Search results for: public health emergency
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 13227

Search results for: public health emergency

12927 Coarse Grid Computational Fluid Dynamics Fire Simulations

Authors: Wolfram Jahn, Jose Manuel Munita

Abstract:

While computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations of fire scenarios are commonly used in the design of buildings, less attention has been given to the use of CFD simulations as an operational tool for the fire services. The reason of this lack of attention lies mainly in the fact that CFD simulations typically take large periods of time to complete, and their results would thus not be available in time to be of use during an emergency. Firefighters often face uncertain conditions when entering a building to attack a fire. They would greatly benefit from a technology based on predictive fire simulations, able to assist their decision-making process. The principal constraint to faster CFD simulations is the fine grid necessary to solve accurately the physical processes that govern a fire. This paper explores the possibility of overcoming this constraint and using coarse grid CFD simulations for fire scenarios, and proposes a methodology to use the simulation results in a meaningful way that can be used by the fire fighters during an emergency. Data from real scale compartment fire tests were used to compare CFD fire models with different grid arrangements, and empirical correlations were obtained to interpolate data points into the grids. The results show that the strongly predominant effect of the heat release rate of the fire on the fluid dynamics allows for the use of coarse grids with relatively low overall impact of simulation results. Simulations with an acceptable level of accuracy could be run in real time, thus making them useful as a forecasting tool for emergency response purposes.

Keywords: CFD, fire simulations, emergency response, forecast

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12926 School Emergency Drills Evaluation through E-PreS Monitoring System

Authors: A. Kourou, A. Ioakeimidou, V. Avramea

Abstract:

Planning for natural disasters and emergencies is something every school or educational institution must consider, regardless of its size or location. Preparedness is the key to save lives if a disaster strikes. School disaster management mirrors individual and family disaster prevention, and wider community disaster prevention efforts. This paper presents the usage of E-PreS System as a helpful, managerial tool during the school earthquake drill, in order to support schools in developing effective disaster and emergency plans specific to their local needs. The project comes up with a holistic methodology using real-time evaluation involving different categories of actors, districts, steps and metrics. The main outcomes of E-PreS project are the development of E-PreS web platform that host the needed data of school emergency planning; the development of E-PreS System; the implementation of disaster drills using E-PreS System in educational premises and local schools; and the evaluation of E-PreS System. Taking into consideration that every disaster drill aims to test and valid school plan and procedures; clarify and train personnel in roles and responsibilities; improve interagency coordination; identify gaps in resources; improve individual performance; and identify opportunities for improvement, E-PreS Project was submitted and approved by the European Commission (EC).

Keywords: disaster drills, earthquake preparedness, E-PreS System, school emergency plans

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12925 Tornado Disaster Impacts and Management: Learning from the 2016 Tornado Catastrophe in Jiangsu Province, China

Authors: Huicong Jia, Donghua Pan

Abstract:

As a key component of disaster reduction management, disaster emergency relief and reconstruction is an important process. Based on disaster system theory, this study analyzed the Jiangsu tornado from the formation mechanism of disasters, through to the economic losses, loss of life, and social infrastructure losses along the tornado disaster chain. The study then assessed the emergency relief and reconstruction efforts, based on an analytic hierarchy process method. The results were as follows: (1) An unstable weather system was the root cause of the tornado. The potentially hazardous local environment, acting in concert with the terrain and the river network, was able to gather energy from the unstable atmosphere. The wind belt passed through a densely populated district, with vulnerable infrastructure and other hazard-prone elements, which led to an accumulative disaster situation and the triggering of a catastrophe. (2) The tornado was accompanied by a hailstorm, which is an important triggering factor for a tornado catastrophe chain reaction. (3) The evaluation index (EI) of the emergency relief and reconstruction effect for the ‘‘6.23’’ tornado disaster in Yancheng was 91.5. Compared to other relief work in areas affected by disasters of the same magnitude, there was a more successful response than has previously been experienced. The results provide new insights for studies of disaster systems and the recovery measures in response to tornado catastrophe in China.

Keywords: China, disaster system, emergency relief, tornado catastrophe

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12924 Distinctive Features of Legal Relations in the Area of Subsoil Use, Renewal and Protection in Ukraine

Authors: N. Maksimentseva

Abstract:

The issue of public administration in subsoil use, renewal and protection is of high importance for Ukraine since it is strongly linked to energy security of the state as well as it shall facilitate the people of Ukraine to efficiently implement its propitiatory rights towards natural resources and redistribution of national wealth. As it is stipulated in the Article 11 of the Subsoil Code of Ukraine (the Code) the authorities that administer the industry are limited to central executive bodies and local governments. In particular, it is stipulated in the Code that the Ukraine’s Cabinet of Ministers carries out public administration in geological exploration, production and protection of subsoil. Other state bodies of public administration include central public authority responsible for state environmental protection policies; central public authority in charge of implementation of state geological exploration and efficient subsoil use policies; central authority in charge of state health and safety control policies. There are also public authorities in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea; local executive bodies and other state authorities and local self-government authorities in compliance with laws of Ukraine. This article is devoted to the analysis of the legal relations in the area of public administration of subsoil use, renewal and protection in Ukraine. The main approaches to study the essence of legal relations in the named area as well as its tasks, functions and methods are analyzed. It is concluded in this article that legal relationship in the field of public administration of subsoil use, renewal and protection is characterized by specifics of its task (development of natural resources).

