Weekend Periods Research Articles

Did Partial Lockdown Policy Effectively Reduce the First Wave of COVID-19 in Indonesia? A Regression Discontinuity Approach

One of the crucial issues in determining pandemic mitigation is deciding the optimal lockdown policy, whether a complete or partial lockdown could effectively reduce the spreading of COVID-19 without a vaccination policy, which could avoid global economic recession. The conventional pandemic model has limitations in predicting these linkages. The latest Causal Inference method that has been powerful in economic and health policy evaluation, such as Regressions Discontinuity Design (RDD), can contribute to this analysis. In contrast, RDD analysis in existing references is underused. This paper's objective is how the partial lockdown policy in Indonesia effects on spreading COVID-19 virus using RDD analysis. The results indicate that the partial lockdown policy reduced new cases of COVID-19 compared with having no partial lockdown policy. The results close to complete lockdown. This study uses panel data from official health, Waze, and other social variables. The pandemic model was developed from theoretical and empirical estimation. The spillover analysis was estimated using a Bayesian panel fixed-effect with Markov Chain Monte Carlo to relax the SUTVA problem. The DKI Jakarta has effectively reduced the spread of confirmed COVID-19 cases by about 10% to 22% from the baseline. The impact was less in West Java, at about 5%–18.5% from baseline. The government can control mobility during weekend periods and at the beginning of Ramadan. Policy enacted at the level of government (subdistrict level) most proximal to households had more influence on spillover effect reduction than those enacted at higher levels of government. The RDD analysis offers new implications to existing references for incorporating economic and pandemic variables for further research. Collaborating across the government level against the pandemic is paramount to controlling human mobility close to households.

Transformer Implementation for Short Term Electricity Load Forecasting, Case Study: Bali, Indonesia

Short term load forecasting is a crucial process in ensuring optimal and reliable operation of electric power system which is critical in sustaining highly technological economies. Various approaches and methods have been implemented in forecasting electricity load of a system including statistical methods such as auto regression and machine learning methods such as support vector machine and also deep learning methodology as recurrent neural network methodology which gain popularity in electricity load forecasting nowadays. In this paper, Transformer as a deep learning methodology is used to forecast hourly electricity load in Bali Area. Three lookback days scenario and ten days of forecast period are used to evaluate the performance of the Transformer models. This study suggest that although higher lookback days will give more complicated model due to increasing number of parameters involved, the best overall prediction performance are given by transformer model with 1 day of lookback period. The three model in this study also tend to have low prediction performance in predicting electricity load for weekend or holiday period. Future study using multivariate transformer model is suggested to improve the prediction performance of the transformer model in predicting electricity load in Bali area.

How Gender Affects Motor Vehicle Crashes: A Case Study from San Antonio, Texas

Traffic crashes are among the leading causes of injuries and fatalities worldwide. The main assumption of this study is that traffic crash rates, injury severity, and driving behaviors differ by the driver’s gender. Utilizing ten years (2011–2020) of data from the Texas Crash Record and Information System database, this study investigates how some of the most prominent driving behaviors leading to crashes and severe injuries (distracted driving, speeding, lane departure, and driving under influence) vary by gender in San Antonio, Texas. The spatial distribution of crashes associated with these driving behaviors by gender is also investigated, as well as the influence of some environmental and temporal variables on crash frequency and injury severity. This study adopted bivariate analysis and logistic regression modeling to identify the effect of different variables on crash occurrence and severity by gender. Male drivers were more likely to be involved in a speeding/DUI/lane departure-related crash and subsequent severe injuries. However, female drivers were slightly more associated with distracted-driving crashes and subsequent injuries. Nighttime, interstate/highway roads, the weekend period, and divider/marked lanes as the primary traffic control significantly increased the crash and injury risk of male drivers. Driving behavior-related crashes were mostly concentrated on some interstate road segments, major intersections, and interchanges. The results from this study can be used by authorities and policy-makers to prioritize the use of limited resources, and to run more effective education campaigns to a targeted audience.

Using Wearable Cameras to Categorize the Type and Context of Screen-Based Behaviors Among Adolescents: Observational Study.

