ProAm Sports

ProAm Sports takes fitness one step further by designing a tournament-based program, where members can sign up to participate in matches as individuals or teams in various sports and win actual cash prizes accumulated from a portion of their membership fees. Our project required implementing a database which stores information on players, teams, and games as well as a website that offers the ability for players to sign up, view information on events, pay for membership, and communicate with other players. There are three levels of paid membership, where each offers different benefits including discounts on event registration. After registering for an event, players can see their registration history and see which other members are registered for the same event. Members are able to interact with other players, compete with other teams, test their skills, and possibly win cash prizes. We implemented the website using Joomla and Community Builder so that the backend is menu-based instead of code-based in order to prove convenient for our sponsor. Extra functionality in the backend includes categorizing events by sport and tournament, making events repeat, and adding special discounts based on registration date. Community Builder also allows all members/players to create connections with each other and leave notes on each other’s profiles. Players are also given the capability of recording their achievements on their respective profiles for other players to view and take into consideration when recruiting for teammates.https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/capstone/1164/thumbnail.jp

Exploring business models to provide a foundation for enhanced eye care services in high street optometric practice

High street optometric practices are for-profit businesses. They mostly provide sight testing and eye examination services and sell optical products, such as spectacles and contact lenses. The sight testing services are often sold at a vastly reduced price and profits are generated primarily through high margin spectacle sales, in a loss leading strategy. Published literature highlights weaknesses in this strategy as it forms a barrier to widening the scope of services provided within optometric practices. This includes specialist non-refraction based services, such as shared care. In addition this business strategy discourages investment in advanced diagnostic equipment and higher professional qualifications. The aim of this thesis was to develop a greater understanding of the traditional loss-leading strategy. The thesis also aimed to assess the plausibility of alternative business models to support the development of specialist non-refraction services within high street optometric practice. This research was based on a single independent optometric practice that specialises in advanced retinal imaging and offers a broad range of shared care services. Specialist non-refraction based services were found to be poor generators of spectacle sales likely due to patient needs and presenting concerns. Alternative business strategies to support these services included charging more realistic professional fees via cost-based pricing and monthly payment plans. These strategies enabled specialist services to be more self-sustainable with less reliance on cross-subsidy from spectacle sales. Furthermore, improving operational efficiency can increase stand-alone profits for specialist services.Practice managers may be reluctant to increase professional fees due to market pressures and confidence. However, this thesis found that patients were accepting of increased professional fees. Practice managers can implement alternative business models to enhance eye care provision in high street optometric practices. These alternative business models also improve revenues and profits generated via clinical services and improve patient loyalty

Demography, clinical profile and outcomes of self-prescribed abortion pills among women, experience from a tertiary care teaching hospital in central India

Background: Medical abortion pills have revolutionised the freedom of woman in her decision for abortion. Due to self-medication of these drugs by pregnant women without any medical consultation or supervision has become very common. This study was carried out to study the analyse the effect of unsupervised self-prescription abortion pill in women attending tertiary care centre. Methods: This prospective observational study was conducted among patients with history of unsupervised intake of medical abortion pill. After written and informed consent socio-epidemiological factors like age, marital status, education status, residence and family were counselled. Obstetric history was noted, source of procurement, reason behind the pill intake, time duration since the pill intake to presentation, gestational age at time of pill consumption, the regime followed and complaint at presentation to health care facility were noted. Final outcome in the form of any medical measures and treatment or surgical intervention done was noted. Results: In present study, most of the patients (52%) belongs to 18-24 years of age group. Based on ultrasonography (USG) findings and clinical examination 70% of patient had incomplete abortion, 22% had complete abortion, 1.3% had incomplete abortion with shock, 3.3% ectopic pregnancy had incomplete abortion with sepsis and 1.3% had incomplete abortion with shock. Conclusions: When abortion performed under medical supervision, medical abortion is both effective and safe. To regulate and restrict the over-the-counter sale of abortion pills, strict law is essential, and public access to abortion pills should be limited to MTP-licensed centres

Response of drip irrigated Broccoli (Brassica oleracea var. italica) in different irrigation levels and frequencies at field level