Keywords: legal relations, public administration, subsoil code of Ukraine, subsoil use, renewal and protection

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12923 Improving Knowledge Management Practices in the South African Healthcare System

Authors: Kgabo H. Badimo, Sheryl Buckley

Abstract:

Knowledge is increasingly recognised in this, the knowledge era, as a strategic resource, by public sector organisations, in view of the public sector reform initiatives. People and knowledge play a vital role in attaining improved organisational performance and high service quality. Many government departments in the public sector have started to realise the importance of knowledge management in streamlining their operations and processes. This study focused on knowledge management in the public healthcare service organisations, where the concept of service provider competitiveness pales to insignificance, considering the huge challenges emanating from the healthcare and public sector reforms. Many government departments are faced with challenges of improving organisational performance and service delivery, improving accountability, making informed decisions, capturing the knowledge of the aging workforce, and enhancing partnerships with stakeholders. The purpose of this paper is to examine the knowledge management practices of the Gauteng Department of Health in South Africa, in order to understand how knowledge management practices influence improvement in organisational performance and healthcare service delivery. This issue is explored through a review of literature on dominant views on knowledge management and healthcare service delivery, as well as results of interviews with, and questionnaire responses from, the general staff of the Gauteng Department of Health. Web-based questionnaires, face-to-face interviews and organisational documents were used to collect data. The data were analysed using both the quantitative and qualitative methods. The central question investigated was: To what extent can the conditions required for successful knowledge management be observed, in order to improve organisational performance and healthcare service delivery in the Gauteng Department of Health. The findings showed that the elements of knowledge management capabilities investigated in this study, namely knowledge creation, knowledge sharing and knowledge application, have a positive, significant relationship with all measures of organisational performance and healthcare service delivery. These findings thus indicate that by employing knowledge management principles, the Gauteng Department of Health could improve its ability to achieve its operational goals and objectives, and solve organisational and healthcare challenges, thereby improving organisational.

Keywords: knowledge management, Healthcare Service Delivery, public healthcare, public sector

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12922 Contemporary Challenges in Public Relations in the Context of Globalization

Authors: Marine Kobalava, Eter Narimanishvili, Nino Grigolaia

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The paper analyzes the contemporary problems of public relations in Georgia. The approaches to public attitudes towards the relationship with the population of the country are studied on a global scale, the importance of forming the concept of public relations in Georgia in terms of globalization is justified. The basic components of public relations are characterized by the RACE system, namely analyzing research, action, communication, evaluation. The main challenges of public relations are identified in the research process; taking into consideration the scope of globalization, the influence of social, economic, and political changes in Georgia on PR development are identified. The article discusses the public relations as the strategic management function that facilitates communication with the society, recognition of public interests, and their prediction. In addition, the feminization of the sector is considered to be the most important achievement of public relations in the modern world. The conclusion is that the feminization indicator of the field is an unconditional increase in the employment rates of women. In the paper, the problems of globalization and public relations in the industrial countries are studied, the directions of improvement of public relations with the background of peculiarities of different countries and globalization process are proposed. Public relations under globalization are assessed in accordance with the theory of benefits and requirements, and the requirements are classified according to informational, self-identification, integration, social interaction, and other types of signs. In the article, conclusions on the current challenges of public relations in Georgia are made, and the recommendations for their solution, taking into consideration globalization processes in the world, are proposed.

Keywords: public relations, globalization, RACE system, public relationship concept, feminization

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12921 The Major Challenge of the Health System Health Management Services in Kosovo and Impact on Satisfaction

Authors: Nevruz Zogu, Shpetim Rezniqi

Abstract:

In the framework of transformational economic development social pluralism and the free, market health systems operating in the countries of our region are naturally involved in a process of profound change and reform. Health systems actually represent complex ensembles centers and public and private institutions (domestic and foreign), who administer substantial amounts of human, technological, material, financial, information and scientific facts • The goal of health systems is much more than medical care. It includes the promotion, protection, treatment and rehabilitation of health of the population. • Meeting the needs of increasingly diverse broader health services efficient, secure the quality and affordability of their increasing cost of unstoppable, requires the necessary reform of health systems and implementing policies and new management methods, to ensure effectiveness and health benefits as higher population.

Keywords: health, management, economy, finance

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12920 Assessment of Drinking Water Quality in Relation to Arsenic Contamination in Drinking Water in Liberia: Achieving the Sustainable Development Goal of Ensuring Clean Water and Sanitation

Authors: Victor Emery David Jr., Jiang Wenchao, Daniel Mmereki, Yasinta John

Abstract:

The fundamentals of public health are access to safe and clean drinking water. The presence of arsenic and other contaminants in drinking water leads to the potential risk to public health and the environment particularly in most developing countries where there’s inadequate access to safe and clean water and adequate sanitation. Liberia has taken steps to improve its drinking water status so as to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) target of ensuring clean water and effective sanitation but there is still a lot to be done. The Sustainable Development Goals are a United Nation initiative also known as transforming our world: The 2030 agenda for sustainable development. It contains seventeen goals with 169 targets to be met by respective countries. Liberia is situated within in the gold belt region where there exist the presence of arsenic and other contaminants in the underground water due to mining and other related activities. While there are limited or no epidemiological studies conducted in Liberia to confirm illness or death as a result of arsenic contamination in Liberia, it remains a public health concern. This paper assesses the drinking water quality, the presence of arsenic in groundwater/drinking water in Liberia, and proposes strategies for mitigating contaminants in drinking water and suggests options for improvement with regards to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals of ensuring clean water and effective sanitation in Liberia by 2030.

