Search results for: quality services risk

Authors: Mati Ullah, Shams Ur Rahman

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The purpose of this research study is to investigate the effect of macroeconomic and bank-specific factors on credit risk in Islamic banking in Pakistan. The future of financial institutions largely depends on how well they manage risks. Credit risk is an important type of risk affecting the banking sector. The current study has taken quarterly data for the period of 6 years, from 1st July 2014 to 30 Jun 2020. The data set consisted of secondary data. Data was extracted from the websites of the State Bank and World Bank and from the financial statements of the concerned banks. In this study, the Ordinary least square model was used for the analysis of the data. The results supported the hypothesis that macroeconomic factors and bank-specific factors have a significant effect on credit risk. Macroeconomic variables, Inflation and exchange rates have positive significant effects on credit risk. However, gross domestic product has a negative significant relationship with credit risk. Moreover, the corporate rate has no significant relation with credit risk. Internal variables, size, management efficiency, net profit share income and capital adequacy have been proven to influence positively and significantly the credit risk. However, loan to deposit-has a negative insignificance relationship with credit risk. The contribution of this article is that similar conclusions have been made regarding the influence of banking factors on credit risk.

Keywords: credit risk, Islamic banks, macroeconomic variables, banks specific variable

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Authors: Vladyslav Povoroznyuk, Oksana Ivanyk, Nataliia Dzerovych

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In the diagnostics of osteoporosis, the gold standard is considered to be bone mineral density; however, X-ray densitometry is not an accurate indicator of osteoporotic fracture risk under all circumstances. In this regard, the search for new methods that could determine the indicators not only of the mineral density, but of the bone tissue quality, is a logical step for diagnostic optimization. One of these methods is the evaluation of trabecular bone quality. The aim of this study was to examine the quality and mineral density of spine bone tissue, femoral neck, and body composition of women depending on the duration of the postmenopausal period, to determine the correlation of body fat with indicators of bone mineral density and quality. The study examined 179 women in premenopausal and postmenopausal periods. The patients were divided into the following groups: Women in the premenopausal period and women in the postmenopausal period at various stages (early, middle, late postmenopause). A general examination and study of the above parameters were conducted with General Electric X-ray densitometer. The results show that bone quality and mineral density probably deteriorate with advancing of postmenopausal period. Total fat and lean mass ratio is not likely to change with age. In the middle and late postmenopausal periods, the bone tissue mineral density of the spine and femoral neck increases along with total fat mass.

Keywords: osteoporosis, bone tissue mineral density, bone quality, fat mass, lean mass, postmenopausal osteoporosis

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Authors: Mária Hudáková, Mária Lusková

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This report is focused on widening the theoretical knowledge as well as controlling practical application from the risk management point of view, regarding to dynamic business changes that have occurred in Slovakia which recently has been considered to be an environment full of risk and uncertainty. The idea of the report is the proposal of the controlling operation model in the course of risk management process in an enterprise operating in Slovakia, by which the controller is able to identify early risk factors in suggested major areas of the business management upon appropriate business information integration, consecutive control and prognoses and to prepare in time full-value documents in order to suggest measures for reduction thereof. Dealing with risk factors, that can quickly limit the growth potential of the enterprise, is an essential part of managerial activities on each level. This is the reason why mutual unofficial, ergo collegial cooperation of individual departments is necessary for controlling application from the business risk management point of view. An important part of the report is elaborated survey of the most important risk factors existing in major management areas of enterprises operating in Slovakia. The outcome of the performed survey is a catalogue of the most important enterprise risk factors. The catalogue serves for better understanding risk factors affecting the Slovak enterprises, their importance and evaluation.

Keywords: controlling, information, risks, risk factor, crisis

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Authors: Mohammad Ali Hasanzadeh, Thierry Vanelslander, Eddy Van De Voorde

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Nowadays maritime transport is a key element in international trade and global supply chain. Economies of scale in transporting goods are one of the most attractive elements of using ships. Without maritime transport, almost no globalization of economics can be imagined. Within maritime transport, ports are the interface between lands and see. Even though using ships help cargo owners to have a competitive margin but an accident in port during loading or unloading or even moving cargoes within the terminal can diminish such margin. Statistics shows that due to the high-speed notion of activities within ports, collision accidents are the most common type of accidents. To mitigate such accidents, the appropriate risk exposures have to be defined and calculate, later on risk probabilities can be determined for each type of accident, i.e. fatal, severe, moderate and minor ones. Having such risk probabilities help managers to define the effectiveness of each collision risk control option. This research defined travelled distance as main collision risk exposure in container terminals, taking all the related items into consideration, it was calculated for Shahid Rajae container terminals. Following this finding, collision risk probabilities were computed.