Geometric increase in population coupled with rapid urbanization, industrialization and agricultural development are causing increased pressure on global water resources. Agriculture is the largest consumer of fresh water resources, thus the scope of enhancing water productivity in agriculture is taken to be the priority area of research. The right amount and frequency of irrigation is essential for optimum use of limited water resources for crop production as well as management. A field experiment with split plot design was carried out during November to February 2015-16 at PFDC (Precision Farming Development Centre), Water Technology Centre, IARI, New Delhi to study the effect of different irrigation levels and frequencies on Broccoli (Brassica oleracea var. italica) under drip irrigation. The experiment included three levels of irrigation frequencies: N1 (once every day), N2 (once every 2 days) and N3 (once every 3 days) with different irrigation levels of 100, 80 and 60 % of crop evapotranspiration (ETc). Results revealed that drip irrigation frequency significantly (p<0.05) affected the broccoli yield. The maximum yield (24.46±0.18 t/ha) was obtained with 80% of ETc with once in 2 days irrigation followed by 100% of ETc with once in 2 days. Lowest yield (16.53±0.1 t/ha) was obtained at 60% of ETc at once in 3 days irrigation. Overall, it was observed that irrigation on 80% of ETc with once in two days is an appropriate cycle for optimum yield of broccoli

Analysis of Black Hole Attack in MANET Based on Simulation through NS3.26

This research paper presentsanalysis of Black hole attacks in Mobile Adhoc network (MANET) routing protocol Ad Hoc On-Demand Distance Vector (AODV). Weuse 25 nodes in wireless sensor network with no attack, one attack, three attacks and five numbers of attacks nodes treated with reactive routing protocol AODV. A Simulations have been conducted in ns-3.26, which is the latest version of ns3 network simulator on Ubuntu 16.04.2 LTS version platform. The performance resultsare analyzed based on Throughput, Packet loss and Delay time with same simulation time for different numbers of malicious nodes in black hole attacks on MANET?s

Development and integration of soil moisture sensor with drip system for precise irrigation scheduling through mobile phone

Soil moisture sensor is an instrument for quick measurements of soil moisture content in the crop root zone on real time basis. The main objective of this research was development and evaluation of an indigenous sensor for precise irrigation scheduling. The various parts of sensor developed were ceramic cup, acrylic pipe, level sensor, tee, reducer, gland, cork, and end cap. The designed system was successfully tested on okra crop and calibrated with frequency domain reflectometry (FDR) by three methods of irrigation, i.e. check basin, furrow and drip, respectively. The average depth of water depletion in modified tensiometer by these methods was 27 to 35 cm at 50% management allowable depletion (MAD) of field capacity. This depth was useful for the level sensor to be installed inside modified tensiometer for real time irrigation scheduling. The correlation coefficient (R2) between soil moisture content obtained from the developed sensor and FDR was 0.963. Sensor network was integrated with global system for mobile communication (GSM), short message service (SMS) and drip head work to develop an automated irrigation system. This would enable farmers to effectively monitor and control water application in the field by sending command through SMS and receiving pumping status through the mobile phone

Customer loyalty among daily disposable contact lens wearers

Background: Optometric practices offer contact lenses as cash sale items or as part of monthly payment plans. With the contact lens market becoming increasingly competitive, patients are opting to purchase lenses from supermarkets and Internet suppliers. Monthly payment plans are often implemented to improve loyalty. This study aimed to compare behavioural loyalty between monthly payment plan members and non-members. Methods: BBR Optometry Ltd offers a monthly payment plan (Eyelife™) to their contact lens wearers. A retrospective audit of 38 Eyelife™ members (mean. ±. SD: 42.7. ±. 15.0 years) and 30 non-members (mean. ±. SD: 40.8. ±. 16.7 years) was conducted. Revenue and profits generated, service uptake and product sales between the two groups were compared over a fixed period of 18 months. Results: Eyelife™ members generated significantly higher professional fee revenue ( P<. 0.001), £153.96 compared to £83.50, and profits ( P<. 0.001). Eyelife™ members had a higher uptake of eye examinations ( P<. 0.001). The 2 groups demonstrated no significant difference in spectacle sales by volume ( P= 0.790) or value ( P= 0.369). There were also no significant differences in contact lens revenue ( P= 0.337), although Eyelife™ members did receive a discount. The Eyelife™ group incurred higher contact lens costs ( P= 0.037), due to a greater volume of contact lens purchases, 986 units compared to 582. Conclusions: Monthly payment plans improve loyalty among contact lens wearers, particularly service uptake and volume of lens purchases. Additionally the greater professional fees generated, render monthly payment plans an attractive business model and practice builder