Keywords: arsenic, action plan, contaminants, environment, groundwater, sustainable development goals (SDGs), Monrovia, Liberia, public health, drinking water

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12919 New Public Management at Public Administration in Bangladesh: An Exploratory Study

Authors: Biback Das

Abstract:

New Public Management, a phenomenal tool, which is used to enforcing in public administration in different country’s to enhance the capacities. Since the 1980s, New Public Management (NPM) is primarily focusing to modernize the public sector. From the initial period, many developed countries such as UK, New Zealand, Australia, and the USA are applied in their administration to modernize. Almost 1990s, it has been applied in many developing countries. This study can describe the real situations of NPM based administration. Bangladesh Government has taken many projects to reform the public sector under NPM. Even many Development Agencies like UN, UNDP, World Bank, Asian Development Bank and so on, along with many developed countries also invested and prescribed to take NPM based reform that can to restructure the public sector so that it can maximize the efforts to provide the better service. This study examines using many factors that effects work on Public Administration in Bangladesh and also assessing its endeavor to adopt in it. Although Government has taken such initiatives to implement NPM originated reform, it’s not effectively been implemented to bring positive change about as per NPM objectives. This study mainly examines some initiatives in Bangladesh that have the influence of NPM as well as some drawbacks that can’t help the satisfaction of these initiatives. This article help to identify the efforts of many development agencies providing a fund to enhance the NPM based projects with their specific conditions that are prescribed by them helping to get fund. Therefore, to establish effective public management or to follow NPM model, Bangladesh need having an institutional framework, sound rule of law, proper structure, effective civil service system, appropriate checks, and balances to restructure the public sector help along with donor agencies ad implement in it. Bangladesh Government has applied its recent days to enhance the capabilities in its Public Administration. Moreover, this study mainly identifies how the designing strategies, program formulating, its implementation in various sector such as education, health sector etc. and how to reduce the backdrop the during problem by smooth functioning. This paper is also assessing the influence of many projects like PPP (Public-Private and Partnership) to work along with private organizations for smooth service delivery. Accordingly, this paper briefly reviews how it applies in a global context following the taken many initiatives and the consequences of Bangladesh context.

Keywords: new public management, capacity building, conditionalities, service delivery, public-private-partnership

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12918 A Dam Break Analysis Using MIKE11

Authors: Oussama Derdous, Lakhdar Djemili, Hamza Bouchahed

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The consequences of a dam breach can be devastating; both in terms of lives lost and damaged infrastructure and property. Hydraulic modeling provides a clear picture of the possible consequences of partial or complete failure of a dam, which is the key to carry out emergency planning and conduct reliable risk assessments. In this paper, the MIKE11 model developed by the Danish Hydrologic Institute (DHI) was used to simulate the flood wave propagation associated with a potential failure analysis failure of Zardezas dam located in the city of Skikda in the North East of Algeria. MIKE11 results including inundation maps and the representative channel/valley cross-sections depicting flow depth and maximal flow velocities showed that Zardezas reservoir presents a significant risk to downstream areas in the event of a dam failure. These results can be used as the basis of the development of an Emergency Action Plan (EAP).The main objective of this plan is to predict the appropriate steps to avoid or at least decrease the consequences of unexpected failure of Zardezas dam.

Keywords: MIKE11, dam break, inundation maps, emergency action plan

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12917 Criticality of Socio-Cultural Factors in Public Policy: A Study of Reproductive Health Care in Rural West Bengal

Authors: Arindam Roy

Abstract:

Public policy is an intriguing terrain, which involves complex interplay of administrative, social political and economic components. There is hardly any fit-for all formulation of public policy as Lindbloom has aptly categorized it as a science of muddling through. In fact, policies are both temporally and contextually determined as one the proponents of policy sciences Harold D Lasswell has underscored it in his ‘contextual-configurative analysis’ as early as 1950s. Though, a lot of theoretical efforts have been made to make sense of this intricate dynamics of policy making, at the end of the day the applied area of public policy negates any such uniform, planned and systematic formulation. However, our policy makers seem to have learnt very little of that. Until recently, policy making was deemed as an absolutely specialized exercise to be conducted by a cadre of professionally trained seasoned mandarin. Attributes like homogeneity, impartiality, efficiency, and neutrality were considered as the watchwords of delivering common goods. Citizen or clientele was conceptualized as universal political or economic construct, to be taken care of uniformly. Moreover, policy makers usually have the proclivity to put anything into straightjacket, and to ignore the nuances therein. Hence, least attention has been given to the ground level reality, especially the socio-cultural milieu where the policy is supposed to be applied. Consequently, a substantial amount of public money goes in vain as the intended beneficiaries remain indifferent to the delivery of public policies. The present paper in the light of Reproductive Health Care policy in rural West Bengal has tried to underscore the criticality of socio-cultural factors in public health delivery. Indian health sector has traversed a long way. From a near non-existent at the time of independence, the Indian state has gradually built a country-wide network of health infrastructure. Yet it has to make a major breakthrough in terms of coverage and penetration of the health services in the rural areas. Several factors are held responsible for such state of things. These include lack of proper infrastructure, medicine, communication, ambulatory services, doctors, nursing services and trained birth attendants. Policy makers have underlined the importance of supply side in policy formulation and implementation. The successive policy documents concerning health delivery bear the testimony of it. The present paper seeks to interrogate the supply-side oriented explanations for the failure of the delivery of health services. Instead, it identified demand side to find out the answer. The state-led and bureaucratically engineered public health measures fail to engender demands as these measures mostly ignore socio-cultural nuances of health and well-being. Hence, the hiatus between supply side and demand side leads to huge wastage of revenue as health infrastructure, medicine and instruments remain unutilized in most cases. Therefore, taking proper cognizance of these factors could have streamlined the delivery of public health.

