176 research outputs found
A model for enhancing empowerment in farmers using mobile based information system
Farmers living in rural villages of Sri Lanka do not have proper access to information to make informed decisions about their livelihoods and as a result they face constant hardships in their lives. They use mobile phones to communicate but these are not currently connected to the Internet. We are investigating how to provide personalized information to farmers with the aim of empowering them to make informed decisions and take appropriate actions. In this paper we propose an empowerment model that has been designed to achieve their goals which have been identified using a scenario-based approach. The model examines several empowerment processes and supporting tools that would help them to achieve their goals with the hope that they would have an increased sense of control, self-efficacy, knowledge and competency. This empowerment model is applied to the development of a mobile based information system that is being developed by an international collaborative research group to address the issues of the farmers.<br /
Measuring Empowerment to evaluate the impact of a Mobile Based Information System for Sri Lankan Farmers
We are investigating ways to empower Sri Lankan farmers through a technology-based intervention to enhance their livelihood activities. Using empowerment theory and related concepts, we have created a conceptual model of psychological empowerment and identified a person’s level of empowerment as a reflection of their sense of control, self-efficacy, competence and motivation. We interviewed 50 farmers and used content analysis to identify the empowerment concepts in our model and measure their current level of empowerment. This paper reports our method for determining empowerment levels and provides findings from our interviews. The results revealed that the majority of farmers have low sense of control, average levels of self-efficacy and high levels of farming knowledge but lack of access to timely information reduced their competency in dealing with new problems. The method will be used in follow-up interviews to determine whether levels of empowerment have increased as a result of technology intervention
Design and Evaluation of a Mobile-based Cultivation Planning Application for empowering Sri Lankan Farmers
We have field tested a profit calculator for Sri Lankan farmers as a part of our investigation to develop mobile-based tools for empowerment. Lack of access to information to support livelihood activities is creating economic hardships for the farmers. Though the majority of the farmers use mobile phones there aren’t many useful mobile applications for them. In the field test we captured farmers’ experiences of using the profit calculator and a revised set of requirements. When reflecting on these observations we realised that instead of developing ICT applications just to provide information or perform tasks, we need to develop applications based on user goal-oriented empowerment processes. Based on this insight, we reviewed our original design of the profit calculator and designed a new Cultivation Planning Application
RISK FACTORS, TRENDS, HEALTH CARE AND GENERAL LIFE SATISFACTION FOR SELECT NEUROLOGICAL CONDITIONS AMONG AN AGING POPULATION IN CANADA
There is an increasing number of people with neurological conditions. These people are living longer due to advances in critical care medicine and increasing survival and life expectancy rates among an aging population. As a result, neurological conditions and their attendant disabilities impact over 3.7 million people living in Canada and account for large health care expenditures, both by the publicly funded health system and through out-of-pocket payments by individuals with the conditions. Our main objective is to discover, other factors besides age, that affect the quality of life for Canadians living with neurological conditions. We use nationally representative population based survey data to identify risk factors, trends, health care and general life satisfaction for select neurological conditions found among Canadians. In order to inform health systems planning and direction of financial resources, policy and services, especially amidst grim predictions on the overall burden of these conditions on the Canadian economy, we examine specific neurological conditions (Alzheimer’s disease (AD)/dementia, Parkinson’s disease (PD), stroke effects, migraine headaches, multiple sclerosis (MS), cerebral palsy, epilepsy, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Huntington's disease, Tourette’s syndrome, dystonia, muscular dystrophy, hydrocephalus, spina bifida, brain and spinal cord tumors, and brain and spinal cord injuries), either independently or collectively in four distinct studies.
In the first study, chapter 3, we confirmed through our systematic review and meta-analysis that toxic occupational exposures are significant risk factors for the development of Parkinson’s disease especially that confirmed by a neurologist or nurse using standardized diagnostic methodology.
The second study analyzed the trends in AD/dementia prevalence by age, gender, education and geographic regions and found increasing prevalence across all strata of the community, with more men than women living with AD/dementia in the community. Increases in prevalence over the twenty-year period were less among those with higher levels of education and in the 45-64 age category, while prevalence was higher in the 65-79 age category and ballooned in the 80+ age categories of both men and women.
The third study assessed the relationship between self-reported unmet care needs and general health care satisfaction, satisfaction with physician and satisfaction with hospital services among Canadians with neurological conditions. We found that patient satisfaction was positively influenced by quality and availability of provincial and received care and being satisfied with life in general while unmet health care needs and receiving emergency services at the hospital had a negative impact on patient satisfaction.