Keywords: collision accident, container terminal, maritime transport, risk exposure

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Authors: Ali Maksum

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In a number of countries, including Indonesia, the tendency for non-communicable diseases is increasing. As a result, health costs must be paid by the state continues to increase as well. People's lifestyles, including due to lack of physical activity, are thought to have contributed significantly to the problem. This study aims to examine the impact of participation in sports on quality of life, which is reflected in three main indicators, namely health, psychological, and social aspects. The study was conducted in the city of Surabaya and its surroundings, with a total of 490 participants, consisting of 245 men and 245 women with an average age of 45.4 years. Data on physical activity and quality of life were collected by questionnaire and analyzed using structural equation modeling. The test results of the model prove that the value of chi-square = 8,259 with p = .409, RMSEA = .008, NFI = .992, and CFI = 1. This means that the model is compatible with the data. The model explains that physical activity has a significant effect on quality of life. People who exercise regularly are better able to cope with stress, have a lower risk of illness, and have higher pro-social behavior. Therefore, it needs serious efforts from stakeholders, especially the government, to create an ecosystem that allows the growth of movement culture in the community.

Keywords: participation, physical activity, quality of life, structural equation modelling

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Authors: Suppara Charoenpoom

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The purposes of this research were to investigate the level of consumers’ awareness of the traditional community retailers in terms of location, service quality, risk, shopping enjoyment, value for money, shopping satisfaction and intention to repurchase as well as to investigate the factors influenced the consumers’ repurchase in Samut Sonkhram Province, Thailand. The findings revealed that consumers had a high level of awareness in terms of location, and intention to repurchase. The factors influenced the consumers’ level of satisfaction included value for money, shopping enjoyment, and service quality. The factors of consumers’ level of satisfaction had an influence to the intention to repurchase. Moreover, the findings also revealed that the majority of respondents wanted traditional community retailers to continue to operate because of these reasons: close location, convenience, credit, as well as provide a place and time for community social gathering and activities.

Keywords: quality management, service quality, traditional retailer, consumers’ awareness

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Authors: Naveed Ghani

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With the arrival of higher speed communication links and mature application running over the internet, the requirement for reliable, efficient and robust network designs rising day by day. Multi-Protocol Label Switching technology (MPLS) Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) have committed to provide optimal network services. They are gaining popularity in industry day by day. Enterprise customers are moving to service providers that offer MPLS VPNs. The main reason for this shifting is the capability of MPLS VPN to provide built in security features and any-to-any connectivity. MPLS VPNs improved the network performance due to fast label switching as compare to traditional IP Forwarding but traffic classification and policing was still required on per hop basis to enhance the performance of real time traffic which is delay sensitive (particularly voice and video). QoS (Quality of service) is the most important factor to prioritize enterprise networks’ real time traffic such as voice and video. This thesis is focused on the study of QoS parameters (e.g. delay, jitter and MOS (Mean Opinion Score)) for the real time traffic over MPLS VPNs. DiffServ (Differentiated Services) QoS model will be used over MPLS VPN network to get end-to-end service quality.

Keywords: network, MPLS, VPN, DiffServ, MPLS VPN, DiffServ QoS, QoS Model, GNS2

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Authors: Hatem K. Hamed, Mohamed S. Hrouda

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The Middle Paleocene Lower Beda Formation was deposited in a ramp system with local shoaling. The main constituent is limestone, with subordinate dolomites and Shales. Reservoir quality is largely influenced by depositional environments and diagenesis processes. Generally the reservoir quality of Lower Beda Formation is low risk on the Inferred Horst and in the Southern Shelf where the Lower Beda formation comprises mainly of calcarenties. In the vicinity of the well GG1 the Lower Beda comprise mainly of argillaceous calcilutites and shale. The reservoir quality gradually improves from high risk to moderate risk towards KK1, LL1 and NN1 wells. The average gross thickness of Lower Beda Formation is about 300 ft. The net thickness varies from about 270 ft. in the E1-71 well to about 30 ft. in the vicinity of GG1-71 well. The net thickest of Lower Beda form a NNW-SSW trend with an average of 250 ft. the change in facies is due to change in the depositional environment, from lagoonal to shoal barrier to open marine affected the reservoir quality. The Upper Cretaceous Sirte Shale is the main source rock. It is developed within the three troughs surrounding the study area. S-Marada Trough to the N- E, Gerad Trough to the N N-W, and Abu Tummym Sub-basin to the S-W of the Inferred Horst. Sirte shale reaches 1000ft, of organically rich section. It has good organic contents over large area 2% to 3%. Hydrocarbon shows were encountered in several wells in Beda Formation this is an indication of vertical and lateral migration of hydrocarbon. The overlying Upper Paleocene Khalifa Formation is a transgressive shale, it is an effective regional top seal. Lithofacies variations in Khalifa Shale, from shales to limestones in the southern shelf in R1-71 well approximately 50-75% of the secession is limestone. About 47 million barrel of hydrocarbon recoverable reserves is expected to be trapped in structural and stratigraphic traps in Beda Formation in the study area.

