Development of Strategies for the Production of Bachelor Degree’s Social Science Graduates: An Analysis of Rate of Return on Investment

Return to investment in education based on human capital theory has been estimated since the late 1950s. This paper reviews the concept of the profitability of investment in higher education and enumerates the various techniques that have been used in the literature to estimate the rate of return to investment in higher education. The various estimating techniques are illustrated by using bachelor degree‘s social science graduates survey data from private organization in stock exchange of Thailand for designing higher education policy. This paper reports bachelor degree’s graduates estimates of private rate of return in social science majors consist of Economics, Laws, Politics, Business Administration and Educations. This paper also interviews the specialists in social science majors, top management executives and human resource manager in private organization in stock exchange of Thailand for development in social science graduate production strategies.The results of interviews from specialists in social science majors, top management executives and human resource manager in private organization in stock exchange of Thailand with the analysis concluded the way to improve social science bachelor degree graduate returns consisting of 1) Improve the important skill consists of international language, computer literacy, creativity idea, competitiveness development. 2) The specialists and human resource manager has recommended the graduate to test the knowledge or Certificates Graduate that is recognized by most employers to enhance competitiveness, including English language skills (TOEIC, TOEFL, IELT) or professional knowledge of the Finance (Single License, Derivative License, CFA, CPA) 3) Universities should Guidelines to enhance the recruitment of graduates. The knowledge and training to provide graduates with the skills or certificates that are accepted by most employers to enhance their competitiveness in the labor market

“What is an appropriate dosage and interval of vitamin D2 supplementation to achieve a sufficiency level in postmenopausal women of Thailand?” A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial

AbstractObjectiveThis study primarily evaluated serum 25-hydroxy vitamin D levels in postmenopausal women with vitamin D insufficiency who received different dosages and intervals of vitamin D2 supplementation. We secondarily evaluated the percentages of those who achieved vitamin D sufficiency level (Defined as ≥30 ng/ml).Study designRandomized double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.MethodsPostmenopausal women who met the criteria of vitamin D insufficiency (<30 ng/mL) were randomized into 4 groups (N = 25/group). Participants received a 12 week-treatment of different dosages and intervals of vitamin D2 (placebo, vitamin D2 20,000 IU/2 weeks, vitamin D2 20,000 IU/week, and vitamin D2 40,000 IU/week). Serum total 25-hydroxy vitamin D was determined at baseline, after 4 and 12 weeks of supplementation with electrochemiluminescence immunoassay (Elecys, Roche Diagnostics). Changes of 25-hydroxy vitamin D levels were compared among the groups.ResultsForty seven percent of postmenopausal women (100/212) screened for study enrolment were found to have vitamin D insufficiency. At 12 weeks, serum 25-hydroxy vitamin D increased significantly from baseline in all groups (p < 0.01) (mean serum 25-hydroxy vitamin D level increased from 23.03 ± 4.56 at baseline to 25.60 ± 4.79 ng/ml (placebo), 23.54 ± 5.14 to 27.83 ± 5.27 ng/ml (vitamin D2 20,000 IU/2 weeks), 22.68 ± 5.21 to 30.50 ± 5.14 ng/ml (vitamin D2 20,000 IU/week), and 22.88 ± 4.83 to 37.89 ± 5.47 ng/ml (vitamin D2 40,000 IU/week)). In addition, the 25-hydroxy vitamin D levels were statistically significantly different at 4 and 12 weeks (p < 0.01) among all 4 groups. The percentages of those achieving vitamin D sufficiency level after 12 weeks of supplementation were 16% (placebo), 27.3% (vitamin D2 20,000 IU/2 weeks), 44% (vitamin D2 20,000 IU/week), and 86.4% (vitamin D2 40,000 IU/week); statistically significantly different among the four groups (p < 0.01). There was no participant with 25-hydroxy vitamin D after 12 weeks of >50 ng/mL in this study.ConclusionVitamin D2 40,000 IU/week was found to be the most effective dosage for postmenopausal women in this study to achieve serum vitamin D sufficiency level

