Life Of People Research Articles

Understanding Dementia Carer Experiences Before Admission to a Residential Aged Care Facility: Implications for Integrated Care.

In-depth understanding of dementia carer experience can assist clinicians by providing insight into dementia onset, symptoms and management, and help conceptualize and understand the pattern of dementia progress over time and what help is needed. We undertook a qualitative study to understand dementia carers experiences of providing care and reasons for admission to a residential aged care facility (RACF). Three themes were identified: (1) Challenges in the path to diagnosis and care, leading to delays accessing support; (2) Carer role impacted by living circumstances; and (3) Variation in decision support prior to admission to a RACF. Identifying dementia carer experiences, reinforces the need for more timely diagnosis, referral for support and interventions to promote better quality of life for a people living with dementia and their carer and to delay premature RACF placement.

Factors influencing physical activity in individuals with head and neck cancer: a scoping review

ObjectivesHigher physical activity (PA) levels are associated with better quality of life in people with head and neck cancer (HNC). Despite this positive association, most individuals with these cancer types...

Experience of living with psoriasis in Brazil: a Global Psoriasis Atlas online survey.

Psoriasis significantly burdens patients' lives, but there is limited data on this in Brazil. Between May 2022 and January 2023, we conducted a cross-sectional online survey of 563 Brazilian residents aged ≥18 years who had been diagnosed with psoriasis. Spearman's correlation (r) was used to test the correlation between self-assessed disease severity (Simplified Psoriasis Index [saSPI] extent score; range 0 [clear/minor] to 40 [widespread/severe]) and health-related quality of life (QoL, score of 1 means perfect health) and capability (ICECAP-A: score of 1 means full capability) measures. Multivariable linear regression was used to identify predictors of QoL and capability. A thematic analysis examined the free-text responses and identified common themes. The mean age of participants was 42.1 ± 12.4 years, and over half had at least one other long-term condition. The mean QoL score was 0.59 ± 0.25, and the mean capability score was 0.71 ± 0.21. At the time of survey completion, over 80% of respondents reported some level of pain and/or discomfort, and 86% reported feeling anxious and/or depressed. The mean self-assessed saSPI was 7.8 ± 8.6, which negatively correlated with health-related QoL (r = -0.49, P < 0.05) and capability (r = -0.44, P < 0.05). Significant predictors of poorer QoL and reduced capability included high saSPI, number of psoriasis flares and comorbidities, female gender, Black ethnicity, and employment status (unemployed, long-term sick). Frequently reported areas that impacted patients were social stigma/prejudice, powerlessness, lack of education and public awareness, and difficulty obtaining appropriate care/treatment. We found that the clinical manifestations, severity, and associated comorbidities of psoriasis negatively impacted health-related QoL and capability, along with feelings of stigmatization and barriers to specialist treatment. This highlights the need for better access to care and awareness of the disease to improve the lives of people living with psoriasis in Brazil.

Research on the Construction Mechanism of Rural Grass-roots Cadres under the Leadership of Party Construction

As China enters a new stage of building Chinese-style modernization in an all-round way, rural grass-roots cadres, as an important force in rural grass-roots governance, bear the important responsibility of promoting rural economic development, social stability, and improvement of people's livelihood. This paper takes the construction mechanism of rural grass-roots cadres under the leadership of Party building as the core and discusses its significance to rural governance and rural development. Combining with case analysis, this paper proves that the combination mechanism of cadre selection and appointment, cadre training and education, cadre assessment, Party organization guidance and supervision, and cadre incentive and guarantee provides strong support and assurance for the construction of rural grass-roots cadres. It is of great significance to promote the effective implementation of the strategy of rural revitalization.

