Right Kind Of Information Research Articles

Accurate Machine Learning Prediction in Psychiatry Needs the Right Kind of Information

This Viewpoint discusses the type and amount of data needed for machine learning models to accurately predict diagnoses and treatment outcomes at the individual patient level.

Overview of Menarche, Menstruation and Menstrual Hygiene

Each child undergoes many changes when the growth and development take place over a period of time. These development changes are common among both girls and boys; one of such physiological changes among girl is attaining menarche. It makes beginning of a multiple of physical, physiological, and psychological changes in the lives of the adolescent girls. In general, menarche indicates the girl’s maturity and the readiness for marriage and sexual activity. Puberty is a period of rapid physical and personality growth. A girl has entered puberty when she begins to menstruate (Menarche). Puberty for girls is the period for her sexual maturity. There is very little awareness about menstruation among girls when they first experience it. Social prohibitions and negative attitude of elders in discussing the related issues openly have blocked the access of adolescent girls to the right kind of information especially in rural, urban, and tribal community. In first period, more importance must be given to starting of menstruation in women life. To highlight the menstrual hygiene awareness among girls, May 28, is observed as menstrual hygiene day, which aims to break taboos and raise awareness about the importance of good menstrual hygiene management for women and adolescent girls worldwide. Thus, menstrual hygiene practices are greatly emphasized among school girls to promote the reproductive health, which also improves the girl’s self-image and promote their attitude toward good reproductive health. It also avoids the embarrassment of staining their cloth and promote their self-respect among their friends. Good menstrual hygiene enhances their confidence and promote the regular school attendance and prevent environmental pollution. In this review, we will discuss about menarche, menstruation, menstrual hygiene, and knowledge, attitude, and practice about menstruation.

Assessment of an Educational Intervention on the Perception of Adolescent Girls towards Menstrual Hygiene in Ogun State, Nigeria

In low and middle-income countries, menstruation is impeded by several misconceptions, taboos and shrouded in secrecy. This serves as a major challenge to proper Education regarding menstrual hygiene and has blocked the access of adolescent girls to the right kind of information, thereby influencing a negative outcome associated with harmful behaviours. The objective of the study was to investigate the assessment of an educational intervention on the perception of adolescent girls towards menstrual hygiene in Ogun state, Nigeria. The study utilized a quasi-experimental design. One hundred and twenty (120) in-school adolescent girls were selected through a multistage sampling technique from four (4) secondary schools within four (4) local government areas in Ogun State, Nigeria. A validated 23-items questionnaire measured on a 69-point rating scale with a Cronbach Alpha scores 0.79 was used for data collection. The mean ±SD age and age at menarche of adolescent girls was 14.92±1.82; 12.73±1.38. The majority of respondents had low scores of perceptions. The educational intervention had an effective change in the level of perception of adolescent schoolgirls between baseline and the 6th-week follow-up, indicating a mean difference of 26.70 (p<0.01) for the peer-led, 26.54(p<0.01) parent-led, 20.16(p<0.01) parent and peer-led and a decrease in mean in the control group (-0.17; p=0.866). The peer-led educational approach had a better impact on adolescent girls’ perception compared to other educational approaches. Hence, this is an indication that peer-education strategies should be utilized for further interventions and in reaching out to adolescents.

Lesson Learned During Covid-19 Pandemic: Impact, Challenges and Opportunities in Nursing Education – A Review

Nursing training is a combination of both theoretical and practical learning experiences that enable nursing students to acquire the cognitive, affective, and psychomotor components for providing nursing care. World Health Day, an annual event organized by WHO, stated that this year is focused on supporting nurses and midwives, many of whom are serving on the frontlines of the COVID-19 response. Globally, COVID-19 has huge impact on academic delivery and adds a further degree of complexity to nursing education due to temporary lock down because most countries have suspended face-to-face teaching/physical class room teaching. Thus, they had to find new alternatives to academic delivery, and virtual classes/on-line mode were the ways forward. In present search, it has attempted to explore the impact of covid-19, challenges and opportunities in nursing education which influences the different aspects of academic activity. It has accelerate the academic delivery by using variety of online platforms and learning management system such as Google class room, Google meet, Google hangout, Zoom meetings, Microsoft team, Cisco webex meeting, go to webinar, you tube streaming, Google duo, college website, social media platforms such as face book groups, whatsApp, telegram etc. Covid-19 has provided a lot challenges and opportunities to learner, educator, university, organization, and evaluation system and research activities. The lesson learned from covid-19 is converting those challenges into opportunities by learning and adopting with advanced technology in teaching-learning; blended learning; team work; promoting for trans/ inter/ multidisciplinary collaborative education; integrating innovative method of teaching, sharing and facilitating right kind of information, are enhancing ways of quality of education during crisis (lock down) situation and further new-normal situation.