Keywords: context, policy, socio-cultural factor, uniformity

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12916 Salinity Response of Some Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) Genotypes in Germination and Seedling Growth of Periods

Authors: Onder Aldemir, Ercan Ceyhan

Abstract:

The research was conducted to determine effects of salt concentrations on emergence and seedling development of chickpea genotypes. Trials were performed during the year of 2013 on the laboratory and greenhouse of Agricultural Faculty, Selcuk University. Emergency trial was set up according to ‘Randomized Plots Design’ by two factors and four replications; greenhouse trial was also set up according to ‘Randomized Plots Design’ by two factors with three replications. The chickpea genotypes; CA119, CA132, CA149, CA150, CA215, CA222, CA235, CA261, Bozkır and Gokce were used as material for both of the trials. Effects of the five doses of salt concentrations (control, 30 mM, 60 mM, 90 mM and 120 mM) on the ratio of emergency, speed of emergency, average time for emergency, index of sensibility, length of shoot and root, fresh weight of shoot and root, dry weight of shoot and root, index of salt tolerance were evaluated. Responses of the chickpea genotypes for salt concentrations were found different. Comparing to the control, all of the investigated characteristics on the chickpea genotypes showed significant reduction by depending on the increasing salt level. According to the effects of salt application, the chickpea genotypes Gokce, CA215 and CA222 were the most tolerant in respect to plant dry weights while the chickpea genotypes CA149 and CA150 were the most sensitive.

Keywords: chickpea, emergence, salt tolerant, seedling development

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12915 Inflating the Public: A Series of Urban Interventions

Authors: Veronika Antoniou, Rene Carraz, Yiorgos Hadjichristou

Abstract:

The Green Urban Lab took the form of public installations that were placed at various locations in four cities in Cyprus. These installations - through which a series of events, activities, workshops and research took place - were the main tools in regenerating a series of urban public spaces in Cyprus. The purpose of this project was to identify issues and opportunities related to public space and to offer guidelines on how design and participatory democracy improvements could strengthen civil society, while raising the quality of the urban public scene. Giant inflatable structures were injected in important urban fragments in order to accommodate series of events. The design and playful installation generated a wide community engagement. The fluid presence of the installations acted as a catalyst for social interaction. They were accessed and viewed effortlessly and surprisingly, creating opportunities to rediscover public spaces.

Keywords: bottom-up initiatives, creativity, public space, social innovation, urban environments

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12914 Urban Heat Island Effects on Human Health in Birmingham and Its Mitigation

Authors: N. A. Parvin, E. B. Ferranti, L. A. Chapman, C. A. Pfrang

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This study intends to investigate the effects of the Urban Heat Island on public health in Birmingham. Birmingham is located at the center of the West Midlands and its weather is Highly variable due to geographical factors. Residential developments, road networks and infrastructure often replace open spaces and vegetation. This transformation causes the temperature of urban areas to increase and creates an "island" of higher temperatures in the urban landscape. Extreme heat in the urban area is influencing public health in the UK as well as in the world. Birmingham is a densely built-up area with skyscrapers and congested buildings in the city center, which is a barrier to air circulation. We will investigate the city regarding heat and cold-related human mortality and other impacts. We are using primary and secondary datasets to examine the effect of population shift and land-use change on the UHI in Birmingham. We will also use freely available weather data from the Birmingham Urban Observatory and will incorporate satellite data to determine urban spatial expansion and its effect on the UHI. We have produced a temperature map based on summer datasets of 2020, which has covered 25 weather stations in Birmingham to show the differences between diurnal and nocturnal summer and annual temperature trends. Some impacts of the UHI may be beneficial, such as the lengthening of the plant growing season, but most of them are highly negative. We are looking for various effects of urban heat which is impacting human health and investigating mitigation options.

Keywords: urban heat, public health, climate change

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12913 Lessons from Implementation of a Network-Wide Safety Huddle in Behavioral Health

Authors: Deborah Weidner, Melissa Morgera

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The model of care delivery in the Behavioral Health Network (BHN) is integrated across all five regions of Hartford Healthcare and thus spans the entirety of the state of Connecticut, with care provided in seven inpatient settings and over 30 ambulatory outpatient locations. While safety has been a core priority of the BHN in alignment with High Reliability practices, safety initiatives have historically been facilitated locally in each region or within each entity, with interventions implemented locally as opposed to throughout the network. To address this, the BHN introduced a network wide Safety Huddle during 2022. Launched in January, the BHN Safety Huddle brought together internal stakeholders, including medical and administrative leaders, along with executive institute leadership, quality, and risk management. By bringing leaders together and introducing a network-wide safety huddle into the way we work, the benefit has been an increase in awareness of safety events occurring in behavioral health areas as well as increased systemization of countermeasures to prevent future events. One significant discussion topic presented in huddles has pertained to environmental design and patient access to potentially dangerous items, addressing some of the most relevant factors resulting in harm to patients in inpatient and emergency settings for behavioral health patients. The safety huddle has improved visibility of potential environmental safety risks through the generation of over 15 safety alerts cascaded throughout the BHN and also spurred a rapid improvement project focused on standardization of patient belonging searches to reduce patient access to potentially dangerous items on inpatient units. Safety events pertaining to potentially dangerous items decreased by 31% as a result of standardized interventions implemented across the network and as a result of increased awareness. A second positive outcome originating from the BHN Safety Huddle was implementation of a recommendation to increase the emergency Narcan®(naloxone) supply on hand in ambulatory settings of the BHN after incidents involving accidental overdose resulted in higher doses of naloxone administration. By increasing the emergency supply of naloxone on hand in all ambulatory and residential settings, colleagues are better prepared to respond in an emergency situation should a patient experience an overdose while on site. Lastly, discussions in safety huddle spurred a new initiative within the BHN to improve responsiveness to assaultive incidents through a consultation service. This consult service, aligned with one of the network’s improvement priorities to reduce harm events related to assaultive incidents, was borne out of discussion in huddle in which it was identified that additional interventions may be needed in providing clinical care to patients who are experiencing multiple and/ or frequent safety events.

