• The Journal of Industrial Distribution & Business
• /
• v.14 no.10
• /
• pp.23-33
• /
• 2023

Purpose: This paper provides a literature review of both qualitative and quantitative research on service delivery in urban local authorities as portrayed in literature and offers more insight into the concept thereby developing and facilitating an improved understanding of service delivery and proffering strategies for improving service delivery in urban local authorities. Research design, data and methodology: The study adopted a desktop research methodology. Empirical and theoretical research and articles which are relevant to service delivery in urban local authorities are reviewed and analysed. Only secondary information gathered through those articles and research is used to analyse and build literature review on service delivery in urban local authorities. Results: a literature review of both qualitative and quantitative research on service delivery in urban local authorities as portrayed in literature proffering strategies for improving service delivery in urban local authorities. Conclusions: It is evident that service delivery is an area which needs more attention, especially in developing countries. The service delivery environment is also changing rapidly, calling for strategies to match such changes. This paper facilitates an improved understanding of service delivery, proffering strategies for improving service delivery in urban local authorities. These strategies are essential in improving service delivery challenges.

• Korean Journal of Culture and Social Issue
• /
• v.12 no.5_spc
• /
• pp.29-43
• /
• 2006

With longevity (75 years plus and still increasing) now commonly achievable, the new challenge for individuals and society is less concerned with adding more years to life, though that remains important, and more with adding life to years. To explore the quality of long life more fully, a concept broader than healthy ageing or active ageing is needed. For this purpose, the present article describes a framework of Positive Ageing, also known as Successful Ageing, which views the quality of long life as comprising good health, physical and cognitive functional independence, and meaningful engagement with life. Narrowly defined, it refers to old people ageing well in all these aspects. More broadly defined, it refers to ageing well from midlife on. The framework also identifiesvariables that may affect the process of ageing positively. These variables include the social-cognitive styles of control, humour and future-time perspective on the one hand, and on the other hand, resources based on finance, social network and lifestyle.

• International Journal of Advanced Culture Technology
• /
• v.11 no.4
• /
• pp.406-416
• /
• 2023

Alarm system performance is a critical aspect of safety. While existing research has extensively examined the influence of acoustic attributes on alarm performance, consonance's impact remains largely uncharted territory. This study bridges this research gap by investigating the effect of consonance on alarm systems. We extend our investigation to encompass not only the sound characteristics of the alarm but also the acoustic qualities of the surrounding environment, recognizing their potential impact on alarm efficacy. Prior studies consistently link consonance to annoyance levels, resulting in a negative user experience. Thus, we explore the relationship between consonance and alarm system performance, with a particular focus on modulating annoyance as an explanatory factor. Utilizing an oddball paradigm, we categorized standard and oddball sounds into consonant and dissonant types, creating four sound combinations. Participants were asked to respond to the irregularly presented oddball sounds while ignoring the constantly presented standard sounds. Our results reveal significant differences between groups, with the Standard Consonant/Oddball Dissonant (SC/OD) group displaying notably slower response times than the Standard Dissonant/Oddball Consonant (SD/OC) group. This reaction time variation aligns with differences in annoyance levels, as the SC/OD group reports higher annoyance, suggesting that reaction time discrepancies may be linked to increased arousal due to heightened annoyance.

• The Journal of Industrial Distribution & Business
• /
• v.15 no.1
• /
• pp.9-18
• /
• 2024

Purpose: The study aims to develop literature review on innovative leadership in order to study main areas of research and present the status of innovative leadership. The study brings out the importance of innovative leadership given the rate at which the business environment is changing. The development of literature also enhances an understanding of the innovative leadership concept. Research design, data and methodology: The study adopted a desktop research methodology. Empirical and theoretical researches and articles which are relevant to innovative leadership are reviewed and analysed. Only secondary information gathered through those articles and researches is used to analyse and build literature review on innovative leadership. Results: A literature review of both qualitative and quantitative research on innovative leadership as portrayed in literature propose the new research direction that aims at unravelling the importance of adopting innovative leadership as a leadership style. Conclusions: It is evident that innovative leadership is an area which needs more attention especially in contemporary organisations. The service delivery environment is also changing rapidly thereby calling for strategies to match such changes. This paper facilitates improved understanding of innovative leadership, proffering solutions to a number of leadership challenges within various organisations.