Journal of Scientific Temper

The coronavirus pandemic has affected the human population all over the world. And also created a dearth of authentic information along with the unprecedented global crisis related to livelihood and health management. Scientific awareness about virus transmission, containment and precautionary measures is very much needed. At the same time, authentic and right kind of information is also essential because social media platforms are overloaded with fake and unscientific information. This ‘infodemic’ or misinformation is creating panic among the people in society and unscientific claims of medical remedies. Social media can help combat or contribute to the spread of misinformation. The COVID-19 bulletin of CSIR covers the latest research reports; technological innovations, Questions and Answers, Myths versus Facts, Dashboard and the weekly update on the contributions of various CSIR laboratories in the fight against the #CoronavirusPandemic. The research aims to study the impact of disseminating information to the scientific community in specific as well as the general public through the publication of bulletin. The study also highlights the relevance, credibility, timeliness and social behaviour change brought about by this platform. The audience has well appreciated the content and opined that the news items should be backed up by some CSIR experts through their viewpoint or a quote. The respondents felt that the audience data bank should be widened. In the interest of the scientific community and society in general, the COVID-19 information should be made available in such a manner that it is easily accessible and readily available.

On the generation of validated manufacturing process optimization and control schemes

Manufacturing process related functionalities, like optimization and control, are in general demanding in terms of data, computational time and efficiency. However, there are no generic certification or validation schemes that can be followed. In particular, only ISO application can verify the suitability of operations up to an extent. The current work utilizes an enhanced version of Blockchain so that functionalities at the process level can be certified as per a particular scheme. The concept of ledger is elaborated to this end, to manipulate knowledge and be able to handle it like an asset that is exchanged. Thus, a specific generic framework is proposed, herein, to reassure that the right kind of information has been exchanged during process control and optimization. Furthermore, expert distributed agents are utilized to turn knowledge into certified procedures. Encryption issues are also regarded, providing safety and security as extra characteristics. The case study of thermal process control is regarded in this sense to prove the complementary character of these concepts and the usability of the framework. Finally, the existence of additional features within this loop is discussed, like the validation of quantifying concepts like resource streams.

ATTITUDE TOWARDS MYTHS AND MISCONCEPTIONS AMONG ADOLESCENT GIRLS DURING THE MENSTRUATION

Adolescents are dened as the young people between the age groups of 10 and 19 years as per the WHO records. Adolescence is a transition period from childhood to adult life as it is regarded as the intermediate period between the childhood age and the adult age. Menstruation occurs every month periodically except during pregnancy. The maintenance of menstrual hygienic methods is a very challenging task to the adolescent girls. Social prohibitions and traditional beliefs blocked the access to get the right kind of information to adolescent girls that led to poor hygiene practices. Menstruation has often been dealt with secrecy in many cultures. Aim: Attitude towards myths and misconceptions among adolescent girls during the menstruation. To assess the attitude regarding myths Objective: and misconceptions among adolescent girls during the menstruation. To examine the level of attitude of adolescent girls towards Myths and Misconceptions Tool: The Tool used for the present study was self structured questionnaire which was developed by the researcher. Results: Many of number of adolescent girls is having low attitude i.e., having many myths and misconceptions towards menstruation and very few sample is having high attitude which is indicating that minimal sample is not having negative attitude towards the myths and misconceptions. Sample: Sample of the present study consists of 300 adolescent girls from government vocational colleges in Chittoor District of Andhra Pradesh State. There are signicant differences between age, religion, educational quali Conclusion: cations of mother's, type of family and mode of communication among adolescent girls with regard to their attitude towards myths and misconceptions during the menstruation. There is low level of attitude towards the myths and misconceptions among adolescent girls during the menstruation

