A SCALE DEVELOPMENT FOR STUDENT SATISFACTION: A PERCEIVED DIMENSION OF QUALITY EDUCATION

Purpose of the study: A 22 item Likert scale was developed by using Trochim (2000) procedure to measure the academic leader ’ s impact on student satisfaction, which is ultimately considered a factor contributing to quality education. Such an instrument can be used in further empirical researches to understand the role of academic leaders in student satisfaction. Methodology: Exploratory in-depth interviews were conducted with 20 academicians from the Central University of Rajasthan for item generation, followed by expert testing done by 10 HR experts. Data were collected from 30 students by employing multistage simple random sampling to ensure validity and reliability. SPSS version 21 was used for calculating corrected inter-item to total correlations (CITC) and t values for finalizing items of the questionnaire. Main Findings: A pool of 25 items was generated at first stage of qualitative interviews with academicians, at the second stage of expert testing 23 items were retained and 2 items were deleted due to low CITC score and t-value. At third stage of pilot testing, 1 item was deleted and 22 items were retained. The instrument for measuring student satisfaction contains was developed containing 22 items. Applications of this study: This study can be useful in the educational sector for analyzing quality education. It directs further future work by using exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis on larger sample sizes. Originality of this study: The instrument is developed purely for measuring the impact of academic leaders rather than any other educational and quality factors filling the research gap, based on academic leaders’ behavior, concern, responses, knowledge and other characteristics having an influence on elevating student satisfaction, which is perceived dimension of quality education

EFFICACY, SAFETY, AND COST-EFFECTIVE ANALYSIS OF LOW-DOSE ETORICOXIB AND ADD-ON PARACETAMOL VERSUS THERAPEUTIC DOSE ETORICOXIB FOR PAIN IN PATIENTS AFTER TOOTH EXTRACTION: A RANDOMIZED INTERVENTIONAL DOUBLE-BLIND STUDY

Objectives: The objectives of the study were to study the efficacy, safety, and cost-effective analysis of low-dose etoricoxib and add-on paracetamol versus therapeutic dose etoricoxib in patients who experienced pain after tooth extraction. Methods: Patients were recruited and randomized to two study groups E1P and E2 on etoricoxib 30 mg and add-on paracetamol 500 mg 8 hourly and etoricoxib 60 mg once respectively for 3 days. The efficacy was assessed by visual analog scale, pain relief score, and global evaluation score. Patients were assessed at 0, 6, 24, 48, and 72 h. Safety was assessed by adverse drug reactions reported by the patients after 72 h. Cost-effective analysis was done by calculating the cost of treatment and the cost-effective ratio in both groups. Results: Eighty patients completed the study having 40 patients in each group. Mean pain intensity reduction, mean pain relief score, and global evaluation score all showed significantly better results (p<0.05) in Group E1P as compared to Group E2 at 6, 24, 48, and 72 h, respectively. No patient had reported any serious adverse drug reaction in both the groups; however, incidence of headache and fatigue was twice in the etoricoxib only treated group (n=4) than low-dose etoricoxib-treated group (n=2). The treatment cost of Group E1P was lesser than Group E2 and was also cost effective. Conclusion: Low-dose etoricoxib with add-on paracetamol is a better analgesic than therapeutic dose etoricoxib and is also found to be safer and cost effective