Validation of the Thai Osteoporosis Foundation and Royal College of Orthopaedic Surgeons of Thailand Clinical Practice Guideline for bone mineral density measurement in postmenopausal women

AbstractObjectiveThe primary objective of this study was to determine the sensitivity, specificity, and predictive values of the Thai Osteoporosis Foundation (TOPF) and Royal College of Orthopaedic Surgeons of Thailand (RCOST) Clinical Practice Guideline for bone mineral density (BMD) measurement for the detection of postmenopausal osteoporosis. Its secondary objective was to find better indicators to detect postmenopausal osteoporosis.MethodsPostmenopausal women were enrolled in this study between June and December 2014. The clinical risk factors following TOPF and RCOST Clinical Practice Guideline for BMD measurement were collected. Bone mineral density was measured using dual energy X-ray absorptiometry.ResultsFour hundred postmenopausal women were enrolled in the study. The mean age of the studied population was 66.16 ± 6.04 years. Twenty-seven percent of the participants had either osteoporosis of the lumbar spine, femoral neck, or total hip, of which 13.3% had osteoporosis at the lumbar spine, 21.3% had osteoporosis at the femoral neck, and 2.5% had osteoporosis of the total hip. The sensitivity and specificity for detecting osteoporosis of the whole TOPF and RCOST guideline were 96.2% and 16.7%, 98.8% and 18.7%, 90.0% and 15.1%, and 97.2% and 19.5% at the lumbar spine, femoral neck, total hip, and any sites, respectively. Multiple logistic regression analysis revealed that only OSTA ≤−1, osteopenia on X-ray and low trauma fracture after age of 40 years were significant clinical risk factors in the detection of postmenopausal osteoporosis. The Receiver Operating Characteristics (ROC) curve was used to obtain the optimum probability value of osteoporosis at any sites which revealed that the probability value of 0.2222236 would have a sensitivity of 67% and specificity of 62% as the optimal cut point to detect osteoporosis. A simple flow diagram of “OSTA ≤−1”, “Osteopenia on X-ray” and “A history of low trauma fracture after age of 40 years” was developed as a better trade-off guideline for BMD measurement.ConclusionsThis study revealed that the TOPF and RCOST guideline for BMD measurement provided a high true positive rate of disease detection but with an expense of high false positive rate. The simple flow diagram was proposed as a more appropriate guideline for BMD measurement in postmenopausal women

Which method is best for the induction of labour?: A systematic review, network meta-analysis and cost-effectiveness analysis