• Science of Emotion and Sensibility
• /
• v.26 no.4
• /
• pp.93-102
• /
• 2023

Emojis and avatars are widely used in online communications, but their emotional conveyance lacks research. This study aims to contribute to the field of emotional expression in computer-mediated communication (CMC) by exploring the effectiveness of emotion recognition, the intensity of perceived emotions, and the perceived preferences for emojis and avatars as emotional expression tools. The following were used as stimuli: 12 photographs from the Yonsei-Face database, 12 Memojis that reflected the photographs, and 6 iOS emojis. The results of this study indicate that emojis outperformed other forms of emotional expression in terms of conveying emotions, intensity, and preference. Indeed, the study findings confirm that emojis remain the dominant form of emotional signals in CMC. In contrast, the study revealed that Memojis were inadequate as an expressive emotional cue. Participants did not perceive Memojis to effectively convey emotions compared with other forms of expression, such as emojis or real human faces. This suggests room for improvement in the design and implementation of Memojis to enhance their effectiveness in accurately conveying intended emotions. Addressing the limitations of Memojis and exploring ways to optimize their emotional expressiveness necessitate further research and development in avatar design.

• Molecules and Cells
• /
• v.26 no.5
• /
• pp.496-502
• /
• 2008

Cryparin, encoded as a single copy gene (Crp) of the chestnut blight fungus Cryphonectria parasitica, is the most abundant protein produced by this fungus. However, its accumulation is decreased remarkably in C. parastica strains containing the double-stranded (ds) RNA virus Cryphonectria hypovirus 1. To characterize the transcriptional regulatory element(s) for strong expression and viral regulation, promoter analysis was conducted. Serial deletion of the Crp promoter region resulted in a step-wise decrease in promoter activity, indicating a localized distribution of genetic elements in the cryparin promoter. Promoter analysis indicated two positive and a repressive cis-acting elements. Among them, the promoter region between nt -1,282 and -907 appeared to be necessary for hypoviral-mediated down-regulation. An electrophoretic mobility shift assay (EMSA) on the corresponding promoter region (-1,282/-907) indicated two regions at (-1,257/-1,158) and (-1,107/-1,008) with the characteristic AGGAGGA-N42-GAGAGGA and its inverted repeat TCCTCTC-N54-TCCTCCT, respectively, appeared to be specific binding sites for cellular factors.

• Safety and Health at Work
• /
• v.6 no.2
• /
• pp.134-138
• /
• 2015

Background: Noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) is a major preventable occupational health problem with 250 million people worldwide known to have disabling impairment of moderate to greater severity. The aims of the study are to estimate the prevalence of NIHL in the police force; and study its association with age, sex, duration of service (years), smoking and alcohol habits, use of hearing protective devices, as well as preexisting chronic diseases. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 543 police personnel who had undergone periodic medical examination over a 12-month period. The diagnostic criteria for NIHL were (1) history of occupational noise exposure, (2) bilateral hearing loss, (3) hearing loss of ${\geq}25dBA$ at 4,000 Hz in two consecutive audiograms, and (4) no significant medical history affecting hearing. Severity of NIHL was based on the World Health Organization grading. Results: Males (74.8%) made up the majority of the police force. The mean age for police personnel was $35.55{\pm}9.57years$, and the mean duration of service was $14.75{\pm}9.39years$. Compliance with the usage of hearing protective devices was seen in 64.4%. The prevalence of NIHL in this study population was 34.2%, with a higher prevalence in males (37.7%) than in females (23.9%). The study also showed strong associations between NIHL and male sex (odds ratio, 1.9; P < 0.05), and hypertension (odds ratio, 3.3; P < 0.001). Overall, 93% were found to have mild NIHL, 3.5% had moderate NIHL, and 3.5% had severe NIHL. No police personnel were found to have profound hearing loss. Conclusion: The prevalence of NIHL in this study is high compared to other similar studies among police personnel. This study shows that increasing age, male, presence of hypertension, diabetes, and longer duration of service are significant associated factors for NIHL. Preventative strategies include health surveillance, implementation of a hearing conservation program, and legislation.