Improved random forest model for smoke detection and early warning based on sparrow search algorithm

Smoke detection technology is of great significance in the field of fire safety, aiming at the timely detection of smoke released from fires or other combustion events to safeguard people's lives and properties. In this paper, a smart smoke alarm device is developed based on AI algorithm using UCL open source dataset, which is processed by AI recognition after collecting data through IoT to achieve accurate judgement of smoke situation. The dataset is divided by 6:4 ratio, and the training set confusion matrix shows that all 1159 smoke alarm tests are correctly predicted, of which 445 times predict no smoke and 714 times predict smoke, with an accuracy rate of 100%. The test set confusion matrix shows that only 1 out of 1158 tests was incorrectly predicted, of which 184 predicted no smoke, 312 predicted smoke, and 1 was misjudged as no smoke even though it should have been smoke, with an accuracy rate of 99.7%. The successful application of this technology provides a reliable guarantee for fire warning and demonstrates the great potential of AI in the field of security.

Understanding and Addressing Consumer Post-Purchase Dissonance in E-commerce: Influential Factors and Effective Measurements

With the rapid development of technology and the widespread adoption of the Internet, e-commerce has become an integral part of people's daily lives. In e-commerce scenarios, consumers can browse and purchase goods anytime and anywhere, enjoying unprecedented convenience. However, at the same time, the issue of post-purchase dissonance has gradually become prominent. This paper aims to explore the influencing factors and management measures of consumer post-purchase dissonance psychology in e-commerce scenarios. The article first reviews the theory of post-purchase dissonance and the theory of perceived psychological contract violation-, providing a theoretical foundation for subsequent research. Then, through a literature review, it identifies multiple factors affecting consumer post-purchase dissonance, including customer service quality, costs incurred from returns, and uncertainties in online shopping. To effectively manage post-purchase dissonance, enterprise managers should focus on improving service quality, optimizing the return process, and reducing shopping uncertainties. Additionally, strengthening consumer education and enhancing their cognitive ability regarding product information and decision-making skills in shopping are also important ways to reduce post-purchase dissonance.

The Positive Effects of Physical Activity on Quality of Life in Parkinson’s Disease: A Systematic Review

Background: Physical activity can have positive effects on motor and non-motor symptoms in Parkinson’s disease, but its benefits in terms of quality of life and function are uncertain and vary based on the specific forms of activities and interventions. Objective: We sought to assess the current evidence on the positive effects of physical activity in people with Parkinson’s disease and more specifically in relation to its potential benefits for quality of life. Methods: This systematic review was conducted between January and April 2024 via the PubMed, Medline, and Scopus databases. Predetermined search criteria were used that included the following terms: “Parkinson’s disease”, “quality of life” and “physical activity”. Results: A total of 1669 articles were identified. After utilizing predetermined criteria, a total of fifteen articles met the selection criteria. Statistically significant improvements in quality of life were found in seven studies. Seven studies demonstrated a significant improvement in non-motor symptoms, while nine studies showed an improvement in motor symptoms. Conclusions: Despite heterogeneity in the study designs, interventions and clinical assessments, the articles identified in this review yielded mostly positive results in relation to physical activities. The findings reflect an improvement in motor and non-motor symptoms may translate to a better quality of life in people with Parkinson’s disease.

A study of the Performance of Haier Smart under Digital Transformation

In recent years, the digital boom has continued to hit, and global scientific and technological innovation has been unprecedentedly intensive and active. On the cusp of this 5G trend, emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, cloud sharing, and big data are emerging in an endless stream, constantly impacting traditional technologies and the real economy. The fourth industrial revolution has quietly penetrated into every corner of society. Both people's lives and the economic environment have been unprecedentedly affected. As an important pillar industry in the national economic construction, how to meet the digital transformation, seize the opportunity of digital transformation, enhance product value, and create new quality productivity has become particularly important. This paper takes digital transformation as the starting point, explores the motivation and path of Haier's digital transformation in the past ten years, and evaluates its performance. The study found that Haier Smart Home's digital transformation has improved the long-term performance of enterprises; the first enlightenment is to accelerate the transformation and upgrading and improve the degree of digital attention ; second, adhere to innovation-driven, enhance digital R &amp; D sales; third, create a digital platform to enhance the user's personalized experience. It is expected that the research in this paper can provide some reference for the digital transformation of other household appliance enterprises and bring some help to the digitization of China's household appliance manufacturing industry.