BackgroundAutomated wearable cameras present a new opportunity to accurately assess human behavior. However, this technology is seldom used in the study of adolescent’s screen exposure, and the field is reliant on poor-quality self-report data.ObjectiveThis study aimed to examine adolescents’ screen exposure by categorizing the type and context of behaviors using automated wearable cameras.MethodsAdolescents (mean age 15.4 years, SD 1.6 years; n=10) wore a camera for 3 school evenings and 1 weekend day. The camera captured an image every 10 seconds. Fieldwork was completed between February and March 2020, and data were analyzed in August 2020. Images were date and time stamped, and coded for screen type, content, and context.ResultsData representing 71,396 images were analyzed. Overall, 74.0% (52,842/71,396) of images contained screens and 16.8% (11,976/71,396) of images contained multiple screens. Most screen exposures involved television sets (25,950/71,396, 36.3%), smartphones (20,851/71,396, 29.2%), and laptop computers (15,309/71,396, 21.4%). The context of screen use differed by device type, although most screen exposures occurred at home (62,455/64,856, 96.3%) and with solitary engagement (54,430/64,856, 83.9%). The immediate after-school period saw high laptop computer use (4785/15,950, 30.0%), while smartphone use (2059/5320, 38.7%) peaked during prebedtime hours. Weekend screen exposure was high, with smartphone use (1070/1927, 55.5%) peaking in the early morning period and fluctuating throughout the day.ConclusionsThere was evidence for high screen use during the after-school and weekend period, mostly through solitary engagement, and within the home environment. The findings may inform the basis of larger studies aimed at examining screen exposure in free-living conditions.

Measuring Collaboration Through Concurrent Electronic Health Record Usage: Network Analysis Study.

BackgroundCollaboration is vital within health care institutions, and it allows for the effective use of collective health care worker (HCW) expertise. Human-computer interactions involving electronic health records (EHRs) have become pervasive and act as an avenue for quantifying these collaborations using statistical and network analysis methods.ObjectiveWe aimed to measure HCW collaboration and its characteristics by analyzing concurrent EHR usage.MethodsBy extracting concurrent EHR usage events from audit log data, we defined concurrent sessions. For each HCW, we established a metric called concurrent intensity, which was the proportion of EHR activities in concurrent sessions over all EHR activities. Statistical models were used to test the differences in the concurrent intensity between HCWs. For each patient visit, starting from admission to discharge, we measured concurrent EHR usage across all HCWs, which we called temporal patterns. Again, we applied statistical models to test the differences in temporal patterns of the admission, discharge, and intermediate days of hospital stay between weekdays and weekends. Network analysis was leveraged to measure collaborative relationships among HCWs. We surveyed experts to determine if they could distinguish collaborative relationships between high and low likelihood categories derived from concurrent EHR usage. Clustering was used to aggregate concurrent activities to describe concurrent sessions. We gathered 4 months of EHR audit log data from a large academic medical center’s neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) to validate the effectiveness of our framework.ResultsThere was a significant difference (P<.001) in the concurrent intensity (proportion of concurrent activities: ranging from mean 0.07, 95% CI 0.06-0.08, to mean 0.36, 95% CI 0.18-0.54; proportion of time spent on concurrent activities: ranging from mean 0.32, 95% CI 0.20-0.44, to mean 0.76, 95% CI 0.51-1.00) between the top 13 HCW specialties who had the largest amount of time spent in EHRs. Temporal patterns between weekday and weekend periods were significantly different on admission (number of concurrent intervals per hour: 11.60 vs 0.54; P<.001) and discharge days (4.72 vs 1.54; P<.001), but not during intermediate days of hospital stay. Neonatal nurses, fellows, frontline providers, neonatologists, consultants, respiratory therapists, and ancillary and support staff had collaborative relationships. NICU professionals could distinguish high likelihood collaborative relationships from low ones at significant rates (3.54, 95% CI 3.31-4.37 vs 2.64, 95% CI 2.46-3.29; P<.001). We identified 50 clusters of concurrent activities. Over 87% of concurrent sessions could be described by a single cluster, with the remaining 13% of sessions comprising multiple clusters.ConclusionsLeveraging concurrent EHR usage workflow through audit logs to analyze HCW collaboration may improve our understanding of collaborative patient care. HCW collaboration using EHRs could potentially influence the quality of patient care, discharge timeliness, and clinician workload, stress, or burnout.

Influence of COVID-19 Lockdowns on the Usage of a Vision Assistance App Among Global Users With Visual Impairment: Big Data Analytics Study.