Knowledge, Perception and Psychosocial Preparedness for Menarche among Adolescent Girls of Udupi District, Karnataka

Background: Adolescence is a crucial phase of growth extending from puberty to adulthood spanning much of the second decade. It is the critical period of biological and psychosocial changes. They lack adequate knowledge about the physical changes during the pubertal period and which in turn leads to undue anxiety. Objectives: The objectives of the study were to assess the knowledge, perception, psycho social preparedness for menarche and the problems experienced by the adolescent girls. Methods: A descriptive survey study was conducted among 200 adolescents aged 11-13 years from 10 higher primary schools of Udupi district. Adolescents who met the sampling criteria were selected by purposive sampling. Structured questionnaire was used to assess the knowledge on menarche. A rating scale was used to assess the perception, psychosocial preparedness towards menarche and predesigned questionnaire was used to assess the problems experienced at the time of menstruation. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used for data analysis. Results: Results shows that, out of 200 adolescents, 88% of the adolescents had average knowledge, 95.5% had negative perception, most of them 52.5% were well prepared for menarche. The most common problems experienced by the adolescents were abdominal pain (75%), heavy bleeding (73.5%) and white discharge few days before menstruation. Conclusion: Social prohibitions and restrictions from attaining religious rituals have created a negative impact on adolescents and have blocked the access to the right kind of information. Therefore much more efforts are needed to curb the misbeliefs and taboos among the adolescent school girls.

A study of menstrual hygiene and related personal hygiene practices among adolescent girls in rural Puducherry

Background: Adolescent population occupies 1/5th of world’s population and in India 20.9% of the population falls into this age group. Social prohibitions and traditional beliefs blocked the access to get the right kind of information to adolescent girls that led to poor hygiene practices. These practices results in harbouring of micro-organisms that increases susceptibility to genito-urinary infections. Hence this study was conducted to study the menstrual hygiene practices among adolescent girls and in rural Puducherry.Objectives: To study the menstrual hygiene practices among adolescent girls in rural Puducherry.Methodology: A community based descriptive cross sectional study was conducted in rural field practicing area of MGMCRI, Puducherry, from 15th of March 2013 to 31st April 2014 by using semi-structured questionnaire. 528 adolescent girls were included by complete enumeration.Results: Majority (89.2%) of the adolescent girls was using sanitary pads, fresh and reusable cloths were used by 6.6% and 4.2%, respectively. 65.3% girls changed their soaked absorbent 2-5 times in a day. Majority (60.8%) of the girls disposed their used absorbent by burying or burning. 67.9% girls were washing genitalia during micturition. 54.4% used soap and water for hand cleaning purpose and 1.4% used ash & mud etc.Conclusions: Even though sanitary pad users were high, unhygienic practices were noticed, so more emphasize is needed to be given on awareness of menstrual hygiene practices among adolescent girls.Key words: Adolescent girls, menstrual health and hygiene, sanitary pads, genito-urinary illness.

Privacy? I Can’t Even! Making a Case for User-Tailored Privacy

How can we help users balance the benefits and risks of information disclosure online? A user-tailored privacy approach makes privacy decisions less burdensome by giving users the right kind of information and the right amount of control so as to be useful but not overwhelming or misleading.

Software quality information needs

Modern software methodologies, e.g., agile and continuous integration and deployment, rely on frequent feedback loops to respond to sudden changes. Improvements to feedback, development activities, and quality rely on information needs. We found a lack of understanding on the information needs of software engineers when the software quality is the main concern. I propose the term "software quality information needs" to refer to a software engineer’s eagerness to define, locate, obtain, and use information to satisfy a conscious or unconscious concern towards software quality. I want to understand what information about software quality does a developer need while performing code changes or designing new parts of a system. For understanding the broad research question, I propose three sub-questions, namely (1) How can we conceptualize information needs when dealing with software quality? (2) What information is needed when dealing with software quality? and (3) How can software quality information needs be detected unobtrusively through behavioral patterns? I propose a 24 months plan for a research fellowship comprising of three empirical studies, which will involve 120 students in computer science and the companies Daimler, Porsche, and Bosch. The studies will make use of multidisciplinary research in software engineering and behavioral science. The theoretical results of the execution of this proposal are the software quality information needs theory and instances, which will add to the body of knowledge in software engineering. The practical implications might be large. Providing a software developer with the right kind of information about the current state of and the effect of changes on software quality can prevent catastrophic software failures and avoid opening up security holes.