• Smart Structures and Systems
• /
• v.12 no.1
• /
• pp.41-54
• /
• 2013

Concrete is known as a heterogeneous product which is composed of complex chemical composition and reaction. The development of concrete thermal effect during early age is critical on its future structural health and long term durability. When cement is mixed with water, the exothermic chemical reaction generates hydration heat, which raises the temperature within the concrete. Consequently, cracking may occur if the concrete temperature rises too high or if there is a large temperature difference between the interior and the exterior of concrete structures during early age hydration. This paper describes the contribution of novel Fabry-Perot (FP) fiber optic temperature sensors to investigate the thermal effects of concrete hydration process. Concrete specimens were manufactured under various water-to-cement (w/c) ratios from 0.40 to 0.60. During the first 24 hours of concreting, two FP fiber optic temperature sensors were inserted into concrete specimens with the protection of copper tubing to monitor the surface and core temperature change. The experimental results revealed effects of w/c ratios on surface and core temperature developments during early age hydration, as well as demonstrating that FP fiber optic sensors are capable of capturing temperature variation in the concrete with reliable performance. Temperature profiles are used for calculating the apparent activation energy ($E_a$) and the heat of hydration (H(t)) of concrete, which can help us to better understand cement hydration.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
• /
• v.28 no.2
• /
• pp.116-121
• /
• 2015

Background: To explore the relationship between persistent post-radiotherapy pain and locoregional recurrence in head and neck cancer patients. Methods: Five year retrospective data was reviewed of 86 patients of head and neck cancer treated with radiotherapy who continued to have pain at 6 weeks after completion of treatment. At follow-up after 3 months, these patients were stratified into: Group A (n = 39) constituted of patients whose pain subsided and Group B (n = 47) were patients who continued to have persistent pain. Results: At median follow-up time of 25 months (range: 8-47), one patient (2.6%) and 18 (38.3%) patients in group A and group B had locoregional recurrence respectively (P < 0.0001). Furthermore, group B patients had higher mean pain score levels as compared to group A (P = 0.03). Patients in whom pain subsided within 3 months had statistically much greater disease-free survival in comparison to those with persistent pain (P < 0.0001). Conclusions: Pain in head and neck cancer is an important symptom and should be considered a poor prognostic factor. In the current study, the majority of the patients with persistent pain had recurrent disease as compared to those in whom pain subsided within 3 months of post-treatment. It is suggested that patients with persistent pain need more intense follow-up and should be investigated thoroughly to detect recurrence at an early stage to provide a better quality of life.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
• /
• v.24 no.7
• /
• pp.982-992
• /
• 2011

Three experiments were carried out to determine the nutritional value and to verify the pig performance in growing and finishing phases (30 to 90 kg) fed on diets containing common corn (CC), high-lysine corn (HLC) and high-oil corn (HOC). In the total digestibility trial (Exp. I) 12 barrows were used. Values of digestible energy (DE) and metabolizable energy (ME) as-fed basis for CC, HLC and HOC, were: 3,396 and 3,275 kcal/kg; 3,248 and 3,139 kcal/kg; 3,445 and 3,308 kcal/kg, respectively. In order to determine the apparent and true ileal digestibility coefficients of amino acids, as well as the values of true digestible amino acids of the CC, HLC and HOC, an ileal digestibility trial was done (Exp. II) with T-cannulated barrows ("T" simple). The treatments consisted of three diets, with one of them as the sole source of protein (CC, HLC and HOC). In the performance experiment (Exp. III), 36 crossbred pigs, allotted in a completely randomized design with three treatments and 12 replications were used. Treatments consisted of three diets: 1 - CC; 2 - HLC and 3 - HOC. It was observed no difference for performance and carcass variables among the corns with different nutritional profiles. Results of the three experiments highlighted the importance of segregating corns in their real chemical and energetic composition as well as the values of true digestible amino acids for formulating diets for growing and finishing pigs.