BackgroundMillions of individuals with visual impairment use vision assistance apps to help with their daily activities. The most widely used vision assistance apps are magnifier apps. It is still largely unknown what the apps are used for. Lack of insight into the visual needs of individuals with visual impairment is a hurdle for the development of more effective assistive technologies.ObjectiveThis study aimed to investigate how needs for visual aids may vary with social activities, by observing the changes in the usage of a smartphone magnifier app when many users take breaks from work.MethodsThe number of launches of the SuperVision Magnifier app was determined retrospectively from 2018 to 2020 from among active users worldwide. The fluctuation in app usage was examined by comparing weekday vs weekend periods, Christmas and new year vs nonholiday seasons, and COVID-19 lockdowns vs the easing of restriction during the pandemic.ResultsOn average, the app was used 262,466 times by 38,237 users each month in 2020 worldwide. There were two major trough points on the timeline of weekly app usage, one aligned with the COVID-19 lockdowns in April 2020 and another aligned with the Christmas and new year week in 2018 and 2019. The app launches declined by 6947 (11% decline; P<.001) during the lockdown and by 5212 (9% decline; P=.001) during the holiday weeks. There was no significant decline during March to May 2019. App usage compensated for seasonal changes was 8.6% less during weekends than during weekdays (P<.001).ConclusionsThe need for vision assistance technology was slightly lower during breaks and lockdowns, probably because the activities at home were different and less visually demanding. Nevertheless, for the entire user population, the needs for visual aids are still substantial.

Pediatric Emergency Imaging Studies in Academic Radiology Departments: A Nationwide Survey of Staffing Practices.

Particularly for pediatric patients presenting with acute conditions or challenging diagnoses, identifying variation in emergency radiology staffing models is essential in establishing a standard of care. We conducted a cross-sectional survey among radiology departments at academic pediatric hospitals to evaluate staffing models for providing imaging interpretation for emergency department imaging requests. We conducted an anonymous telephone survey of academic pediatric hospitals affiliated with an accredited radiology residency program across the United States. We queried the timing, location, and experience of reporting radiologists for initial and final interpretations of emergency department imaging studies, during weekday, overnight, and weekend hours. We compared weekday with overnight, and weekday with weekend, using Fisher's exact test and an α of 0.05. Surveying 42 of 47 freestanding academic pediatric hospitals (89%), we found statistically significant differences for initial reporting radiologist, final reporting radiologist, and final report timing between weekday and overnight. We found statistically significant differences for initial reporting radiologist and final report timing between weekday and weekend. Attending radiologist involvement in initial reports was 100% during daytime, but only 33.3% and 69.0% during overnight and weekends. For initial interpretation during overnight and weekend, 38.1% and 28.6% use resident radiologists without attending radiologists, and 28.6% and 2.4% use teleradiology. All finalized reports as soon as possible during weekdays, but only 52.4% and 78.6% during overnight and weekend. A minority of hospitals use 24-hour in-house radiology attending radiologist coverage. During overnight periods, the majority of academic pediatric emergency departments rely on resident radiologists without attending radiologist supervision or outside teleradiology services to provide initial reports. During weekend periods, over a quarter rely on resident radiologists without attending radiologist supervision for initial reporting. This demonstrates significant variation in staffing practices at academic pediatric hospitals. Future studies should look to determine whether this variation has any impact on standard of care.

Comparing Co-Presence Pattern in Gated and Non-Gated Housing Areas in Wuhan, China: A Proximity-Based Social Network Exploration

This paper presents a new technique for quantitively measuring and comparing the co-presence patterns of people residing in gated and non-gated housing areas using a proximity-based social network (PBSN). Twelve comparable housing areas (i.e., six pairs) in Wuhan, China, were carefully selected. Data were collected through 10 sets of anonymous walk-by observations for each area over both weekday and weekend periods, yielding a total of 14,331 recorded stationary individuals. In total, 120 co-presence network models (10 for each estate) were constructed, where nodes were stationary individuals observed on-site, and edges between two individuals were formed when individuals became co-present within a viewshed sized 25-meters distance. Co-presence patterns were measured quantitatively through parameters that reflect structural characteristics of the overall network. Results indicated that non-gated housing cases generally showcase a higher degree of co-presence and social mixing. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis further suggests that gatedness degree has a minor negative impact on explaining the co-presence pattern after controlling other factors. The work contributes to understanding current debates of gatedness on social sustainability and providing a novel method for future research to link behaviour mapping technique and social network analysis in other settings.