Awareness and practices about menstrual hygiene and its impact among migrant adolescent girls of Dera: a community based cross-sectional study from Nashik (Maharashtra)

<p class="abstract"><strong>Background:</strong> Onset of menstruation is one of the most important changes occurring during adolescence. In various parts of India, there are several cultural traditions, myths and misconceptions related to menstruation, which make them vulnerable to genital tract infections. There is very little awareness about menstruation among girls when they first experience it. Social prohibitions and negative attitude of parents in discussing the related issues openly has blocked the access of adolescent girls to right kind of information especially among migrant adolescent girls. Women having better knowledge regarding menstrual hygiene and safe practices are less vulnerable to Reproductive Tract Infections (RTI) and its consequences. Hence this study was conducted with objective to assess awareness and practices of menstrual hygiene among adolescent in migrant population. </p><p class="abstract"><strong>Methods:</strong> Study area and study population: This cross-sectional community based study was conducted among migrant adolescent girls residing in (Dera) the Corporation area of Nashik (Maharashtra). Duration of study: The study was carried out for 2 months. Purposive sampling method was adopted. We carried out in-depth interviews among such purposively selected adolescent girls till redundancy in responses started creeping up. A written informed consent was taken from the study subject’s. A semi-structured schedule with open ended questions was used for data collection process. </p><p class="abstract"><strong>Results:</strong> Majority of the study participants were not aware (75%) about menarche while for sanitary protection old traditional method cloths were used. Knowledge of menarche was mostly (50%) provided by friends followed by mother (35%). </p><strong>Conclusions:</strong> In the present study, we found that the myths and misconceptions about menstrual practices are still continued in the 21<sup>st</sup> Century. There is a need to focus on such migrant population for their better health.

Enhancing health policymakers' information literacy knowledge and skill for policymaking on control of infectious diseases of poverty in Nigeria.

BackgroundIn Nigeria, one of the major challenges associated with evidence-to-policy link in the control of infectious diseases of poverty (IDP), is deficient information literacy knowledge and skill among policymakers. There is need for policymakers to acquire the skill to discover relevant information, accurately evaluate retrieved information and to apply it correctly.ObjectivesTo use information literacy tool of International Network for Availability of Scientific Publications (INASP) to enhance policymakers' knowledge and skill for policymaking on control of IDP in Nigeria.MethodsModified "before and after" intervention study design was used in which outcomes were measured on target participants both before the intervention is implemented and after. This study was conducted in Ebonyi State, south-eastern Nigeria and participants were career health policy makers. A two-day health-policy information literacy training workshop was organized to enhance participants" information literacy capacity. Topics covered included: introduction to information literacy; defining information problem; searching for information online; evaluating information; science information; knowledge sharing interviews; and training skills.ResultsA total of 52 policymakers attended the workshop. The pre-workshop mean rating (MNR) of knowledge and capacity for information literacy ranged from 2.15-2.97, while the post-workshop MNR ranged from 3.34-3.64 on 4-point scale. The percentage increase in MNR of knowledge and capacity at the end of the workshop ranged from 22.6%-55.3%.ConclusionThe results of this study suggest that through information literacy training workshop policy makers can acquire the knowledge and skill to identify, capture and share the right kind of information in the right contexts to influence relevant action or a policy decision.