To Identify the Factors Affecting on Setup of New Township in MIDC Area

Increasing expenditures and financing charges on housing credits guarantee a property in a linked township springing up in the city's borders, making city home ownership increasingly inconvenient and expensive. These townships are billed as India's new land improvement strategy to satisfy urbanites' wealth and goals. Despite their initial launch, these independent townships with private, retail, and business operations will quickly spread across the country. Demographically, urbanization is the growing urban population of a nation. Due to rising urbanization, 52 percent of Maharashtra's population lived in urban areas in 2021, compared to 39 percent nationally. Given the expanding population in urban Maharashtra and Mumbai, the government has prioritized connecting new townships to better communication. Development is typically thought to improve people's lives. Net rural-to-urban migration drives most urbanization. Due to increased migration from rural to Pune city, population growth, traffic, drinking water, and other issues affect Pune residents' lifestyles. This study concentrates on Town-1 MIDC Park Project near Dehu and Jadhav Wadi. This area is neglected, but Maharashtra has allocated about 100 crores to develop it.

Implementing the Quality of Life and Potential of Social Farming

&lt;p style="text-align:justify"&gt;The present study explores the Quality of Life (QoL) of young people with intellectual disabilities engaged in a social farming initiative, known as ‘‘Tuttincampo: Social Farming and Inclusivity’’. The project stands as an innovative approach to improving social inclusion and providing vocational education and training. The initiative seeks to offer a viable alternative to traditional rehabilitation day centers by establishing a network of both public and private institutions. To explore the QoL of the young people we analyze data from the Personal Outcome Scale (POS), a tool that investigates the perception of QoL through self-assessment and hetero-assessment. Data were collected at the beginning and at the end of the social agriculture project. The results obtained confirm the importance of planning pedagogical actions to support social inclusion and vocational training for people with intellectual disabilities, highlighting, as well, the potential of social farming as a new “space” to achieve a higher level of QoL.&lt;/p&gt;

Exploring the effect of cognitive load in scenarios of daily driving

AbstractAlthough driving to and from work is an unavoidable part of the working life of many people, little is known about the relationship between work-related and drive-related cognitive load in daily commuting. To explore those relationships, Study 1 examined the effect of a demanding driving period on the performance of a subsequent cognitive task (mimicking a home-to-work commuting scenario). That driving-related higher cognitive load than the control condition was associated with an increased accuracy in the following cognitive task. Study 2 examined the effects of a period of demanding cognitive tasks on the performance of a subsequent driving task (mimicking a work-to-home commuting scenario). Although no reliable effect on speed or lane keeping ability in a virtual motorway scenario was observed, the completion of tasks under the higher cognitive load condition before driving led to a modest increase in the distance kept from the car ahead. The two sets of findings suggest that moderate levels of cognitive load could modulate the performance in timely contiguous tasks. The process underpinning possible spillover effects with such timestamp is unknow but might be linked to the activation of long-lasting attentional processes involving alertness. Hence, this exploratory study can be a catalyst for future studies investigating the interplay between cognitive load and driving in scenarios of daily commuting.