Anesthesia workforce capacity in Thailand: A multicenter study.

Workforce management in anesthesia services is crucial for service quality. However, the data associated with this are lacking. Therefore, this study was done to analyze workforce and workload and to compare differences among hospital clusters in Thailand. We conducted a cross-sectional study in multilevel hospitals that were classified by location, the population cared for, and the categorization of physicians. Stratified randomization from all health service regions across Thailand was done. The profile of hospitals, number of anesthesia staffs, their capabilities, and ratio of anesthesia personnel to the service provided during the 5 workdays and 1 weekend period were analyzed. A total of 18 hospitals, ranging from secondary to super-tertiary referral centers, were included in the study. The mean number of personnel ranged from 2.0 ± 1.2 to 12.0 ± 0 for anesthesiologists and 7.5 ± 2.9 to 42.3 ± 19.3 for nurse anesthetists from each hospital cluster, which vary in terms of capabilities and the number of staff. The average number of anesthesia service units was 9.1 ± 4.2 to 31.9 ± 16.4, while the number of operating theaters was 6.9 ± 2.2 to 22.7 ± 8.3. However, the ratio of anesthesia personnel to one anesthesia service unit and the ratio of these personnel to an operating theater were not significantly different among the participating hospitals, with a mean of 0.94 ± 0.45 and 1.34 ± 0.38, respectively. The overall number of anesthesia service units was above the designated operating theater capacity, while the ratio of anesthesiologists was 0.8-1.3 and nurse anesthetists was 2.4-6.5 per 100,000 people on an average, with a disproportionate responsibility ratio of anesthesia personnel to anesthesia service units during that time.

Value of convenience for taxi trips in New York City

Abstract The alternative public transportation options such as subway, bus, or taxis compete with each other to attract passengers. The competition depends on many factors such as travel time, reliability and convenience. Convenience is a collection of attributes affecting the attractiveness of the service including access and egress easiness, service frequency, crowding, comfort and information availability. It can be argued that the taxi preference when there is viable public transportation option is associated with the perceived convenience of taxis. The objective of this study is to evaluate the value associated with convenience of taxis in New York City by utilizing the large taxi trip data. First, the taxi trips which could be replaced by subway without any access or service availability issues (e.g., no transfers between subway lines) are extracted. Then, a multilevel modeling approach was utilized to estimate the monetary value associated with taxi convenience were estimated for different day-of-week and time-of-day periods, and areas in Manhattan. The results show that the value of convenience varies depending on the ratio of taxi travel time to subway travel time, and occasionally intersect when the ratio is close to 1. Furthermore, the corresponding value of convenience (VC) at those points (i.e., taxi travel time is equal to subway travel time) is close to $32/hr for all the zones during weekdays and weekends. Results also indicate that value of time is generally higher at peak hours during weekdays, whereas it is lower during weekend and social period at night and early morning hours.

Work-week Sleep Restriction Modifies Physical Activity But Not Glucose Or Insulin Responses In Overweight Adults.