Keywords: quality, safety, behavioral health, risk management

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12912 Drowning: An Emergency Department Guideline

Authors: Thomas P. Jones

Abstract:

Overview: Drowning is an important cause of accidental death, particularly in children and young people. Although many survive drowning incidents, it is a relatively rare presenting complaint in Emergency Departments. When cases do present, they can be complex and unpredictable. For patients to receive the best care, it is important that their management is standardized and evidence based, however this can be difficult in a topic area with limited studies and inconsistencies in case reporting. Objectives: To review recent cases to assess the performance of Manchester Royal Infirmary Emergency Department in the management of near drowning. To produce evidence based guideline on the management of drowning victims in the ED. Methods: Emergency department records were searched for patients with the diagnosis of ‘fatal drowning’ or ‘nearly drowning’ and two relevant case notes reviewed. To produce the guideline a literature review was conducted and a series of structured short cut systematic reviews known as Best BETs carried out. This information was used to produce a clear treatment pathway. Results: The case studies emphasized the variety in presentation of drowning victims whilst highlighting inconsistencies in management and documentation. An evidence-based guideline is presented as a flowchart, which illustrates the relevant investigations and treatment that victims of a drowning incident should receive, based on the best available evidence. Conclusion: It is hoped that when put into practice, the guideline will improve and standardize patient care in cases of near drowning. An audit is recommended to assess its effectiveness.

Keywords: drowning, near drowning, non fatal drowning, fatal drowning

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12911 Humanitarian Emergency of the Refugee Condition for Central American Immigrants in Irregular Situation

Authors: María de los Ángeles Cerda González, Itzel Arriaga Hurtado, Pascacio José Martínez Pichardo

Abstract:

In México, the recognition of refugee condition is a fundamental right which, as host State, has the obligation of respect, protect, and fulfill to the foreigners – where we can find the figure of immigrants in irregular situation-, that cannot return to their country of origin for humanitarian reasons. The recognition of the refugee condition as a fundamental right in the Mexican law system proceeds under these situations: 1. The immigrant applies for the refugee condition, even without the necessary proving elements to accredit the humanitarian character of his departure from his country of origin. 2. The immigrant does not apply for the recognition of refugee because he does not know he has the right to, even if he has the profile to apply for. 3. The immigrant who applies fulfills the requirements of the administrative procedure and has access to the refugee recognition. Of the three situations above, only the last one is contemplated for the national indexes of the status refugee; and the first two prove the inefficiency of the governmental system viewed from its lack of sensibility consequence of the no education in human rights matter and which results in the legal vulnerability of the immigrants in irregular situation because they do not have access to the procuration and administration of justice. In the aim of determining the causes and consequences of the no recognition of the refugee status, this investigation was structured from a systemic analysis which objective is to show the advances in Central American humanitarian emergency investigation, the Mexican States actions to protect, respect and fulfil the fundamental right of refugee of immigrants in irregular situation and the social and legal vulnerabilities suffered by Central Americans in Mexico. Therefore, to achieve the deduction of the legal nature of the humanitarian emergency from the Human Rights as a branch of the International Public Law, a conceptual framework is structured using the inductive deductive method. The problem statement is made from a legal framework to approach a theoretical scheme under the theory of social systems, from the analysis of the lack of communication of the governmental and normative subsystems of the Mexican legal system relative to the process undertaken by the Central American immigrants to achieve the recognition of the refugee status as a human right. Accordingly, is determined that fulfilling the obligations of the State referent to grant the right of the recognition of the refugee condition, would mean a guideline for a new stage in Mexican Law, because it would enlarge the constitutional benefits to everyone whose right to the recognition of refugee has been denied an as consequence, a great advance in human rights matter would be achieved.

Keywords: central American immigrants in irregular situation, humanitarian emergency, human rights, refugee

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12910 Game “EZZRA” as an Innovative Solution

Authors: Mane Varosyan, Diana Tumanyan, Agnesa Martirosyan

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There are many catastrophic events that end with dire consequences, and to avoid them, people should be well-armed with the necessary information about these situations. During the last years, Serious Games have increasingly gained popularity for training people for different types of emergencies. The major discussed problem is the usage of gamification in education. Moreover, it is mandatory to understand how and what kind of gamified e-learning modules promote engagement. As the theme is emergency, we also find out people’s behavior for creating the final approach. Our proposed solution is an educational video game, “EZZRA”.