Natural language processing of social network data for the evaluation of agricultural and rural policies

Global sustainable development challenges affect the agricultural sector, and many innovations aimed at addressing these challenges have been introduced in the agri-food sector. In this complex context, new agricultural policies are being implemented in Europe. Their success depends on their potential to adapt to new realities, responding to the opinions and demands of the European population. Given the rapid rise of social media as an important part of people's daily lives, public administrations have introduced digitalization and communication strategies through social media sites. Social media can provide policymakers with large amounts of data on user opinions. Given the value of social media as a rich source of data on public views and opinions, the aim of this paper is twofold: (i) to use natural language processing (NLP) to identify the events that have led to negative or positive opinion about European Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) reform and (ii) to evaluate the ability of NLP to study users' opinions on Twitter/X. The findings show that issues such as Brexit, the European Green Deal, the role of CAP in the environment, livestock farming, food safety, and illegal practices and corruption in the distribution of CAP funds have crucial implications for the design and application of the new CAP. Moreover, the study also suggests that NLP techniques can provide opportunities to integrate agricultural policies and instruments in the agri-food sector by assessing society's opinions. Sentiment analysis, even considering its limitations, could support sound and inclusive policymaking approaches anticipating public opinion in cases of risk of social unrest.

Concept of Assessment of Age-Friendly Residential Areas (AFRA): A Case Study of Gdańsk, Poland

(1) Background: Local governments are facing a considerable challenge to accurately verify cities, as well as to diagnose the condition of housing estates in the context of their friendliness to life of older people in order to be able to pursue a sustainable pro-ageing policy. In response to these needs, universal methodology for identifying age-friendly residential areas (AFRA) in cities was developed and tested. Thus, the main objective of the research was to develop an innovative methodological approach to the AFRA assessment, taking into account integrated functional-spatial and aesthetic indicators with particular emphasis on the ways of presenting results. (2) Methods: The methodology was based on the general, international assumptions of “ageing in place”, “age-friendly city”, “active ageing”, and an in-depth analysis of contemporary trends in this field, using international guidelines and recommendations, as in the case of survey data from the target international population and information provided by experts. (3) Results: The overall result of the project is a universal methodology for diagnosing housing estates in cities, taking into account infrastructural and landscape determinants in terms of their friendliness to older people, including a presentation of the usefulness of GIS tools to create thematic maps visualising the degree of friendliness. (4) Conclusions: This innovative approach to AFRA visualisation will expand the knowledge about the possibilities of diagnosing age-friendly spaces in the city that are conducted at the level of the city’s settlement units. The developed list of criteria influencing the friendliness of housing estates for older citizens can be useful for public entities in creating city and housing planning policies for private entities to manage their own investment plans and implement the concept of on-site ageing in their planning and for real estate agents to explore the real estate market for the needs of older clients.

Widening the gap? Evidence from Germany for changes in the attitude behaviour gap for transportation during COVID-19

Transportation is a main contributor to global greenhouse gas emissions. For a sustainable transformation, consumers play a crucial role. While sustainability gains importance and is reflected in consumers' attitudes, consumers' behaviour does not always align with their sustainability attitudes - a discrepancy called the attitude behaviour gap. The COVID-19 pandemic severely disrupted people's daily lives and transport choices, potentially altering their attitude behaviour gap. Thus, the pandemic presents a unique opportunity to understand how crises and disruptions can lead to changes in the alignment between sustainable intentions and actions. Using local survey data from Germany, we identify socio-economic factors and transport infrastructure as key contributors to misalignments between attitudes and behaviour. Notably, during the pandemic, this gap widened, particularly among women and those with children, increasing inequalities among different socio-economic groups. This highlights the need for tailored policies to address the distinct mobility needs of these groups to allow them to act according to their attitudes and counteract increasing inequalities. Moreover, our findings underscore the importance of transitioning from individual motorized transport to public and more active modes of transport. This transition is particularly crucial in the German context, where levels of individual motorized transport are exceptionally high.