Background: More than 150,000 pregnant women in England and Wales have their labour induced each year. Multiple pharmacological, mechanical and complementary methods are available to induce labour. Objective: To assess the relative effectiveness, safety and cost-effectiveness of labour induction methods and, data permitting, effects in different clinical subgroups. Methods: We carried out a systematic review using Cochrane methods. The Cochrane Pregnancy and Childbirth Group’s Trials Register was searched (March 2014). This contains over 22,000 reports of controlled trials (published from 1923 onwards) retrieved from weekly searches of OVID MEDLINE (1966 to current); Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (The Cochrane Library); EMBASE (1982 to current); Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (1984 to current); ClinicalTrials.gov; the World Health Organization International Clinical Trials Registry Portal; and hand-searching of relevant conference proceedings and journals. We included randomised controlled trials examining interventions to induce labour compared with placebo, no treatment or other interventions in women eligible for third-trimester induction. We included outcomes relating to efficacy, safety and acceptability to women. In addition, for the economic analysis we searched the Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects, and Economic Evaluations Databases, NHS Economic Evaluation Database and the Health Technology Assessment database. We carried out a network meta-analysis (NMA) using all of the available evidence, both direct and indirect, to produce estimates of the relative effects of each treatment compared with others in a network. We developed a de novo decision tree model to estimate the cost-effectiveness of various methods. The costs included were the intervention and other hospital costs incurred (price year 2012–13). We reviewed the literature to identify preference-based utilities for the health-related outcomes in the model. We calculated incremental cost-effectiveness ratios, expected costs, utilities and net benefit. We represent uncertainty in the optimal intervention using cost-effectiveness acceptability curves. Results: We identified 1190 studies; 611 were eligible for inclusion. The interventions most likely to achieve vaginal delivery (VD) within 24 hours were intravenous oxytocin with amniotomy [posterior rank 2; 95% credible intervals (CrIs) 1 to 9] and higher-dose (≥ 50 μg) vaginal misoprostol (rank 3; 95% CrI 1 to 6). Compared with placebo, several treatments reduced the odds of caesarean section, but we observed considerable uncertainty in treatment rankings. For uterine hyperstimulation, double-balloon catheter had the highest probability of being among the best three treatments, whereas vaginal misoprostol (≥ 50 μg) was most likely to increase the odds of excessive uterine activity. For other safety outcomes there were insufficient data or there was too much uncertainty to identify which treatments performed ‘best’. Few studies collected information on women’s views. Owing to incomplete reporting of the VD within 24 hours outcome, the cost-effectiveness analysis could compare only 20 interventions. The analysis suggested that most interventions have similar utility and differ mainly in cost. With a caveat of considerable uncertainty, titrated (low-dose) misoprostol solution and buccal/sublingual misoprostol had the highest likelihood of being cost-effective. Limitations: There was considerable uncertainty in findings and there were insufficient data for some planned subgroup analyses. Conclusions: Overall, misoprostol and oxytocin with amniotomy (for women with favourable cervix) is more successful than other agents in achieving VD within 24 hours. The ranking according to safety of different methods was less clear. The cost-effectiveness analysis suggested that titrated (low-dose) oral misoprostol solution resulted in the highest utility, whereas buccal/sublingual misoprostol had the lowest cost. There was a high degree of uncertainty as to the most cost-effective intervention

Sustainability &amp; Economical Evaluation of the Smart and Energy Efficient Technologies for the Rammed-earth House in Accra Ghana : (Case Study in Accra, Ghana)

The energy consumption of buildings contributes 18% of world greenhouse gas emissions (GHG). This fact, along with the current increase in new African buildings, leads to vast opportunities for building sustainable buildings in Africa. The research aims to find which smart and sustainable technologies are economical and suitable for the rammed-earth building project in hot and humid climate for sustainable development, as is the case in Accra Ghana. Two evaluation steps were conducted - technologies evaluation and scenarios evaluation - by simulating energy demand reduction compared to the baseline for economic evaluation in IDA Indoor Climate Energy (ICE) software, together with Microsoft Excel and market research. Ten technologies were initially chosen and applied to the five scenarios by consideration for economics and suitability. The result shows that four out of five scenarios were economical. However, only two scenarios were suggested for the project - Realistic with variable refrigerant flow air-conditioning (Realistic with VRF AC) and Economic Internet of Things (Economic IoT) - when net present value (NPV), payback period, benefit per cost ratio (B/C), and suitability are taken into account. Moreover, the sensitivity analysis demonstrates that the occupancy pattern affects the energy consumption to some extent, and infiltration rate relates to energy consumption. These methods can be applied for possible future projects, and the results can be used as a reference for projects in hot and humid climates with rammed-earth construction.Energiförbrukningen i byggnader bidrar 18% av världens utsläpp av växthusgaser (GHG). Detta faktum, tillsammans med den nuvarande ökningen av nya afrikanska byggnader, leder till stora möjligheter att bygga hållbara byggnader i Afrika. Forskningen syftar till att ta reda på vilka smart och hållbar teknik är ekonomiskt och lämpar sig för rammade jorden byggprojekt i varmt och fuktigt klimat för hållbar utveckling, vilket är fallet i Accra i Ghana. Två steg utvärderingsfördes - teknik utvärdering och scenarier utvärdering - genom att simulera minskad energiförbrukning efterfrågan jämfört med baslinjen för ekonomisk utvärdering i IDA Indoor Climate Energy (ICE) programvara, tillsammans med Microsoft Excel och marknadsundersökningar. Tio tekniker initialt valt och tillämpas på de fem scenarier av hänsyn till ekonomi och lämplighet. Resultatet visar att fyra av fem scenarier var ekonomiskt. Emellertid var endast två scenarier som föreslås för projektet - realistisk med variabelt köldmedium luftkonditionering (realistisk med VRF AC) och ekonomiska sakernas Internet (Economic IoT) - när nuvärdet (NPV), återbetalningstid , nytta per kostnadskvot (B/C), och lämplighet beaktas. Dessutom känslighetsanalysen visar att beläggningen mönstret påverkar energiförbrukningen i viss mån, och infiltration avser energiförbrukning. Dessa metoder kan användas för eventuella framtida projekt, och resultaten kan användas som en referens för projekt i varma och fuktiga klimat med rammade-jord konstruktion

