Determinants of Patient Satisfaction in Hospital

Service quality is playing significance role in developing and building customer value and customer satisfaction in modern business world. In case of Sri Lankan government hospital, government has introduced several new attractive packages to enhance and also promote the patient satisfaction in different ways. Even though, success of implementation of the package is questionable. This study clearly investigates what types of factors impact of patient satisfaction in general hospital in Jaffna. Keywords; brand, Brand awareness, patient satisfactio

Experiences about Parent-Child Conflict Initiated by Television Advertisements: A Qualitative Research

Lack of research on parent-child conflicts and the extant research on conflict instigated by Television advertisements lacks in qualitative based frameworks that explains what managerial implications are appropriate for the marketers in the Jaffna district post war marketing context. Present study explored managerial implication for advertisers and public in Jaffna market. Using qualitative phenomenological approach, data were collected from10 parents in Jaffna by using preset questions based on a primary interview question as open- ended question format and codes were developed by the researcher. This paper is a key resource for marketing practitioners wanting to focus on future potential areas and also marketing academics interested in television advertising strategies that want to stay at the forefront of their research area of expertise. Through the concepts development, the researcher has found that vast conflicts between parents and their child is there in Jaffna district, especially after the post war marketing situation . Keywords: Television advertisements, experiences, post war & parent-child conflic

Corrective receding horizon EV charge scheduling using short-term solar forecasting

Forecast errors can cause sub-optimal solutions in resource planning optimization, yet they are usually modeled simplistically by statistical models, causing unrealistic impacts on the optimal solutions. In this paper, realistic forecast errors are prescribed, and a corrective approach is proposed to mitigate the negative effects of day-ahead persistence forecast error by short-term forecasts from a state-of-the-art sky imager system. These forecasts preserve the spatiotemporal dependence structure of forecast errors avoiding statistical approximations. The performance of the proposed algorithm is tested on a receding horizon quadratic program developed for valley filling the midday net load depression through electric vehicle charging. Throughout one month of simulations the ability to flatten net load is assessed under practical forecast accuracy levels achievable from persistence, sky imager and perfect forecasts. Compared to using day-ahead persistence solar forecasts, the proposed corrective approach using sky imager forecasts delivers a 25% reduction in the standard deviation of the daily net load. It is demonstrated that correcting day-ahead forecasts in real time with more accurate short-term forecasts benefits the valley filling solution

An Examine the Relationship between Participative Management Style and Student satisfaction

In modern world, many different management styles are implemented by managers to enhance individual and collective efficiency of stakeholders.  The study surveys the efficacy of participative management style that to what extent it is effective in the modern educational requirements. The study was conducted on one hundred seven students. The data were collected through a questionnaire regarding the type of management educational managers/administrators practice in their organizations.  Participative management style millions of public sector students could be given harmonious educational environment which is friendly, accommodating and helpful in their academic career and could bring back the golden days of public sector schools. Hence, the study suggests that public sector school managers should be offered management courses frequently so that by implementing participative management style quality education could be ensured. Key Words: Management, educational managers, collective efficacy, participative management

Novel cruzain inhibitors for the treatment of Chagas' disease.

The protozoan parasite Trypanosoma cruzi, the etiological agent of Chagas' disease, affects millions of individuals and continues to be an important global health concern. The poor efficacy and unfavorable side effects of current treatments necessitate novel therapeutics. Cruzain, the major cysteine protease of T. cruzi, is one potential novel target. Recent advances in a class of vinyl sulfone inhibitors are encouraging; however, as most potential therapeutics fail in clinical trials and both disease progression and resistance call for combination therapy with several drugs, the identification of additional classes of inhibitory molecules is essential. Using an exhaustive virtual-screening and experimental validation approach, we identify several additional small-molecule cruzain inhibitors. Further optimization of these chemical scaffolds could lead to the development of novel drugs useful in the treatment of Chagas' disease

Comparative analysis of protein expression systems and PTM landscape in the study of transcription factor ELK-1