Insufficient sleep and inadequate amounts of physical activity (PA) are common lifestyle behaviors, but there is a paucity of research examining the interaction between insufficient sleep and PA. PURPOSE: To establish how sleep restriction affects PA, and the role this plays in sleep restriction-induced insulin resistance (IR) in overweight adults. METHODS: Thirteen overweight adults, who regularly sleep 7-9 h/night, underwent two study conditions; 5 days of modest sleep restriction (6-h time-in-bed, SR), and 5 days of SR+exercise (SREX), followed by a weekend recovery period (WR). Sleep (Actigraphy) and PA (Actigraph) were monitored for 7 days prior to each condition, throughout each condition, and during WR. Blood samples were collected during a mixed meal tolerance test (MT) after baseline (B), SR/SREX, and WR. Daily exercise, SREX, was 45 minutes of treadmill walking (65% VO2peak). RESULTS: Subjects slept 8.0±0.2 h during B weekdays compared to SR and SREX (5.9±0.1 h; 5.9±0.0 h, respectively) and 7.4±0.2 hours on weekend (7.4±0.3; 8.2±0.4, respectively). Steps were maintained during SR compared to B (B-SR, 8276±622; SR, 7656±676 steps/day) but were increased during SREX (B-SREX, 8550±776; SREX 13182±789 steps/day, p<0.001). Steps during the B weekend period were reduced compared to B (p<0.001) and during WR following SR±EX (SR, p<0.01;SREX, p<0.001). Subjects performed less light (LT) PA during SR±EX (p=0.001). Sedentary (SED) PA tended to be higher during SR compared to B (p=0.07) but tended to be reduced during SREX (p=0.09). Moderate-vigorous PA (MVPA) was elevated during SREX (p<0.001) and reduced during SR (p<0.05) compared to B. During MT, glucose and insulin response did not differ by condition or across time. Matsuda calculations tended to also show improvements in IR (time, p=0.06), where WR improved compared to B (p<0.05), no differences between B and SR±EX. CONCLUSION: Overweight adults maintained steps during SR, but reduced time spent performing MVPA. When subjects performed EX daily (SREX), SED was replaced with MVPA with no changes in LTPA observed. Subjects increased SED and decreased LTPA and MVPA during WR compared to B weekend, likely due to the reduced step counts. Modest SR did not induce IR in overweight adults, but despite reduced PA during WR, IR was improved compared to B.

Sleep in New Zealand children aged 7-9: associations with ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and achievement in reading and mathematics.

The aims were (1) to investigate differences by ethnicity and socioeconomic status (SES) in objective measures of sleep in children aged 7-9 years and (2) determine whether measures of sleep predict child achievement in reading or mathematics after controlling for ethnicity and SES. Four groups of parent-child dyads were recruited: Māori, low-SES schools (n = 18); Māori, high-SES schools (n = 17); New Zealand European, low-SES schools (n = 18); New Zealand European, high-SES schools (n = 17). Child sleep was measured by actigraphy. Parents and teachers reported child daytime sleepiness and behavior, and children completed a self-report of anxiety symptoms. Teachers also reported on child achievement in reading and mathematics. Children from low-SES schools went to bed later on school nights (F[1,68] = 12.150, P = .001) and woke later (F[1,68] = 15.978, P < .001) than children from high-SES schools but had similar sleep duration. There were no differences related to ethnicity. Children from low-SES schools were almost 3 times more likely to be below national standards for mathematics. Children not meeting academic standards in mathematics had a later sleep start time, lower sleep period efficiency, and a decreased total sleep time. However, when SES and sleep period efficiency were modeled together neither were found to significantly influence achievement in mathematics. In this study, SES influenced sleep timing but not the quality and quantity of sleep in 7- to 9-year-old children, and a significant independent effect of sleep efficiency on learning could not be demonstrated.

On-scene discharge by Emergency Care Practitioners – a viable option for South Africa?

Background: In South Africa, the national public health sector provides healthcare to the majority of the population, yet many hospitals are in a state of crisis. On-scene discharge or patient non-conveyance to hospital by Emergency Care Practitioners (ECP) may serve as a means for patients to access healthcare services while alleviating the burden on the hospitals. Aim: The aim of this study was to determine the number of patients being transported by ambulance to a public sector Emergency Department (ED) who could have potentially been managed and discharged on-scene by a South African pre-hospital ECP. Methods: This was a prospective, descriptive and quantitative study of patients brought to the ED by ambulance over a 72-hour weekend period. The medical care that was provided in the ED was compared to the existing ECP scope of practice. The patients’ disposition was also used as a surrogate to determine whether transportation to hospital was required. Results: A total of 118 patients were transported to the ED by ambulance, and 85 of these patients consented to participate in the study. Overall, 62.4% of these patients were ultimately discharged from the hospital (60.4% of discharged patients being trauma-related). Most of the treatment modalities prescribed for the discharged patients were within the ECP scope of practice. Conclusion: Pre-hospital on-scene discharge by ECPs may be a mechanism to alleviate hospital overcrowding in a failing public healthcare system. However, if an ambulance service condones the concept of on-scene discharge, they need to implement monitoring strategies to assess the subsequent outcomes for those patients discharged at the scene.