Keywords: gamification, education, emergency, serious games, game design, virtual reality, digitalisation

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12909 Transport Emission Inventories and Medical Exposure Modeling: A Missing Link for Urban Health

Authors: Frederik Schulte, Stefan Voß

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The adverse effects of air pollution on public health are an increasingly vital problem in planning for urban regions in many parts of the world. The issue is addressed from various angles and by distinct disciplines in research. Epidemiological studies model the relative increase of numerous diseases in response to an increment of different forms of air pollution. A significant share of air pollution in urban regions is related to transport emissions that are often measured and stored in emission inventories. Though, most approaches in transport planning, engineering, and operational design of transport activities are restricted to general emission limits for specific air pollutants and do not consider more nuanced exposure models. We conduct an extensive literature review on exposure models and emission inventories used to study the health impact of transport emissions. Furthermore, we review methods applied in both domains and use emission inventory data of transportation hubs such as ports, airports, and urban traffic for an in-depth analysis of public health impacts deploying medical exposure models. The results reveal specific urban health risks related to transport emissions that may improve urban planning for environmental health by providing insights in actual health effects instead of only referring to general emission limits.

Keywords: emission inventories, exposure models, transport emissions, urban health

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12908 Functions of Public Policy in Private International Law

Authors: Fedorova Elena

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In this article, we draw a distinction between two important functions of public policy in private international law. The first function is widely recognized and relates to the prevention of application of foreign laws and enforcement of foreign court judgments whenever their effects are incompatible with the domestic legal system of the forum. This effectively protects sovereign rights of the forum state as it allows to resist against the undesirable effects of foreign law-making and law-enforcement policies. The second function is less obvious, but not less important. As the internal private legal relationships, international private relationships are usually governed by rules of public policy, to which the parties can not derogate by mutual agreement. Thefore, for international private law relations public policy has a different function than previously mentioned: in this case, the public policy acts as a defense against unacceptable effects of the party autonomy. Thus, this second function of public policy consists in the limitation of the party autonomy wich effects would be unacceptable for the local legal system. In the frame of this second function the author will analyse two types of public policy which can limit the party autonomy: « substantial » public policy (which regulates the substance of international legal relationship) and « conflictual » public policy (which regulates the party autonomy to choose the law applicable for the substance of relationship). The author provides an analysis of these functions of the public policy in the field of international contract law because of the important role of the principle of party autonomy for international contract relations.

Keywords: public policy, general theory of private international law, substantial public policy, conflictual public policy

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12907 Attributes of Ethical Leadership and Ethical Guidelines in Malaysian Public Sector

Authors: M. Norazamina, A. Azizah, Y. Najihah Marha, A. Suraya

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Malaysian Public Sector departments or agencies are responsible to provide efficient public services with zero corruption. However, corruption continues to occur due to the absence of ethical leadership and well-execution of ethical guidelines. Thus, the objective of this paper is to explore the attributes of ethical leadership and ethical guidelines. This study employs a qualitative research by analyzing data from interviews with key informers of public sector using conceptual content analysis (NVivo11). The study reveals eight attributes of ethical leadership which are role model, attachment, ethical support, knowledgeable, discipline, leaders’ spirituality encouragement, virtue values and shared values. Meanwhile, five attributes (guidelines, communication, check and balance, concern on stakeholders and compliance) of ethical guidelines are identified. These identified attributes should become the ethical identity and ethical direction of Malaysian Public Sector. This could enhance the public trust as well as the international community trust towards the public sector.

Keywords: check and balance, ethical guidelines, ethical leadership, public sector, spirituality encouragement

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12906 Implementing Service Innovation in Public Transport Sector: Drivers and Challenges

Authors: Chaoren Lu

Abstract:

Public policy is playing as one driving force that influencing service innovation implementation in public sector. However, public policy implications cannot be automatically derived from the analyses of innovation issues, and there lacks of researches about the influences of public policy onto innovation. Moreover, innovation in service system is hard to predictable and whether policy encourages or hidden innovation is still lack of study. Especially, by given the context that multiple actors are active involving within the service delivery process in public transport sector, the complex driving forces and challenges are emerged towards the service operation. This study is aim to analysis the service innovation practices within service operating organizations to understand the drivers and challenges of service operation based on policy requirements, and where the innovation idea generating from. The case studies of Changzhou Transit Group and Nanjing Jiangnan Public Transit Group will be launched. This paper reveals the ambidexterity between top-down and bottom-up demands within the public transport service operating organizations contribute to the innovation ideas. Meanwhile, it contributes to the understanding of fundamental elements of service innovation is the new relationship creation and new way of sharing knowledge. The policy contributes to the trigger of creation of such relationship. The research question is: what are the sources of service innovation practices in local public transport system in China in in facing the policy implementation?

Keywords: public value, service innovation, public transport service, China

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12905 Xiaflex (Collagenase) Impact on the Management of Dupuytren's Disease: Making the Case for Treatment in a Public Healthcare System

Authors: Anthony Barker, Roland Jiang

Abstract:

Dupuytren’s contractures are a debilitating condition affecting the palmar fascia of the hand reducing its function. This case series looks at the minimally-invasive technique of Xiaflex injections and the outcome in a public health setting. 15 patients undertook collagenase injection (Xiaflex, C. histolyticum) injection over the period from September 2015 to May 2017 at Fairfield Hospital, NSW. Their reported outcome post injection and in follow-up was recorded as well as their satisfaction and likelihood to request the procedure in the future. Other treatment modalities include percutaneous needle aponeurotomy, limited palmar fasciotomy, and palmar fasciectomy. A literature review of cost-effectiveness was performed to compare Xiaflex suitability for waitlist reduction in a public setting given average waiting times in the public setting extend past 365 days.

