Scabies is a highly contagious, intensely pruritic skin infestation caused by Sarcoptes scabiei var hominis. It has high prevalence in many tropical countries where crowded people live in ...resource‐poor settings. The rash is distributed differently in adults and children. Adults manifest lesions primarily on the interdigital web spaces of the hands, flexor aspects of the wrists, dorsal feet, axillae, elbows, waist, buttocks, and genitalia. Palms (along with soles and head) are commonly involved in infants and very young children but typically absent in older age groups. Here, we report 25 older children and adult patients with scabies including involvement of the palms. If patients are left untreated for long periods of time in hot tropical climates, scabies may produce severe infestation with involvement of palms in older children and adults. We should acknowledge palms as potential body sites whose involvement warrants early and aggressive treatment in scabies.
Topical therapy in psoriasis Shahriar Ahmed, S; Manchanda, Yashpal; De, Abhishek ...
Indian journal of dermatology,
07/2023, Letnik:
68, Številka:
4
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
Psoriasis is a chronic condition that progresses in remitting and relapsing phases. Most of these patients have mild-to-moderate illness, which can be managed with topical medications or could be ...thought of as continuing therapy after remission. Potential therapeutic efficacy is offered, and systemic treatment's negative side effects are constrained. Topical therapies have recently advanced in tandem with recent advancements in our understanding of psoriasis. To improve the quality of life of patients, appropriate knowledge and application of these topical agents are crucial.
Purpose
This paper aims to develop and empirically test a theoretical framework of consumer engagement with brands on Twitter.
Design/methodology/approach
Depth interviews were conducted to gain ...initial insights into consumer engagement on Twitter. Using a blend of the extant literature and interview findings, a theoretical framework, including antecedents, outcomes and moderators, was developed and empirically tested using cross-sectional survey data.
Findings
Brand customer service and brand intimacy positively influence consumer engagement on Twitter, and consumer engagement mediates the relationship between these antecedents and consumer co-promotion intentions. Consumer perceptions of a brand account’s popularity on Twitter and their likelihood of adding value to a brand are found to be moderators within the conceptual framework.
Research limitations/implications
Caution needs to be exercised in generalising these findings beyond the Twitter context, and the use of a cross-sectional survey means causality cannot be inferred.
Practical implications
Brands need to be perceived as providing excellent customer service and intimate brand knowledge on Twitter to drive consumer engagement and co-promotion. Brands are recommended to develop strategies to increase their Twitter following, including rewarding consumers for their contributions on the brand’s Twitter account to signal that they are valued.
Originality/value
The authors add to the emerging literature on consumer engagement on social media in two key ways, by developing and testing a theoretical framework of consumer engagement in the Twitter context and by identifying moderators in the consumer engagement process on Twitter.
Solar home systems (SHS) are seen as an attractive option for off-grid electrification in rural areas in developing countries. The combined effect of declining photovoltaic module costs and success ...in micro-finance has resulted in increased SHS installations in emerging economies in Asia such as Bangladesh. Majority of the SHS components are now manufactured locally with the exception of PV cells. Considering the role of component quality in SHS performance, technical quality of four key SHS components: solar panel, battery, charge controller and lamp circuit (inverter) from market-leading manufacturers were evaluated in this study in laboratory settings, against national and international standards. All of the tested components met some evaluation criteria in their respective categories but none met all. Key performance failures were found to be related to inverter efficiency, reverse polarity protection in charge controllers and battery capacity, which are critical for optimum performance of the system. Findings in this study point towards an ineffective regulatory mechanism for quality assurance and the protection of consumer rights, which needs to be rectified for maintaining public confidence and sustaining the growth of SHS based off-grid electrification.
•Assessed technical quality of solar home system components against standards.•Battery, photovoltaic (PV) panel, inverter and charge controller were tested.•100% of the components except PV panels failed to meet all of the criteria.•A quarter of tested PV panels failed to meet the binding specifications.•Stringent specifications and robust quality assurance needed for sustained growth.
Purpose
This study aims to elucidate the value creation process within a culturally diversified museum (CDM), which aims to achieve social inclusion, i.e. bridging the social divide between ...mainstream and minority communities, through the integration of CDM’s and visitors’ resources. Using service logic (SL) theory as the theoretical lens, we aim to unveil the CDM’s unique service provider and customer (visitor) resources, the corresponding resource integration process that explains value co-creation and co-destruction and the resultant value outcomes for social inclusion.
Design/methodology/approach
A case study of an Australian CDM is used, involving various qualitative data sources, including depth interviews, focus groups, visitor book content analysis, on-site observation and participation in the CDM’s events and forums.
Findings
The findings provide insights into the unique CDM and visitor resources that are integrated to achieve value outcomes that foster social inclusion. However, the results suggest that alongside value co-creation, co-destruction can unfold, causing a (mis)alignment with the aim of the CDM to bridge the social divide between mainstream and minority communities.
Practical implications
This study’s findings offer salient implications for CDMs and similar service providers that enables social inclusion and policymakers.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the service domain by highlighting the importance of the alignment between provider and customer resources to co-create value within a culturally diversified context. That is, CDMs can learn from the misalignment of their resources and those of their visitors to improve their resource offerings and achieve greater social inclusion outcomes in the future.