Post-translational modifications (PTMs) are important for protein folding and activity, and the ability to recreate physiologically relevant PTM profiles on recombinantly-expressed proteins is vital for meaningful functional analysis. The ETS transcription factor ELK-1 serves as a paradigm for cellular responses to mitogens and can synergise with androgen receptor to promote prostate cancer progression, although in vitro protein function analyses to date have largely overlooked its complex PTM landscapes. We expressed and purified human ELK-1 using mammalian (HEK293T), insect (Sf9) and bacterial (E. coli) systems in parallel and compared PTMs imparted upon purified proteins, along with their performance in DNA and protein interaction assays. Phosphorylation of ELK-1 within its transactivation domain, known to promote DNA binding, was most apparent in protein isolated from human cells and accordingly conferred the strongest DNA binding in vitro, while protein expressed in insect cells bound most efficiently to the androgen receptor. We observed lysine acetylation, a hitherto unreported PTM of ELK-1, which appeared highest in insect cell-derived ELK-1 but was also present in HEK293T-derived ELK-1. Acetylation of ELK-1 was enhanced in HEK293T cells following starvation and mitogen stimulation, and modified lysines showed overlap with previously identified regulatory SUMOylation and ubiquitination sites. Our data demonstrate that the choice of recombinant expression system can be tailored to suit biochemical application rather than to maximise soluble protein production and suggest the potential for crosstalk and antagonism between different PTMs of ELK-1

Goat-associated Q fever: a new disease in Newfoundland.

In the spring of 1999 in rural Newfoundland, abortions in goats were associated with illness in goat workers. An epidemiologic investigation and a serologic survey were conducted in April 1999 to determine the number of infections, nature of illness, and risk factors for infection. Thirty-seven percent of the outbreak cohort had antibody titers to phase II Coxiella burnetii antigen >1:64, suggesting recent infection. The predominant clinical manifestation of Q fever was an acute febrile illness. Independent risk factors for infection included contact with goat placenta, smoking tobacco, and eating cheese made from pasteurized goat milk. This outbreak raises questions about management of such outbreaks, interprovincial sale and movement of domestic ungulates, and the need for discussion between public health practitioners and the dairy industry on control of this highly infectious organism

Astrophysical Constraints on Modifying Gravity at Large Distances

Recently, several interesting proposals were made modifying the law of gravity on large scales, within a sensible relativistic formulation. This allows a precise formulation of the idea that such a modification might account for galaxy rotation curves, instead of the usual interpretation of these curves as evidence for dark matter. We here summarize several observational constraints which any such modification must satisfy, and which we believe make more challenging any interpretation of galaxy rotation curves in terms of new gravitational physics.Comment: References added, submitted to Classical & Quantum Gravit

The Dispersion Velocity of Galactic Dark Matter Particles

The self-consistent spatial distribution of particles of Galactic dark matter is derived including their own gravitational potential, as also that of the visible matter of the Galaxy. In order to reproduce the observed rotation curve of the Galaxy the value of the dispersion velocity of the dark matter particles, \rmsveldm, should be \sim 600\kmps or larger.Comment: RevTex, 4 pages, 1 ps figure, accepted for publication in Physical Review Letter

Homocysteine Metabolism in ZDF (Type 2) Diabetic Rats

Mild hyperhomocysteinemia is a risk factor for many diseases, including cardiovascular disease. We determined the effects of insulin resistance and of type 2 diabetes on homocysteine (Hcy) metabolism using Zucker diabetic fatty rats (ZDF/Gmi fa/fa and ZDF/Gmi fa/?). Plasma total Hcy was reduced in ZDF fa/fa rats by 24% in the pre-diabetic insulin-resistant stage, while in the frank diabetic stage there was a 59% reduction. Hepatic activities of several enzymes that play a role in the removal of Hcy: cystathionine β-synthase (CBS), cystathionine γ-lyase, and betaine:Hcy methyltransferase (BHMT) were increased as was methionine adenosyltransferase. CBS and BHMT mRNA levels and the hepatic level of S-adenosylmethionine were also increased in the ZDF fa/fa rats. Studies with primary hepatocytes showed that Hcy export and the transsulfuration flux in cells from ZDF fa/fa rats were particularly sensitive to betaine. Interestingly, liver betaine concentration was found to be significantly lower in the ZDf fa/fa rats at both 5 and 11 weeks. These results emphasize the importance of betaine metabolism in determining plasma Hcy levels in type 2 diabetes