The iCommons Project

Actualmente, o uso de polímeros naturais em aplicações biomédicas provocou um aumento na exigência de mais investigação nesta área. Embora este tipo de polímeros já disponha de algumas qualidades excelentes para a área da biomédica, verifica-se uma necessidade crescente de realizar modificações na sua estrutura por forma a potenciar as suas características e alargar o seu espectro de utilização. O objectivo deste trabalho é testar algumas modificações químicas em dois polissacarídeos de elevado interesse biomédico, nomeadamente o dextrano e o alginato de sódio, com o intuito de os dotar de novas propriedades que permitam a sua aplicação em aplicações do foro biomédico, como encapsulamento de células ou de agentes bioactivos. As modificações realizadas foram as seguintes: a introdução de grupos azida e alcino através de ésteres de carbonato hidrolisáveis, oxidações por periodato de sódio e funcionalizações com um produto fluorescente (3-amino-7-dietilaminocumarina) e com um doador de grupos metacrilato (2-aminoetil metacrilato). Neste relatório encontram-se descritas todas as modificações realizadas nestes polímeros no que respeita a aspectos químicos, procedimentos e resultados. No final do trabalho, foram constatadas modificações bem sucedidas no que respeita às oxidações por periodato de sódio e às funcionalizações com fluorescência e grupos metacrilato. No entanto, o processo de modificação dos polímeros com grupos azida e alcino ainda carece de estudo mais aprofundado e alterações

Dirty Work, Clean Hands: The Moral Psychology of Indirect Agency

When powerful people cause harm, they often do so indirectly through other people. Are harmful actions carried out through others evaluated less negatively than harmful actions carried out directly? Four experiments examine the moral psychology of indirect agency. Experiments 1A, 1B, and 1C reveal effects of indirect agency under conditions favoring intuitive judgment, but not reflective judgment, using a joint/separate evaluation paradigm. Experiment 2A demonstrates that effects of indirect agency cannot be fully explained by perceived lack of foreknowledge or control on the part of the primary agent. Experiment 2B indicates that reflective moral judgment is sensitive to indirect agency, but only to the extent that indirectness signals reduced foreknowledge and/or control. Experiment 3 indicates that effects of indirect agency result from a failure to automatically consider the potentially dubious motives of agents who cause harm indirectly. Experiment 4 demonstrates an effect of indirect agency on purchase intentions.Psycholog

Safety and Efficacy of Paracetamol + Lignocaine Injection in Patients with High-grade Fever: A Prospective Analysis

High-grade fever is a common presenting symptom in various infectious and inflammatory conditions, requiring prompt and effective management. Paracetamol (acetaminophen) is a widely used antipyretic agent, while lignocaine possesses analgesic and anti-inflammatory properties. This prospective study evaluated and established the safety and efficacy of paracetamol + lignocaine injection in patients with high-grade fever. The study outcomes revealed that after administering paracetamol and lignocaine injections, 89% of patients experienced a reduction in high fever, while 68.6% of patients reported no or mild pain at the injection site. Based on these findings, the authors recommend that health care professionals consider the potential benefits of using paracetamol and lignocaine injections for patients suffering from severe fever accompanied by pain and discomfort

When the relatively poor prosper: the Underdog Effect on charitable donations

In fundraising, it is common for the donor to see how much a charity has received so far. What is the impact of this information on a) how much people choose to donate and b) which charity they choose to donate to? Conditional cooperation suggests that people will donate to the charity that has received the most prior support, while the Underdog Effect suggests increased donations to the charity with the least support. Across 2 laboratory experiments, an online study (combined N = 494) and a qualitative survey (N = 60), a consistent preference to donate to the charity with the least prior support was observed. Thus, the Underdog Effect was supported. We suggest people will show a preference for the underdog if there are two or more charities to donate to, one of the charities is at a disadvantage and people have little pre-existing loyalty to either charity

The international integrated reporting framework : key issues and future research opportunities

This paper has three main aims. First, the paper introduces the concept of integrated reporting () as described by the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC). A background to the development of the concept over the 4-year period from the inception of the IIRC in 2010 is provided, culminating in the release by the IIRC of a Consultation Draft (CD) of the framework in March 2013. Second, the paper discusses key issues currently being debated relating to the CD that the IIRC will need to resolve prior to the expected release of their framework in late 2013. This discussion is based on issues identified and reported to the IIRC by a subcommittee of the International Association for Accounting Education and Research (IAAER) comprised of international accounting academics. Finally, the paper identifies a range of potential research issues relating to the development and implementation of .http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/(ISSN)1467-646X2015-02-28hb201