Turn signal use among car drivers and motorcyclists at intersections: a case study of Da Nang, Vietnam

Turn signal neglect is a major cause of traffic crashes, particularly rear-end collisions. However, little research has investigated the use of turn signals among motorists, particularly in developing countries with high levels of motorcycle use. This research aimed to investigate the prevalence and factors associated with turn signal use at intersections among car drivers and motorcyclists in Da Nang, Vietnam. Cross-sectional roadside observations were undertaken at 24 sites across Da Nang City during weekday and weekend periods. A total of 17,142 vehicles were observed, including 2392 cars and 14,750 motorcycles. Turn signal use among car drivers (68.27%) was found to be significantly higher than motorcyclists (40.13%). Binary logistic regression modelling showed that turn signal neglect at intersections was associated with making a right turn, not carrying passengers, travelling outside of the city centre, travelling on weekdays, and the absence of separate car lanes, pedestrian crossings and traffic lights. Despite national legislation regulating turn signal use in Vietnam, the use of turn signals is relatively low compared with developed countries. The findings highlight the need for both greater and more targeted enforcement of existing legislation combined with extensive road safety education.

Per capita loads of organic UV filters in Australian wastewater influent

Per capita loads of six UV filters were estimated in wastewater influent samples from 36 wastewater treatment plants in Australia collected over a weekend period during the 2016 Australian Census. Of the analysed samples, 99% contained at least one of the target compounds. Phenyl benzimidazole sulfonic acid (PBSA) was the most prevalent (99%), followed by benzophenone 4 (BP4) (97%), benzophenone 3 (BP3) (87%), benzophenone 1 (BP1) (84%), 4-methylbenzylidene camphor (4-MBC) (22%) and isoamyl 4-methoxycinnamate (IMC) (1.5%). The highest concentrations were 3780 and 5070 ng L−1 for PBSA and BP4, respectively. Total per capita UV filter loads in influent across all plants were calculated using population data from the Australian Census and ranged from 0.21 to 3.4 mg day−1 person−1. Notably, a relationship was found between latitude and total per capita daily mass load of UV filters with an increase in mass load from southern to northern catchments. Compared to international studies, mass loads were generally similar with higher loads of BP4 found in Australia. This study provides insight into the occurrence of UV filters in influent wastewater from across Australia and provides the first comprehensive nationwide baseline of UV filter loads.

ATMOSPHERIC CONCENTRATIONS OF INORGANIC POLLUTANTS (NO2, SO2 AND OZONE) IN ESKİŞEHİR: SPATIAL AND VERTICAL VARIATIONS, WEEKDAY-WEEKEND DIFFERENCES

Atmospheric concentrations of inorganic pollutants (NO 2 , SO 2 and ozone) were measured at three different sampling sites in Eskisehir. Samples were collected between 25 th of March and 8 th of April 2016 by using passive sampling method. During two-week sampling study, each week was divided to three sub-periods to investigate weekday and weekend differences of the pollutant concentrations. One-time v ehicle counts during morning, noon and evening hours for both weekday and weekend periods were inspected. The highest NO 2 concentrations were measured at the sampling site having urban, traffic and residential characteristics. Positive relationship between NO 2 concentrations and traffic density was observed. Reverse trend was determined for ozone. Ozone concentrations were higher at the sampling site far from the city center. Spatial variations of SO 2 concentrations were similar to those of NO 2 . Weekday NO 2 concentrations were higher than weekend concentrations while higher ozone concentrations were observed in weekend. Weekend and weekday SO 2 concentrations were quite similar at all sampling sites. Beside spatial variations, vertical variations of each pollutant were also investigated. NO 2 concentrations decreased with the elevation and reverse case was observed for ozone with increasing concentrations at the same elevation range. SO 2 concentrations increased with the elevation due to chimney gas emissions.

Outpatient’s Preference and Attitudes Towards the Thai Physician’s Attire: A Cross-Sectional Study

Objective: To determine Thai, outpatients’ preference and attitudes towards various styles of a physicians’ attire, whilst they were on duty at Songklanagarind Hospital, within Songkhla province, Thailand.Material and Method: A cross-sectional study was conducted at Songklanagarind Hospital, Songkhla, Thailand; during the periods of January to March, 2015. Outpatients, who visited and were waiting to see their doctor, were approached by simply, convenience randomization. Demographic characteristics of participants along with their preference on attire were collected by using a self-rating questionnaire enclosed with 3 various styles of attire pictures.Results: Most patients preferred both male and female physicians, who wore white coats (70.0%), while they were on duty, either during weekdays or over the weekend. Similarly, the patients stated that they trusted physicians, who wore white coats (92.2%), more than those in a style of formal attire, (7.5%) or casual clothing (0.3%) during the weekday due to; a sense of professionalism and knowledge. Although, most patients also preferred physicians wearing white coats over the weekend and holiday periods (50.4%) they could accept a form of smart, casual dress, (45.0%) more so than a style of formal attire (4.7%).Conclusion: Most patients preferred and tended to trust physicians, who wore white coats during both official and non-official times.