Abstract
Globally, extreme rainfall has intense impacts on ecosystems and human livelihoods. However, no effort has yet been made to forecast the extreme rainfall indices through machine learning ...techniques. In this paper, a new extreme rainfall indices forecasting model is proposed using a random forest (RF) model to provide effective forecasts of monthly extreme rainfall indices. In addition, RF feature importance is proposed in this study to identify the most and least important features for the proposed model. This study forecasts only statistically significant extreme rainfall indices over Bangladesh including consecutive dry days (CDD), the number of heavy rain days (R10mm; rainfall ≥ 10 mm), and the number of heavy rain days (R20mm; rainfall ≥ 20 mm) within 1–3 months of lead time. The proposed model uses monthly antecedent CDD, R10mm, and R20mm including atmospheric parameters and ocean–atmospheric teleconnections, namely, convective available potential energy (CAPE), relative humidity (RH), air temperature (TEM), El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO), Indian Ocean dipole (IOD), and North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), as the inputs to the model. Results show that the proposed model yields the best performance to forecast CDD, R10mm, and R20mm with only the antecedent of these indices as input. Ocean–atmospheric teleconnections (IOD, ENSO, and NAO) are useful for CDD forecasting, and local atmospheric parameters (CAPE, RH, and TEM) are useful for R10mm and R20mm forecasting. The results suggest that adding atmospheric parameters and ocean–atmospheric teleconnections is useful to forecast extreme rainfall indices.
Purpose
Frontline employees (FLEs) are a key source of competitive advantage for organizations and have a significant impact on the quality of customer–firm interactions. This study aims to use the ...stimulus-organism-response (S-O-R) model as a theoretical lens to examine whether internal communication (IC) (stimulus) evokes FLEs’ organizational identification (emotional) and job satisfaction (cognitive), and whether these in turn shape FLE customer-oriented behavior (response). The study also tested whether these mediated relationships are moderated by perceived communication formalization.
Design/methodology/approach
The hypothesized mediated and moderated effects were tested using data collected from a cross-sectional survey of 293 full-time salespeople working for a large general insurance company.
Findings
Both organizational identification and job satisfaction simultaneously mediate the relationship between IC and customer-oriented behavior. Perceived communication formalization was found to weaken the mediated relationship between IC and customer-oriented behavior, but only when this is via job satisfaction.
Research limitations/implications
This study has shown that where IC is positively viewed by FLEs, it can be leveraged as a key driver by organizations to evoke simultaneous positive emotional and cognitive reactions, leading to increased customer-oriented behavior.
Practical implications
This study informs both theory and practice related to effective IC among customer-contact FLEs.
Originality/value
The study shows how IC can simultaneously produce two simultaneous emotional and cognitive reactions leading to FLE customer-oriented behavior and how these mediated relationships can be moderated by perceived communication formalization. The study used the S-O-R model as the theoretical lens to test these relationships.
Researchers have repeatedly found that the use of mobile technology (MT) in the West is a double-edged sword that produces both positive and negative psychological experiences for employees. MT blurs ...the boundaries between work and non-work contexts, limiting employees' personal space and time as a result, and possibly having a negative impact on their work engagement. Our findings in Japan, however, were different. Japanese workers' total MT usage (i.e., during office and non-office hours) had a positive impact on their work autonomy, which, in turn, led to greater work engagement. Emotional exhaustion was not related to MT usage. The findings from this study imply that MT can result in positive psychological experiences for employees and present some managerial implications for boundary conditions.
At the forefront of advanced material technology, radiation-induced hydrogels present a promising avenue for innovation across various sectors, utilizing gamma radiation, electron beam radiation, and ...UV radiation. Through the unique synthesis process involving radiation exposure, these hydrogels exhibit exceptional properties that make them highly versatile and valuable for a multitude of applications. This paper focuses on the intricacies of the synthesis methods employed in creating these radiation-induced hydrogels, shedding light on their structural characteristics and functional benefits. In particular, the paper analyzes the diverse utility of these hydrogels in biomedicine and agriculture, showcasing their potential for applications such as targeted drug delivery, injury recovery, and even environmental engineering solutions. By analyzing current research trends and highlighting potential future directions, this review aims to underscore the transformative impact that radiation-induced hydrogels could have on various industries and the advancement of biomedical and agricultural practices.
Background: Leprosy is a disease having tremendous social implications due to ostracization. Despite continuous efforts made so far to eliminate leprosy, stigma/misbeliefs/adverse attitude toward ...leprosy still prevails among common people. Community perceptions and attitudes towards leprosy patients are critical and unique indicator of how society stereotypes leprosy. Aims: The qualitative study was conducted to explore the perceptions of leprosy patients towards leprosy. Materials and Methods: Two focused group discussions (FGDs) with 19 newly-diagnosed leprosy patients who can speak vernacular were conducted with help of a predetermined FGD-guide between April and June 2019 in the dermatology out-patient department of the tertiary-care center. Both FGD sessions were recorded, transcribed, and translated into English. These verbatims were thematically analyzed and emerging themes were identified with illustrative quotations. Free list and pile sort data obtained were analyzed by Visual Anthropac version 1.0 software for Smith's salience value Cognitive mapping with two-dimensional scaling and hierarchical cluster analysis. Results: Small size of wound, not giving importance, failure to realize, bad luck and scared of being isolated etc., were the most common reported perceptions. Overall, five themes emerged after pile sorting, namely ignorance about the disease, stigma and economic burden, positive perception after diagnosis, treatment-related suggestions, and myths and frequently asked questions. Conclusion: The study concludes that more IEC campaigns are required to abolish the stigma; and ASHA workers/front-line workers can play a pivotal role. The program (NLEP) can also utilize the role of satisfied cured-patient as peer-educator to improve the attitude of society towards this disease.
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