Keywords: Dupuytrens Disease, xiaflex, collagenase, plastic surgery

Procedia PDF Downloads 159
12904 Dambreak Flood Analysis Using HEC-RAS and GIS Technologies

Authors: Oussama Derdous, Lakhdar Djemili, Hamza Bouchehed

Abstract:

The potential risks associated with dam break flooding could be considerable and result in major damage, including loss of life and property destruction. In the past, Algeria experienced such flood disasters; let’s recall the failure of Fergoug dam in 1881, this accident cost 200 lives, many houses and bridges were destroyed by the flooding. Recently the Algerian government have obligated to dam owners the development of detailed dam break Emergency Action Plans for its 64 major dams. The research presented here was conducted within this framework, Zardezas dam which is located in the city of Skikda in the North East of Algeria was the case of study. The model HEC-RAS was used for the hydrodynamic routing of the dam break flood wave. In addition, Geographic Information System (GIS) was used to create inundation maps and produce a visualization of the flood propagation in the Saf-Saf River.The simulation results that demonstrate the significance of Zardezas dam break flooding; constitute a real tool for developing emergency response plans and assisting territorial communities in land use planning.

Keywords: dam break, HEC-RAS, GIS, inundation maps, Emergency Action Plan

Procedia PDF Downloads 366
12903 A Retrospective Analysis of the Impact of the Choosing Wisely Canada Campaign on Emergency Department Imaging Utilization for Head Injuries

Authors: Sameer Masood, Lucas Chartier

Abstract:

Head injuries are a commonly encountered presentation in emergency departments (ED) and the Choosing Wisely Canada (CWC) campaign was released in June 2015 in an attempt to decrease imaging utilization for patients with minor head injuries. The impact of the CWC campaign on imaging utilization for head injuries has not been explored in the ED setting. In our study, we describe the characteristics of patients with head injuries presenting to a tertiary care academic ED and the impact of the CWC campaign on CT head utilization. This retrospective cohort study used linked databases from the province of Ontario, Canada to assess emergency department visits with a primary diagnosis of head injury made between June 1, 2014 and Aug 31, 2016 at the University Health Network in Toronto, Canada. We examined the number of visits during the study period, the proportion of patients that had a CT head performed before and after the release of the CWC campaign, as well as mode of arrival, and disposition. There were 4,322 qualifying visits at our site during the study period. The median presenting age was 44.12 years (IQR 27.83,67.45), the median GCS was 15 (IQR 15,15) and the majority of patients presenting had intermediate acuity (CTAS 3). Overall, 43.17% of patients arrived via ambulance, 49.24 % of patients received a CT head and 10.46% of patients were admitted. Compared to patients presenting before the CWC campaign release, there was no significant difference in the rate of CT heads after the CWC (50.41% vs 47.68%, P = 0.07). There were also no significant differences between the two groups in mode of arrival (ambulance vs ambulatory) (42.94% vs 43.48%, P = 0.72) or admission rates (9.85% vs 11.26%, P = 0.15). However, more patients belonged to the high acuity groups (CTAS 1 or 2) in the post CWC campaign release group (12.98% vs 8.11% P <0.001). Visits for head injuries make up a significant proportion of total ED visits and approximately half of these patients receive CT imaging in the ED. The CWC campaign did not seem to impact imaging utilization for head injuries in the 14 months following its launch. Further efforts, including local quality improvement initiatives, are likely needed to increase adherence to its recommendation and reduce imaging utilization for head injuries.

Keywords: choosing wisely, emergency department, head injury, quality improvement

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12902 Global Health Access to Reproductive Care: Vesicovaginal Fistulas and Obstetrics in Pakistan

Authors: Aena Iqbal

Abstract:

The lack of access to maternal and reproductive health in Pakistan poses a great threat to global public health. Obstetric issues, including vesicovaginal fistulas (VVF), are the most common in South Asian countries, leaving women in a more vulnerable state. Koohi Goth Women’s Hospital offers free VVF operations, which draws in women from all over Pakistan. Although reproductive health is being handled, mental health is often neglected in these scenarios. Using a series of questions inspired by the Warwick Edinburgh Model, this paper builds on the results from interviewing women who have received vesicovaginal fistula repair surgery on their mental health, a taboo topic in Pakistan.

Keywords: obstetrics, VVF, Pakistan, reproductive health

Procedia PDF Downloads 77
12901 The Core Obstacles of Continuous Improvement Implementation: Some Key Findings from Health and Education Sectors

Authors: Abdullah Alhaqbani

Abstract:

Purpose: Implementing continuous improvement is a challenge that public sector organisations face in becoming successful. Many obstacles hinder public organisations from successfully implementing continuous improvement. This paper aims to highlight the key core obstacles that face public organisations to implement continuous improvement programmes. Approach: Based on the literature, this paper reviews 66 papers that were published between 2000 and 2013 and that focused on the concept of continuous improvement and improvement methodologies in the context of public sector organisations. The methodologies for continuous improvement covered in these papers include Total Quality Management, Six Sigma, process re-engineering, lean thinking and Kaizen. Findings: Of the 24 obstacles found in the literature, 11 barriers were seen as core barriers that frequently occurred in public sector organisations. The findings indicate that lack of top management commitment; organisational culture and political issues and resistance to change are significant obstacles for improvement programmes. Moreover, this review found that improvement methodologies share some core barriers to successful implementation within public organisations. These barriers as well are common in the different geographic area. For instance lack of top management commitment and training that found in the education sector in Albanian are common barriers of improvement studies in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Spain, UK and US. Practical implications: Understanding these core issues and barriers will help managers of public organisations to improve their strategies with respect to continuous improvement. Thus, this review highlights the core issues that prevent a successful continuous improvement journey within the public sector. Value: Identifying and understanding the common obstacles to successfully implementing continuous improvement in the public sector will help public organisations to learn how to improve in launching and successfully sustaining such programmes. However, this is not the end; rather, it is just the beginning of a longer improvement journey. Thus, it is intended that this review will identify key learning opportunities for public sector organisations in developing nations which will then be tested via further research.