Knowledge Management and Business Continuity Practices of the Central Bank of the Philippines

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas formulates and implements monetary policies to attain its mandated responsibilities of maintaining price stability and attaining a sustainable and balanced growth. To concretize these goals, BSP pursues knowledge management practices to accumulate the right kind of information and render timely business services. Furthermore, the Bank adheres to the concept of business continuity to avoid any disruption in the delivery of services if business outages do occur.The primary purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which knowledge management and business continuity practices were implemented among the various regional and branch offices of BSP. The research was done with the end view of proposing an intervention scheme to strengthen its implementation. The study made use of the descriptive method of research using the questionnaire as the primary source of data. The findings revealed that the practices on the two projects were manifested to a great extent that contributed to the improvement of the Bank’s services. However, it can be gleaned from the results that there is a need to revisit the various components of the two projects periodically to ensure its relevance in attaining sustainable economic and financial objectives. Keywords - Business Education, Central Bank of the Philippines, monetary policies, knowledge management, business continuity practices, sustainable and balanced growth, descriptive design, Philippines, Asia

Hydrological externalities and livelihoods impacts: Informed communities for better resource management

Summary Hydrological knowledge or information has mostly remained in the domain of scientific community. The communities that interact with the hydrological aspects such as groundwater and surface water on a day to day basis are hardly aware of the information that could critically influence their livelihoods. From the perspective of the communities’ information pertaining to groundwater aquifer characters, potential to provide the water resource, surface groundwater interactions in varying geo-hydrological conditions are important. The ‘public good’ nature of the resources and their linkages with ecological systems gives rise to externalities that could be pervasive. In a number of countries, especially the developing countries, groundwater is the single largest source of drinking as well as irrigation water. In the absence of scientific information with the communities, extraction of groundwater resources for productive purposes has become a risky venture leading to adverse impacts on livelihoods. The externalities associated with over exploitation of groundwater resources and the resulting widespread well failure is identified as one of the main reasons for pushing farmers into debt trap and one of the reasons for farmer suicides in India. The negative externalities are increasingly becoming severe in the context of climate variability. This paper attempts to highlight the importance of hydrological information to the user communities from a socioeconomic perspective using a newly developed framework ‘REDUCE’ based on theories of effective communication. It shows, based on the evidence, how farming communities are getting affected in the absence of the basic hydrological information across socioeconomic groups. It is argued, using relevant information that the negative externalities could be mitigated to a large extent with proper dissemination of information among the communities and capacitating them to measure and use the information on their own. In order to make the hydrological information relevant and useful for the communities at the macro level, there are six key areas to be addressed viz., Resource (water), Estimation or Evaluation, Distribution, Users, Communication and Execution. Ground water extraction and use is associated with mostly negative externalities. Estimation methods and scale are not commensurate with the users’ needs. The natural distribution pattern of the groundwater accentuates the inequalities in its access and use. These inequalities could be corrected through proper policy interventions that pave the way for treating the resources as a common pool resource instead of allowing it to be exploited like a private resource. That is, the hydrological resources ought to be brought under the management regime with the help of policy and governance structures. Users neither have the wherewithal to obtain the right kind of information nor the ability to manage the resource judiciously without institutional support. In this context the communication part of the process of groundwater management becomes important. The external agencies like the NGOs, scientists and policy makers and implementers have to interact and provide the right kind of information packaged to suit the needs of the users. Innovative execution of policies through evolution of institutional mechanisms and user involvement is key to the success of groundwater management.

The effects of government SMS in Taiwan

Short message services (SMS) technology, because of its high personalisation, instantaneity and convenience, can surpass traditional methods for communication. This research was carried out using the questionnaire method, and the sampling was done by the snowball method, which ensured that the respondents did receive SMS message from the public sector. It was found that the attitude of people has a significant impact on the effects of communication, especially in terms of enhancing the positive impression of the public towards the digitalisation efforts of government departments. Among the SMS receivers, 93.5% of people who successfully received the SMS opened and read the message, while 7.3% of people forwarded it. This shows that using SMS for sending information has the effect of informing the public. However, the public sector must find ways to further encourage people to forward the information. In addition, this research found that sending policy announcements through SMS at 10am yielded the best results, while 3pm proved to be the best time to send tourism-related information. Therefore, we conclude that sending the right kind of information at the right time can contribute to raising the public’s satisfaction towards government departments.

Price discrimination with partial information: Does it pay off?

This paper investigates the profit effects of price discrimination when firms have partial information about consumer preferences. It shows that price discrimination can boost industry profit if firms have access to the right kind of information about consumer preferences while remaining ignorant of other relevant information.