Exploring Fieldwork Effects in a Mobile CATI Survey

This study explores the effects of call attempts and time periods on call outcomes and sample composition. A mobile computer-assisted telephone interview survey was conducted to collect data from adult mobile phone users about use and attitudes towards mobile phones; paradata regarding call dispositions, time and day of the week of calls and number of call attempts was also available. The first call contact rate was approximately 27% and varied significantly across time periods; the rate fell to below 20% for the second call. Weekend time periods yielded higher contact rates than weekday time periods. The interview rate on the first call was 12% and decreased steadily in subsequent calls. Mobile phone numbers that yielded call rejection, voicemail or were busy on the first call were very difficult to convert into interview on the second call. The number of call attempts and time period of the calls affect sample composition, namely in relation to respondents' age, educational level and area of residence. Future research and practical implications of the findings for mobile CATI surveys are discussed.

Variability in daily activity-travel patterns: the case of a one-week travel diary

Understanding temporal rhythms in travel and activity patterns has been recognized as an important issue for the effective management of urban congestion. Research issues related to this topic concern the degree to which travel behaviour varies from one day to another, the differences between weekday and weekend travel, and the determinants of variability. Thanks to a seven-day travel diary collected for 707 individuals in the city of Ghent (Belgium) in 2008, this study goes further by studying this variability according to various time periods within the week and by analysing interpersonal and intrapersonal variations according to the varying attributes of activity-travel patterns. Different variance indicators and the sequential alignment method are applied for the measurement of variability of travel-activity behaviour. Moreover, the influence of individual characteristics on these variations is examined. The overall picture of a large intrinsic variability in travel behaviour (i.e. trip or home-based tour generation) is confirmed. There is more difference in the number of trips per day for a given individual depending on the various days of week than there is between individuals per se, not including the weekend period, and this aspect is reinforced when considering home-based tours. Unlike the case of trip generation, there is greater difference between persons in their daily time allocation to various activities than between days for a given person in general, either during working days or during the weekend. This is also the case for daily activity sequence. Finally, the influence of socio-demographic characteristics on intrapersonal variability is weak, whether for daily trips, tours, time use or activity sequence. The large level of intrapersonal variability in daily trip numbers already demonstrated in the literature is confirmed. Systematic day-to-day variability is shown to have an extremely low share in intrapersonal variability. The global picture is that intrapersonal variability is large while systematic day-to-day variability is marginal. Moreover, a striking result is that socio-demographic characteristics are mostly unable to explain the level of intrapersonal variability. The results reveal that individual behaviour is neither completely habitual nor completely random. On the one hand, intrapersonal variability is more important than the interpersonal one as regards daily trip numbers for the realization of mobility needs. On the other hand, activity time allocation and sequencing show an inverse trend, which can be linked with the habitual part of behaviour and the social role of the individual (through e.g. work, childcare and other activities).

KUALITAS UDARA DALAM RUANG DI DAERAH PARKIR BASEMENT DAN PARKIR UPPERGROUND (STUDI KASUS DI SUPERMARKET SEMARANG)

Ever increasing building growth in urban areas is limited by land availability. Lack of space in this area lead to build high rise building rather landed building. In this type of building, parking area is built in the basement and or upperground inside the building. Within this enclosed space, indoor air quality might a problem. This study focus to compare emerged pollutants between basement parking area and upperground parking area in supermarket building. The dust sampler, the impinger and the CO monitor were used to measure TSP, NO 2 and CO concentrations respectively in these areas during supermarket operations. In the basement area, in particular, the TSP concentrations tend to exceeds 300 µg/m 3 mainly at weekend period. While for NO 2 and CO concentrations still meet the air quality standard. Based on these findings it seems the main source of pollutants was derived from dust resuspension. Thus, the mitigation measures to reduce this dust resuspension should be emphasized in order to prevent air quality deterioration in the basement parking area.