The final study which examined the association between spirituality/religiosity and general life satisfaction among Canadians with neurological conditions found a protective relationship between spiritual values providing strength to face everyday difficulties, regular attendance at religious services and self-perceived physical and mental health and satisfaction with life in general.
The final take-home messages from our findings is that a population-based approach and a coordinated holistic system of care are needed for primary prevention of neurological conditions and the enhanced quality of life among the patients
Disminucion de las restrinciones de inversion en el extranjero : Un analisis sobre los potenciales retornos de los fondos de pensiones
113 p.Este trabajo tiene como fin analizar el efecto sobre la relación riesgo – retorno producido por la ampliación de los límites de inversión en el extranjero, existentes sobre los recursos que gestionan las Administradoras de Fondos de Pensiones (AFP) en Chile, que ha pasado de un límite máximo de 30% a un 35% en septiembre del 2007, posteriormente ampliado a un 80% por la reforma previsional. Dichos recursos pertenecen a todos los trabajadores afiliados a ellas, que mes a mes, disponen de parte de sus ingresos para ahorrarlos a través de este sistema privado de administración de pensiones. Para llevar a cabo esta investigación, se tomarán índices bursátiles de bolsas internacionales entregadas por Yahoo Finance, trabajando con 60 datos mensuales de retornos reales, es decir, corregidos por inflación y tipo de cambio, con el fin de utilizarlos como mejor estimador del futuro. Se examinarán los potenciales retornos de los fondos y sus respectivos niveles de riesgo mediante un ejercicio académico, analizando los cambios sobre la frontera de mínima varianza, dados distintos niveles de restricciones, a través de Solver, el optimizador de Microsoft Excel. Finalmente, se logró confirmar que la disminución de las restricciones de inversión en el extranjero producirá un efecto positivo sobre las rentabilidades de los fondos de pensiones, aumentando el retorno marginal recibido por igual cantidad de riesgo aceptado y por consiguiente, se concluye que dicha política será potencialmente beneficiosa para los afiliados a este sistema, incrementando las pensiones a las que puedan optar en hasta un 12,4%, para un mismo nivel de riesgo representado por una volatilidad de 1,3% mensual
Design for Empowerment: Empowering Sri Lankan Farmers through Mobile-based Information System
We developed a mobile-based information system (MBIS) to empower users to improve their livelihood activities. To do so, we first developed an empowerment framework (since one does not exist) as a basis to develop the MBIS. In particular, we conducted this research to solve an agriculture over-production problem in Sri Lanka where farmers remain trapped in a poverty cycle. They cannot make informed decisions due to lack of access to timely, context-based actionable information to achieve a good revenue. We had to generate some essential information such as current production level in real-time by capturing farmers’ decisions such as what and how much to grow. For this purpose, we needed to empower farmers to actively engage them in informed decision-making process through the MBIS. In evaluating the impact of the MBIS, we found a statistically significant positive change in farmers’ empowerment levels based on measuring self-efficacy, sense of control, and motivation before and after they used the application. Commercial organizations have since adopted this mobile-based system in India and Sri Lanka to solve agricultural problems, in universities Africa to mitigate hidden hunger, and the Corporative Research Center in Australia to develop digital health applications to manage chronic diseases, which indicates the approach’s wide adoptability
Comparing Narratives of Personal and Preferred Partner Characteristics in Online Dating Advertisements
This study explored online personal ads of 294 heterosexual and homosexual men and women in the United States through a qualitative analysis and comparison of participant-generated “personal” and “preferred partner” narratives. Nine characteristics were identified and combined into three overarching categories: physical, lifestyle, and personality characteristics. These three personal and preferred partner characteristics were examined for difference by gender, sexual orientation, age and desired relationship type of the advertisers. Main effects emerged for all four predictors, most notably for age and desired relationship type. Additionally, this study explored the possibility that personal and preferred partner narratives contained similar constellations of characteristics, finding significant correlations on all three variables, lending support for the matching hypothesis in dating partner characteristics