Sustainability &amp; Economical Evaluation of the Smart and Energy Efficient Technologies for the Rammed-earth House in Accra Ghana : (Case Study in Accra, Ghana)

The energy consumption of buildings contributes 18% of world greenhouse gas emissions (GHG). This fact, along with the current increase in new African buildings, leads to vast opportunities for building sustainable buildings in Africa. The research aims to find which smart and sustainable technologies are economical and suitable for the rammed-earth building project in hot and humid climate for sustainable development, as is the case in Accra Ghana. Two evaluation steps were conducted - technologies evaluation and scenarios evaluation - by simulating energy demand reduction compared to the baseline for economic evaluation in IDA Indoor Climate Energy (ICE) software, together with Microsoft Excel and market research. Ten technologies were initially chosen and applied to the five scenarios by consideration for economics and suitability. The result shows that four out of five scenarios were economical. However, only two scenarios were suggested for the project - Realistic with variable refrigerant flow air-conditioning (Realistic with VRF AC) and Economic Internet of Things (Economic IoT) - when net present value (NPV), payback period, benefit per cost ratio (B/C), and suitability are taken into account. Moreover, the sensitivity analysis demonstrates that the occupancy pattern affects the energy consumption to some extent, and infiltration rate relates to energy consumption. These methods can be applied for possible future projects, and the results can be used as a reference for projects in hot and humid climates with rammed-earth construction.Energiförbrukningen i byggnader bidrar 18% av världens utsläpp av växthusgaser (GHG). Detta faktum, tillsammans med den nuvarande ökningen av nya afrikanska byggnader, leder till stora möjligheter att bygga hållbara byggnader i Afrika. Forskningen syftar till att ta reda på vilka smart och hållbar teknik är ekonomiskt och lämpar sig för rammade jorden byggprojekt i varmt och fuktigt klimat för hållbar utveckling, vilket är fallet i Accra i Ghana. Två steg utvärderingsfördes - teknik utvärdering och scenarier utvärdering - genom att simulera minskad energiförbrukning efterfrågan jämfört med baslinjen för ekonomisk utvärdering i IDA Indoor Climate Energy (ICE) programvara, tillsammans med Microsoft Excel och marknadsundersökningar. Tio tekniker initialt valt och tillämpas på de fem scenarier av hänsyn till ekonomi och lämplighet. Resultatet visar att fyra av fem scenarier var ekonomiskt. Emellertid var endast två scenarier som föreslås för projektet - realistisk med variabelt köldmedium luftkonditionering (realistisk med VRF AC) och ekonomiska sakernas Internet (Economic IoT) - när nuvärdet (NPV), återbetalningstid , nytta per kostnadskvot (B/C), och lämplighet beaktas. Dessutom känslighetsanalysen visar att beläggningen mönstret påverkar energiförbrukningen i viss mån, och infiltration avser energiförbrukning. Dessa metoder kan användas för eventuella framtida projekt, och resultaten kan användas som en referens för projekt i varma och fuktiga klimat med rammade-jord konstruktion