Keywords: Sirte basin, Beda formation, concession 71, petroleum play fairway analysis

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Authors: Seung Ah Lee, Sunghyun Cho, Kyong Mee Chung

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Rapid population aging became a worldwide demographic phenomenon due to rising life expectancy and declining fertility rates. Considering the current increasing rate of population aging, it is assumed that Korean society enters into a ‘super-aged’ society in 10 years, in which people aged 65 years or older account for more than 20% of entire population. In line with this trend, ICT services aimed to help elderly people to improve the quality of life have been suggested. However, existing ICT services mainly focus on supporting health or nursing care and are somewhat limited to meet a variety of specialized needs and challenges of this population. It is pointed out that the majority of services have been driven by technology-push policies. Given that the usage of ICT services greatly vary on individuals’ socio-economic status (SES), physical and psychosocial needs, this study systematically categorized elderly population into sub-groups and identified their needs and characteristics related to ICT usage in detail. First, three assessment criteria (demographic variables including SES, cognitive functioning level, and emotional functioning level) were identified based on previous literature, experts’ opinions, and focus group interview. Second, survey questions for needs assessment were developed based on the criteria and administered to 600 respondents from a national probability sample. The questionnaire consisted of 67 items concerning demographic information, experience on ICT services and information technology (IT) devices, quality of life and cognitive functioning, etc. As the result of survey, age (60s, 70s, 80s), education level (college graduates or more, middle and high school, less than primary school) and cognitive functioning level (above the cut-off, below the cut-off) were considered the most relevant factors for categorization and 18 sub-groups were identified. Finally, 18 sub-groups were clustered into 3 groups according to following similarities; computer usage rate, difficulties in using ICT, and familiarity with current or previous job. Group 1 (‘active users’) included those who with high cognitive function and educational level in their 60s and 70s. They showed favorable and familiar attitudes toward ICT services and used the services for ‘joyful life’, ‘intelligent living’ and ‘relationship management’. Group 2 (‘potential users’), ranged from age of 60s to 80s with high level of cognitive function and mostly middle to high school graduates, reported some difficulties in using ICT and their expectations were lower than in group 1 despite they were similar to group 1 in areas of needs. Group 3 (‘limited users’) consisted of people with the lowest education level or cognitive function, and 90% of group reported difficulties in using ICT. However, group 3 did not differ from group 2 regarding the level of expectation for ICT services and their main purpose of using ICT was ‘safe living’. This study developed a systematic needs assessment tool and identified three sub-groups of elderly ICT users based on multi-criteria. It is implied that current cognitive function plays an important role in using ICT and determining needs among the elderly population. Implications and limitations were further discussed.

Keywords: elderly population, ICT, needs assessment, population aging

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Authors: N. R. N. Mendis, S. N. Silva

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Introduction: Patient satisfaction of services provided by primary care health services depends on many factors. One key factor in this depends on is the nursing services received in primary care. Since majority of the primary care in Sri Lanka is provided by the private sector, it is important to assess patient satisfaction on this. Objective: To assess the satisfaction among the public on nurses working in dispensaries in Sri Lanka. Methods: A descriptive study was done on 200 individual selected using convenient sampling among dispensaries in Gampaha district, Sri Lanka. Results: 59.3% of the sample had long term illnesses or disabilities and all of them preferred speaking to a nurse. 70.9% of the sample used to make appointments with nurses while 57.8% out of them were comfortable in discussing their health concerns. 98.9 % agreed that they get individual attention by the nurses. Majority of the sample that is 34.2% spends around 20 minutes with the nurse without even making any pay. Significantly, the whole sample believes that the nurses are professional and admits that the care given is of high quality. All 100% of the sample said that the nurses could understand their concerns while 93.5% admitted that it was very useful in their recovery. Conclusions: Majority of the public were very much satisfied with the nurses and their practice at the dispensaries.