Making Assessments More Meaningful

TESTING is the primary means by which we know whether students have learned what it is we wanted them learn. However, many people question whether the benefits of testing are worth the costs. A growing chorus of both practitioners and researchers is now warning that we're spending far too much valuable instructional time on assessment, that the tests being given don't provide the right kind of information the teacher, and that the emphasis on testing in reading, math, and now science leaves other subjects--if not children--behind. The chorus also warns that students are not taking tests seriously. So what can states do ensure that the time and energy spent on state assessments are worthwhile, particularly for those high school students who like think tests don't matter? Over the past several months, Jennifer Dounay, policy analyst at the Education Commission of the States (ECS), has been collecting evidence of state policy and practice in the testing arena. Three approaches appear hold promise for addressing issues raised by practitioners and researchers: * To help teachers identify gaps in student skills and knowledge, some states are requiring all students take diagnostic tests. * To address narrowing of the curriculum and help students take learning seriously, some states are implementing end-of-course assessments. * To make testing more meaningful for students (and for schools, higher education institutions, and potential employers), some states are beginning include measures that are aligned with what colleges expect. REQUIRING DIAGNOSTIC TESTS The use of diagnostic tests is premised on the belief that students benefit when states provide a means of ensuring that student needs are identified early enough be addressed. The ECS research looked only for actions that demonstrate that a state is making a clear, deliberate attempt take diagnostic measurement of all high school students, through either a stand-alone test or an effort use state assessment scores for diagnostic purposes. Currently, seven states use assessments administered all students for diagnostic purposes. For example, Arkansas uses state-mandated criterion-referenced tests identify and develop individual academic improvement plans for students who fail demonstrate proficiency in reading, writing, and math. In Massachusetts, the state board is required develop comprehensive diagnostic assessments be administered in grade 10 identify academic achievement levels of all students in order inform teachers, parents, administrators, and the students themselves. Oklahoma's end-of-instruction tests are not solely diagnostic exams, but the results must be reported districts in a manner that yields detailed, diagnostic information for the purpose of guiding instruction and student remediation. Pennsylvania's state assessment isn't strictly a diagnostic exam either, but the state uses value-added longitudinal tracking of results provide diagnostic information about students' academic growth. Implementation of this program and several like it in other states is in progress. In South Carolina, schools are required use the PSAT or PLAN tests (preliminary versions of the SAT and ACT respectively), which are administered 10th-graders, diagnostic tools provide academic assistance students whose scores reflect the need for such assistance. In addition, the South Carolina Education and Economic Development Act (H.B. 3155) requires the state board, by July 2007, outline criteria--including diagnostic assessments--for districts use in identifying students at risk of dropping out or not being adequately prepared for the next grade level. However, it is not clear at this time whether all students will be required take diagnostic assessments or just those identified as being at risk. While the state of Washington does not have assessments that are explicitly diagnostic, the assessment system is be designed so that the results can be used by educators as tools evaluate instructional practices and to initiate appropriate educational support for students who have not mastered the essential academic learning requirements at the appropriate periods in the student's educational development. …

Information system architecture: a framework for Indian small and medium enterprises

Although Indian Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are competent enough to produce and supply internationally acceptable quality goods and services but these are not yet to get sufficient exposure and economic returns in the absence of proper information system architecture. Mediators and brokers take undue economic benefits in the absence of proper information system architecture for which the Indian SMEs are the deserving candidates. This issue is addressed in this paper by proposing information system architecture for Indian SMEs that can help them to take first step towards supply chain management to avoid mediators and provide right kind of information at right time.

Welcome to this special career edition of AJHP!

As a former dean and professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Pharmacy, I know how important it is to have the right kind of information as you prepare to graduate and grow in your career. ASHP strives to provide targeted resources to help you develop as a practitioner and fulfill your promise to help patients make the best use of medicines. Whether you are just beginning your professional career or helping guide and mentor others, the information in this special section is designed to help you meet your specific on-the-job challenges. Today’s hospitals and health systems offer nearly unlimited career potential to pharmacists who want to be on the cutting edge of practice. Your membership in ASHP shows your commitment to both the profession and your own advancement as a practitioner. Together we can positively influence the future of patient care in the United States. I hope that you will enjoy the insights offered in these pages. And I invite you to visit the ASHP Web site, www.ashp.org, and CareerPharm’s Web site, www.careerpharm.com, to find more information that can help you build and manage your career.