Keywords: continuous improvement, total quality management, obstacles, public sector

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12900 A Public Health Perspective on Deradicalisation: Re-Conceptualising Deradicalisation Approaches

Authors: Erin Lawlor

Abstract:

In 2008 Time magazine named terrorist rehabilitation as one of the best ideas of the year. The term deradicalisation has become synonymous with rehabilitation within security discourse. The allure for a “quick fix” when managing terrorist populations (particularly within prisons) has led to a focus on prescriptive programmes where there is a distinct lack of exploration into the drivers for a person to disengage or deradicalise from violence. It has been argued that to tackle a snowballing issue that interventions have moved too quickly for both theory development and methodological structure. This overly quick acceptance of a term that lacks rigorous testing, measuring, and monitoring means that there is distinct lack of evidence base for deradicalisation being a genuine process/phenomenon, leading to academics retrospectively attempting to design frameworks and interventions around a concept that is not truly understood. The UK Home Office has openly acknowledged the lack of empirical data on this subject. This lack of evidence has a direct impact on policy and intervention development. Extremism and deradicalisation are issues that affect public health outcomes on a global scale, to the point that terrorism has now been added to the list of causes of trauma, both in the direct form of being victim of an attack but also the indirect context of witnesses, children and ordinary citizens who live in daily fear. This study critiques current deradicalisation discourses to establish whether public health approaches offer opportunities for development. The research begins by exploring the theoretical constructs of both what deradicalisation, and public health issues are. Questioning: What does deradicalisation involve? Is there an evidential base on which deradicalisation theory has established itself? What theory are public health interventions devised from? What does success look like in both fields? From establishing this base, current deradicalisation practices will then be explored through examples of work already being carried out. Critiques can be broken into discussion points of: Language, the difficulties with conducting empirical studies and the issues around outcome measurements that deradicalisation interventions face. This study argues that a public health approach towards deradicalisation offers the opportunity to attempt to bring clarity to the definitions of radicalisation, identify what could be modified through intervention and offer insights into the evaluation of interventions. As opposed to simply focusing on an element of deradicalisation and analysing that in isolation, a public health approach allows for what the literature has pointed out is missing, a comprehensive analysis of current interventions and information on creating efficacy monitoring systems. Interventions, policies, guidance, and practices in both the UK and Australia will be compared and contrasted, due to the joint nature of this research between Sheffield Hallam University and La Trobe, Melbourne.

Keywords: radicalisation, deradicalisation, violent extremism, public health

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12899 A Real Time Expert System for Decision Support in Nuclear Power Plants

Authors: Andressa dos Santos Nicolau, João P. da S.C Algusto, Claudio Márcio do N. A. Pereira, Roberto Schirru

Abstract:

In case of abnormal situations, the nuclear power plant (NPP) operators must follow written procedures to check the condition of the plant and to classify the type of emergency. In this paper, we proposed a Real Time Expert System in order to improve operator’s performance in case of transient or accident with reactor shutdown. The expert system’s knowledge is based on the sequence of events (SoE) of known accident and two emergency procedures of the Brazilian Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR) NPP and uses two kinds of knowledge representation: rule and logic trees. The results show that the system was able to classify the response of the automatic protection systems, as well as to evaluate the conditions of the plant, diagnosing the type of occurrence, recovery procedure to be followed, indicating the shutdown root cause, and classifying the emergency level.

Keywords: emergence procedure, expert system, operator support, PWR nuclear power plant

Procedia PDF Downloads 308
12898 Evaluation of Planned and Organically Transformed Public Spaces in Urban Indian Market Places: A Case of Bhopal City, India

Authors: Piyush Hajela

Abstract:

Public spaces within Indian markets are vibrant, colorful and contain dimensions that make them attractive and therefore act as popular gathering spaces. Most of these public spaces emerge as squares, plazas of varied shapes and sizes spread at different locations within the market. These public spaces grow organically and are discovered by the people themselves as they respond positively to the collective human senses. On the other hand, there are the planned and designed public spaces as well that are less active. This research evaluates both the planned and the organically transformed public spaces in Indian markets from an Urban Design point of view. The purpose of such research is to provide a basis for design solutions to ensure the success of designed public spaces. The evaluation is done for identified Attributes, namely Comfort, Protection, Familiarity, Activities, Form, Legibility, Engagement, Safety, Accessibility, Environment and Transformations by which a Public Space attains its recognition. The evaluation is based on a rating done for forty-four parameters falling under eleven attributes of public space. An opinion survey of professionals is conducted for their priorities of attributes while designing Public spaces. A comparison is made to rank these attributes between Planned and Organically transformed Public spaces and, opinion of the professionals. After dues analysis, the research suggests the learning from the organically transformed Public spaces for ensuring the success of designed public spaces. The suggestions may be in the form of Design decisions or administrative regulations, or both for achieving the desirables.

Keywords: assessment, attributes, engagement, interaction

Procedia PDF Downloads 189