Keywords: health education, nurses practices, patient satisfaction, primary care

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Authors: Bayole Omoniyi

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This study demonstrates the value of outcrops as analogues for evaluating reservoir quality of sandbody in a typical high-sinuosity fluvial system. The study utilized data acquired from selected outcrops in the Campanian-Maastrichtian siliciclastic succession of the western flank of Anambra Basin, southern Nigeria. Textural properties derived from outcrop samples were correlated and compared with porosity and permeability using established standard charts. Porosity was estimated from thin sections of selected samples to reduce uncertainty in the estimates. Following facies classification, 14 distinct facies were grouped into three facies associations (FA1-FA3) and were subsequently modeled as discrete properties in a block-centered Cartesian grid on a scale that captures geometry of principal sandbodies. Porosity and permeability estimated from charts were populated in the grid using comparable geostatistical techniques that reflect their spatial distribution. The resultant models were conditioned to facies property to honour available data. The results indicate a strong control of geometrical parameters on facies distribution, lateral continuity and connectivity with resultant effect on porosity and permeability distribution. Sand-prone FA1 and FA2 display reservoir quality that varies internally from channel axis to margin in each succession. Furthermore, isolated stack pattern of sandbodies reduces static connectivity and thus, increases risk of poor communication between reservoir-quality sandbodies. FA3 is non-reservoir because it is mud-prone. In conclusion, the risk of poor communication between sandbodies may be effectively accentuated in reservoirs that have similar architecture because of thick lateral accretion deposits, usually mudstone, that tend to disconnect good-quality point-bar sandbodies. In such reservoirs, mudstone may act as a barrier to impede flow vertically from one sandbody to another and laterally at the margins of each channel-fill succession in the system. The development plan, therefore, must be designed to effectively mitigate these risks and the risk of stratigraphic compartmentalization for maximum hydrocarbon recovery.

Keywords: analogues, architecture, connectivity, fluvial

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Authors: Esmeralda Hysenbelliu

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Over the last years, the demand for high bandwidth services, such as live (IPTV Service) and on-demand video streaming, steadily and rapidly increased. It has been predicted that video traffic (IPTV, VoD, and WEB TV) will account more than 90% of global Internet Protocol traffic that will cross the globe in 2016. Consequently, the importance and consideration on requirements and challenges of service providers faced today in supporting user’s requests for entertainment video across the various IPTV services through virtualization over Software Defined Networks (SDN), is tremendous in the highest stage of attention. What is necessarily required, is to deliver optimized live and on-demand services like Internet Protocol Service (IPTV Service) with low cost and good quality by strictly fulfill the essential requirements of Clients and ISP’s (Internet Service Provider’s) in the same time. The aim of this study is to present an overview of the important requirements and challenges of IPTV service with two network trends on solving challenges through virtualization (SDN and Network Function Virtualization). This paper provides an overview of researches published in the last five years.

Keywords: challenges, IPTV service, requirements, software defined networking (SDN)

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Authors: Steven Hidalgo, Patricio Neumann

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The growth of societies has increased the consumption of raw materials and food obtained from nature. This has influenced the services offered by ecosystems to humans, mainly supply and regulation services. One of the indicators used to evaluate these services is Net Primary Productivity (NPP), which is understood as the energy stored in the form of biomass by primary organisms through the process of photosynthesis and respiration. The variation of NPP by defined area produces changes in the properties of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, which alter factors such as biodiversity, nutrient cycling, carbon storage and water quality. The analysis of NPP to evaluate variations in ecosystem services includes harvested NPP (understood as provisioning services), which is the raw material from agricultural systems used by humans as a source of energy and food, and the remaining NPP (expressed as a regulating service) or the amount of biomass that remains in ecosystems after the harvesting process, which is mainly related to factors such as biodiversity. Given that agriculture is a fundamental pillar of Chile's integral development, the purpose of this study is to evaluate provisioning and regulating ecosystem services in the agricultural sector, specifically in cereal production, in the communes of the central-southern regions of Chile through a conceptual framework based on the quantification of the fraction of Human Appropriation of Net Primary Productivity (HANPP) and the fraction remaining in the ecosystems (NPP remaining). A total of 161 communes were analyzed in the regions of O'Higgins, Maule, Ñuble, Bio-Bío, La Araucanía and Los Lagos, which are characterized by having the largest areas planted with cereals. It was observed that the region of La Araucanía produces the greatest amount of dry matter, understood as provisioning service, where Victoria is the commune with the highest cereal production in the country. In addition, the maximum value of HANPP was in the O'Higgins region, highlighting the communes of Coltauco, Quinta de Tilcoco, Placilla and Rengo. On the other hand, the communes of Futrono, Pinto, Lago Ranco and Pemuco, whose cereal production was important during the study, had the highest values of remaining NPP as a regulating service. Finally, an inverse correlation was observed between the provisioning and regulating ecosystem services, i.e., the higher the cereal or dry matter production in a defined area, the lower the net primary production remaining in the ecosystems. Based on this study, future research will focus on the evaluation of ecosystem services associated with other crops, such as forestry plantations, whose activity is an important part of the country's productive sector.

