht user fee. Conclusion: Whilst the 30-Baht Scheme seems to cover most of the poor population of Mitrapap slum in Khon Kaen, the user fee exemption mechanism only works partially with regard to reaching the poorest and exempting senior citizens. Service utilisation and satisfaction are highest amongst those who are fee-exempt. Service quality was not an important factor influencing choice of health facility. Ways should be sought to improve the effectiveness of the current exemption mechanisms.Sophie Coronini-Cronberg, Wongsa Laohasiriwong and Christian A Gerick

Ultrafine grained plates of Al-Mg-Si alloy obtained by Incremental Equal Channel Angular Pressing : microstructure and mechanical properties

In this study, an Al-Mg-Si alloy was processed using via Incremental Equal Channel Angular Pressing (I-ECAP) in order to obtain homogenous, ultrafine grained plates with low anisotropy of the mechanical properties. This was the first attempt to process an Al-Mg-Si alloy using this technique. Samples in the form of 3 mm-thick square plates were subjected to I-ECAP with the 90˚ rotation around the axis normal to the surface of the plate between passes. Samples were investigated first in their initial state, then after a single pass of I-ECAP and finally after four such passes. Analyses of the microstructure and mechanical properties demonstrated that the I-ECAP method can be successfully applied in Al-Mg-Si alloys. The average grain size decreased from 15 - 19 µm in the initial state to below 1 µm after four I-ECAP passes. The fraction of high angle grain boundaries in the sample subjected to four I-ECAP passes lay within 53-57 % depending on the examined plane. The mechanism of grain refinement in Al-Mg-Si alloy was found to be distinctly different from that in pure aluminium with the grain rotation being more prominent than the grain subdivision, which was attributed to lower stacking fault energy and the reduced mobility of dislocations in the alloy. The ultimate tensile strength increased more than twice, whereas the yield strength - more than threefold. Additionally, the plates processed by I-ECAP exhibited low anisotropy of mechanical properties (in plane and across the thickness) in comparison to other SPD processing methods, which makes them attractive for further processing and applications

Functional time series approach to analyzing asset returns co-movements

We introduce a new approach for modeling the time varying behavior and time series evolution of asset returns co-movements. Here, the co-movement in each period is captured by a trajectory of returns correlation, then a sequence of this over time and the time series evolution are studied. We rely on functional principal components to achieve dimension reduction and to construct the dynamic space of interest, while introducing a new class of information criteria in order to identify the finite dimensionality of the curve time series. Our method is able to combine two of the most applied ideas in the literature, namely economics (or finance) based and time-series based time-varying correlation models. This offers a general specification that is able to model processes of time-varying time-series correlations generated under many existing models that have dominated the financial literature for several decades. To illustrate its empirical relevance, we apply our method to model the time varying co-movement of exchange rate returns for a group of small open economies with large financial sectors. Our empirical results indicate that concepts of time varying correlation enabled by existing methods are too restrictive to accommodate fully the time varying behavior and time series evolution of the returns correlation. On the other hand, our method gives a more complete picture and is able to provide more accurate correlation forecasts

Varying coefficient panel data models and methods under correlated error components: Application to disparities in mental health services in England

The contribution of this paper is twofold. Firstly, it introduces novel regression models that combine two important areas of the methodological development in panel data analysis, namely a varying coefficient specification and spatial error dependence. The former allows relatively flexible nonlinear interactions; the latter enables spatial correlations of the disturbance and thus differ significantly from the other random effect models in the literature. To estimate the model, a new estimation procedure is established that can be viewed as a generalization of the quasi-maximum likelihood method for a spatial panel data model to the well-known conditional local likelihood procedure. Novel inference methods, particularly variable selection and hypothesis testing of the parameter constancy, are introduced and are shown to be effective under the complex spatial error dependence. Equally importantly, this paper makes a substantial contribution to the understanding of financing and expenditure for health and social care. In particular, we empirically analyze and explain the effects of political ideologies on the local fiscal policy in England, especially the expenditure on mental health services

Varying coefficient panel data models and methods under correlated error components: Application to disparities in mental health services in England

The contribution of this paper is twofold. Firstly, it introduces novel regression models that combine two important areas of the methodological development in panel data analysis, namely a varying coefficient specification and spatial error dependence. The former allows relatively flexible nonlinear interactions; the latter enables spatial correlations of the disturbance and thus differ significantly from the other random effect models in the literature. To estimate the model, a new estimation procedure is established that can be viewed as a generalization of the quasi-maximum likelihood method for a spatial panel data model to the well-known conditional local likelihood procedure. Novel inference methods, particularly variable selection and hypothesis testing of the parameter constancy, are introduced and are shown to be effective under the complex spatial error dependence. Equally importantly, this paper makes a substantial contribution to the understanding of financing and expenditure for health and social care. In particular, we empirically analyze and explain the effects of political ideologies on the local fiscal policy in England, especially the expenditure on mental health services