Influence of Individual Consideration on Organizational Performance on private Universities in Nairobi County, Kenya

Transformational leadership is a process in which leaders and followers help each other to advance to a higher level of morale and motivation, creating significant changes in the lives of people and organizations. The purpose of the study was to investigate the influence of individualized consideration style on organization performance in private universities in Nairobi City County, Kenya. The objective that guided the study was to: establish the influence of individualized consideration on organizational performance in private universities in Nairobi City County, Kenya. The study used Transformational Leadership Theory by Burns (1978) and the conceptual framework was based on the relationship between individualized consideration style and organizational performance. The sample comprised of 288 lecturers and 7 Deans of Academic Affairs of the chartered private universities, and questionnaires and interview guides were used to gather data. Validation of the questionnaires was through Cronbach’s Alpha and the use of expert judgement. The coefficient value was 0.879 at alpha = 0.05. Data was analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics, and the regression analysis showed a strong relationship between individualized consideration and the performance of private universities. The results revealed a positive and significant relationship between individualized consideration (β = .370, p&lt;.05). It was concluded that offering leadership support and advice, mentorship, career development, and solving individual needs among their employees influences performance. The following recommendations were made: the management of private universities ought to offer leadership support and advice to their employees as this is important in improving their performance. Furthermore, they should realize that in order to realize higher performance for their institutions they need to ensure that the leaders in the institutions act as both mentors and coaches for the employees and recognize their contributions to the organization. The Deans of Academic Affairs need to attend seminars and training in transformational leadership so that they can be well-versed in transformational leadership skills, responsibilities, and characteristics.

Helping Others Facilitates Well-Being for Indigenous Peoples Living With HIV/AIDS in Canada.

Research has found that helping others facilitates well-being for Indigenous peoples living with HIV and AIDS, but limited research exists that investigates the mechanism(s) underlying this relationship. Indigenous perspectives posit that helping others facilitates well-being through the development of an individual's spiritual, physical, emotional, and mental aspects (four aspects). Similarly, self-determination theory posits that helping others facilitates well-being by satisfying basic psychological needs. In the present study, we examined if helping others facilitates well-being through the fulfillment of the spiritual, physical, emotional, and mental aspects among Indigenous peoples living with HIV and AIDS. We used a convergent parallel mixed methods design, coupled with a community-engaged approach grounded in the United Nations Greater Involvement of People Living with HIV and AIDS principles and Indigenous and decolonizing research methodologies. Survey (n = 117) and interview data (n = 9) collected by an Indigenous-led HIV/AIDS organization in Canada were employed to examine the relationship between helping, the four aspects, and well-being. Participants were primarily First Nations leaders and mentors who live with HIV/AIDS, with some Métis and Inuit. A parallel multiple mediation model and reflexive thematic analysis were used to analyze the relationship between helping, the four aspects, and well-being. Mixed-methods findings support the idea that helping others promotes well-being by fulfilling the emotional and mental aspects. Qualitative findings demonstrated this relationship for all four aspects. This research may facilitate the development of programs to support Indigenous peoples living with HIV/AIDS well-being and contribute to the literature on integrating Indigenous perspectives and methodologies within psychological research.

Підвищення ефективності забезпечення працездатності транспортних засобів

Accidental failures, leading to unplanned repairs, significantly increase the cost of their elimination compared to planned measures. A significant part of such failures are not sudden in nature. Gradual failure is preceded by a gradual change in some parameters. The impact of gradual failures on the efficient operation of road freight transport is increasing. Despite the fact that the failure of the engine, clutch or automatic transmission is not dangerous to the life and health of people, their impact on the economic condition of the enterprise is significant. There is a trend of decreasing the size of the rolling stock fleet for most of the country's motor transport enterprises. Therefore, the importance of keeping each car in working condition increases. To increase the accuracy of the prevention of gradual and sudden-gradual failures, a forecasting method based on the diagnosis of trucks with a specialized diagnostic car scanner TEXA Navigator MULTIHUB is proposed. The selection of diagnostic parameters was carried out in accordance with the requirements for compliance with the accuracy, efficiency, and informativeness of the diagnostic parameters. The research was carried out on MAN TG-X, MAN TGA, VOLVO FH 12, DAF 105 XF, and DAF 106 cars. A sequential cylinder shutdown test was conducted to determine the compression and efficiency of all cylinders. A gradual change in the operating parameter is determined based on the obtained decrease in revolutions. In the next test, the correction of the injectors for the amount of fuel injected into the cylinders is checked. The reference value is taken as 0. The correction tolerance for increasing or decreasing the fuel supply time should be within +1 or –1. Based on the received data, the nozzle is determined, in the correction gradually increases, which signals a problem with the nozzle's operation. For the clutch, a test of the position of the start of switching on and off was carried out. By reducing the percentage of idling, you can determine the gradual engagement of the clutch. All the conducted tests make it possible to graphically display a change in a parameter or property and, using extrapolation, to predict the moment of failure. All cars carry out freight transportation in international traffic. Control parameters and data extrapolation made it possible to predict engine, clutch, and automatic transmission failures. Selected diagnostic parameters can be used to predict and prevent failures.