Structure and Surface Analysis of SHI Irradiated Thin Films of Cadmium Telluride

Cadmium Telluride (CdTe) thin films grown by thermal evaporation on quartz substrates were irradiated with swift (100 MeV) Ni + 4 ions at various fluences in the range 1011 – 1013 cm – 2. The modification in structure and surface morphology has been analyzed as a function of fluence using XRD and AFM techniques. The XRD showed a reduction in peak intensity and grain size with increasing fluence. The AFM micrographs of irradiated thin films show small spherical nanostructures. In addition to direct imaging, AFM profile data enable to derive the Power Spectral Density (PSD) of the surface roughness. In the present work PSD spectra computed from AFM data were used for studying the surface morphology of films. The PSD curves were fitted with an appropriate analytic function and characteristic parameters were deduced and discussed in order to compare film morphology with varying fluence levels. When you are citing the document, use the following link http://essuir.sumdu.edu.ua/handle/123456789/2960

The role of accelerator programmes in supporting the adoption of digital health technologies: A qualitative study of the perspectives of small- and medium-sized enterprises

Objective Evidence-based digital health technologies are increasingly important in delivering care to an ageing population with constrained resources. In the United Kingdom, accelerator programmes (APs) have been developed to support the adoption of digital health technologies within the National Health Service. This study aims to explore the perspectives of stakeholders using APs. Methods Stakeholders representing nine small -and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that were engaged with three different APs ( n = 9). Semi-structured interviews were conducted with key informants between April and September 2018. Framework analysis of the data was performed to explore their perspectives on APs. Results Four key themes were generated. Informants reported the need to generate evidence before and during the programme, appreciating different types of evidence and their importance. Informants identified several key factors that were a catalyst for success, including involvement in the programme and access to individuals and organisations that were crucial for support. However, several barriers were identified at the programme and system levels. Finally, informants identified key supporting processes that enhanced the adoption of their innovations. Conclusion SMEs that develop digital health technologies report that, while APs are useful in supporting the adoption of these technologies, some issues remain. These relate to the emphasis on traditional research evidence that remains a challenge for SMEs to generate. Also, several system-level barriers to innovation in healthcare persist. As APs and SMEs continue to create an entrepreneurial ecosystem, there is increased potential for the development of supporting processes and infrastructure to accelerate the efficient and timely adoption of new digital health technologies

Cost-effective baby corn (Zea mays) cultivation under drip fertigation

Field experiment was conducted during 2010-2011 at the research farm of Water Technology Centre, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, India to study the economic viability of baby corn (Zea mays L.) cultivation round the year (October-February, April-July and August-November) under fertigation system. The present study consisted of nine treatments which includes three fertigation frequencies (biweekly, weekly and fortnightly) and three dripper 0.5, 1.0 and 1.5 kg/cm2 system operating pressures. Yield attributes of baby corn were significantly (P<0.05) affected by fertigation frequencies. Highest yield of cob, corn and fodder were recorded in biweekly fertigation schedule with dripper discharge at system operating pressure of 1.0 kg/cm2 (132.5, 22.5, 633.3 q/ha) during 2nd season however, lowest yields of cob, corn and fodder (65.8, 11.2 and 454.6 q/ha) were recorded under fortnightly fertigation schedule with dripper discharge at system operating pressure of 1.5 kg/cm2 during 3rd season. High values of benefit cost ratio (3.63) under biweekly fertigation during 2nd season and low values of benefit cost ratio (1.47) were found under fortnightly fertigation during 3rd season