Telefonia IP: ¿inversion atractiva? el caso de Forestal Celco S.A
155 p.Las telecomunicaciones, sin lugar a dudas, juegan un papel fundamental en la vida diaria de personas y empresas. Es por esta razón, que cada día se están desarrollando nuevas aplicaciones que permiten la conectividad en todo momento, proporcionando calidad de servicio y ahorro de costos a los usuarios. La relevancia de este tema en la actualidad, incentivó a que se realizara una evaluación económica de implementación de telefonía IP para Forestal Celco S.A. Además en esta memoria, se plantea un intento de cuantificar una mejora en la productividad de los trabajadores de la empresa, producto del uso de esta tecnología, y posteriormente se define un protocolo, que sirva de guía a las organizaciones que quieran formular una evaluación de implementación de telefonía IP. Para la evaluación económica, se utilizaron como flujos de cajas los ahorros de costos provenientes del diferencial, entre los costos que actualmente incurre la empresa por telefonía tradicional y los costos que incurriría bajo un sistema telefónico IP. Estos ahorros, luego de considerar el beneficio tributario de la depreciación, y deducidos de impuestos, fueron descontados a una tasa, o costo de capital de 6,9%. La inversión inicial, se estimó mediante un presupuesto proporcionado por la empresa Magenta S.A., monto neto ascendente a 35.610.913, la TIR en un 15,88% y el Payback descontado indica que se recuperará la inversión en el periodo 6. Analizando estos resultados se puede apreciar que el proyecto es muy atractivo, sustentado además por el análisis de escenarios, ante el cual, se puede apreciar que en un escenario optimista y esperado el proyecto es rentable. En lo que respecta a la productividad, se realizó un proxy para cuantificar los beneficios de este ítem, a través de un estudio realizado por la consultora norteamericana Sage Reseach Inc., por lo tanto, los resultados son del orden indicativo y no significativo para todos los casos. Los beneficios, reflejados en un aumento de la productividad de los trabajadores de la empresa se valorizaron en $244.715.214 anuales. En síntesis se puede decir que la implementación de telefonía IP, en una empresa de estas características, sin lugar a dudas es factible, y es importante que las organizaciones conozcan este caso, vean los beneficios que otorga este sistema telefónico y así sacar provecho de esta tecnología
Evaluacion economica de una plantacion de avellano europeo localizada en la Region de Maule
83 p.El avellano europeo es un frutal menor cuyo destino es mayormente el mercado internacional y la superficie plantada ha aumentado significativamente en los últimos años. En Chile se concentra principalmente en la zona central, pero concretamente en la Región del Maule.
Esta investigación comprende indicadores de rentabilidad y eficiencia económica para la producción de avellano europeo, variedad Barcelona. Los requerimientos para valorizar la inversión y costos del proyecto fueron recopilados a partir de productores localizados en la Región del Maule.
El proyecto fue ordenado de acuerdo a 3 etapas: establecimiento, formación y producción; con un horizonte de evaluación de 15 años, un tamaño de 100 hectáreas y sin valor residual.
Los precios fueron obtenidos de acuerdo a un promedio de las exportaciones FOB de Chile, pero para ser conservador se disminuyó en 10% el precio promedio, fijándolo en US 511.008; (TIR) de 22,67%; (IVAN) es 2,54%; y payback de 7; años. Cabe mencionar que el precio de quiebre es de 260 por Kg.; (MU) se comporta de manera creciente hasta el año 10, manteniéndose en $ 800 por Kg. y (RSC) obtiene un valor máximo el año 10 de 105,48%. Finalmente el cultivo de avellano europeo, bajo las condiciones planteadas, es rentable desde el punto de vista económico
Evaluacion economica de instalacion de una planta deshidratadora de hongos en la Comuna de Empedrado
102 p.Este negocio consiste en asegurar una oferta de temporada del hongo silvestre comestible Boletus Luteus, cuyo nombre científico es Suillus Luteus, a un mercado objetivo ubicado en la UE, específicamente el mercado alemán, lo cual implica una capacidad instalada de producción de 3.000 kilos de hongos secos al mes, y de esta forma producir para ese mercado 15.000 kilos anuales, los cuales son posibles de concretar previo acuerdo con la empresa alemana distribuidora de este producto.
Para llevar a cabo este negocio se necesita una inversión de FOB 9,5387.-, es decir, a 530,26.-.
De acuerdo a las expectativas de ventas al mes de 3.000 kilos de este producto (por periodo de 5 meses al año) y un horizonte de vida económica de 5 años, el VAN de los flujos de caja es de $52.785.073.- descontados a una tasa del 10%
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