Fragile X Syndrome and FMR1 premutation: results from a survey on associated conditions and treatment priorities in Italy

Background and objectivesFragile X Syndrome (FXS) is the most common cause of inherited intellectual disability, caused by CGG-repeat expansions (> 200) in the FMR1 gene leading to lack of expression. Espansion between 55 and 200 triplets fall within the premutation range (PM) and can lead to different clinical conditions, including fragile X- primary ovarian insufficiency (FXPOI), fragile X-associated neuropsychiatric disorders (FXAND) and fragile X-associated tremor/ataxia syndrome (FXTAS). Although there is not a current cure for FXS and for the Fragile X-PM associated conditions (FXPAC), timely diagnosis as well as the implementation of treatment strategies, psychoeducation and behavioral intervention may improve the quality of life (QoL) of people with FXS or FXPAC. With the aim to investigate the main areas of concerns and the priorities of treatment in these populations, the Italian National Fragile X Association in collaboration with Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital, conducted a survey among Italian participants.MethodHere, we present a survey based on the previous study that Weber and colleagues conducted in 2019 and that aimed to investigate the main symptoms and challenges in American individuals with FXS. The survey has been translated into Italian language to explore FXS needs of treatment also among Italian individuals affected by FXS, family members, caretakers, and professionals. Furthermore, we added a section designated only to people with PM, to investigate the main symptoms, daily living challenges and treatment priorities.ResultsAnxiety, challenging behaviors, language difficulties and learning disabilities were considered the major areas of concern in FXS, while PM was reported as strongly associated to cognitive problems, social anxiety, and overthinking. Anxiety was reported as a treatment priority in both FXS and PM.ConclusionFXS and PM can be associated with a range of cognitive, affective, and physical health complications. Taking a patient-first perspective may help clinicians to better characterize the cognitive-behavioral phenotype associated to these conditions, and eventually to implement tailored therapeutic approaches.

Advances in diabetes technology to improve the lives of people with cystic fibrosis.

People with cystic fibrosis (CF) are at risk for dysglycaemia caused by progressive beta cell dysfunction and destruction due to pancreatic exocrine disease and fibrosis. CF-related diabetes (CFRD) is a unique form of diabetes that has distinctive features from both type 1 and type 2 diabetes. Recent advances in diabetes technology may be of particular benefit in this population given the complex, multi-system organ involvement and challenging health issues that people with CFRD often face. This review summarises how diabetes technologies, such as continuous glucose monitors (CGMs) and insulin delivery devices: (1) have improved our understanding of CFRD, including how hyperglycaemia affects clinical outcomes in people with CF; (2) may be helpful in the screening and diagnosis of CFRD; and (3) offer promise for improving the management of CFRD and easing the burden that this diagnosis can add to an already medically complicated patient population.

T108 - Exploring Long-Term Trajectories of Quality of Life for People who are Treated With Methadone

T108 - Exploring Long-Term Trajectories of Quality of Life for People who are Treated With Methadone