Keywords: provisioning services, regulating services, net primary productivity, agriculture

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Authors: Wint Wint Thu, Htet Ko Ko Win, Myat Mon San, Zaw Lin Tun, Nandar Than Aye, Khin Nyein Myat, Hayman Nyo Oo, Nay Aung Lin, Kusum Thapa, Kyaw Htet Aung

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Background: In Myanmar, the intense political instability happened to start in Feb-2021, while the COVID-19 pandemic waves are also threatening the public health system, which subsequently led to severe health sector crisis, including difficulties in accessing maternal and newborn health care for vulnerable women and children. The Remote Pregnant and Newborn Care (RPNC) uses a telehealth approach United States Agency for International Development (USAID)-funded Essential Health Project. Implementation: The Remote Pregnant and Newborn Care (RPNC) service has adapted to the MNCH needs of vulnerable pregnant women and was implemented to mitigate the risk of limited access to essential quality MNH care in Yangon, Myanmar, under women, and the project trained 13 service providers on a telehealth care package for pregnancy and newborn developed Jhpiego to ensure understanding of evidence-based MNCH care practices. The phone numbers of the pregnant women were gathered through the preexisting and functioning community volunteers, who reach the most vulnerable pregnant women in the project's targeted area. A total of 212 pregnant women have been reached by service providers for RPNC during the implementation period. The trained service providers offer quality antenatal and postnatal care, including newborn care, via telephone calls. It includes 24/7 incoming calls and time-allotted outgoing calls to the pregnant women during antenatal and postnatal periods, including the newborn care. The required data were collected daily in time with the calls, and the quality of the medical services is made assured with the track of the calls, ensuring data privacy and patient confidentiality. Lessons learned: The key lessons are 1) cost-effectiveness: RPNC service could reduce out of pocket expenditure of pregnant women as it only costs 1.6 United States dollars (USD) per one telehealth call while it costs 8 to 10 USD per one time in-person care service at private service providers, including transportation cost, 2) network of care: telehealth call could not replace the in-person antenatal and postnatal care services, and integration of telehealth calls with in-person care by local healthcare providers with the support of the community is crucial for accessibility to essential MNH services by poor and vulnerable women, and 3) sharing information on health access points: most of the women seem to have financial barriers in accessing private health facilities while public health system collapse and telehealthcare could provide information on low-cost facilities and connect women to relevant health facilities. These key lessons are important for future efforts regarding the implementation of remote pregnancy and newborn care in Myanmar, especially during the political crisis and COVID-19 pandemic situation.

Keywords: telehealth, accessibility, maternal care, newborn care

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Authors: Nureni Asafe Yekini, Olawale Nasiru Lawal, Bola Dada, Gabriel Adeyemi Okunlola

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This study is focused on the strengths and challenges associated with using the online social network as a rapidly evolving medium in marketing tourism services and businesses among the youths in Nigeria. The paper examines the Nigerian tourists’ attitude, mainly towards three aspects: application of Internet for travel and tourism; usage of online social networks in sharing travel and tourism experiences; and trust in electronic-media for marketing tourism businesses and services. The aim of this research is to determine the level of application of internet tools in marketing tourism businesses and services in Nigeria. This study reports an empirical analysis based on data obtained from a survey among 1004 Nigerian tourists. The outcome confirms the research hypothesis and points to crucial importance of introducing online social network site for marketing tourism businesses and services in Nigeria, and increasing the awareness for Nigeria as a tourist destination. Moreover, the paper strongly recommends the use of online social network as a tool for marketing tourism businesses and services, and the need for identifying effective framework for application of ICT tools in marketing tourism businesses and services in Nigeria at large.

Keywords: tourism business, internet, online social networks, tourism services, ICT

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Authors: Tio Novita Efriani

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Public sector organizations work in a complex and risky environment. Since the beginning of 2000s, the public sector has paid attention to the need for an effective risk management. The Indonesian public sector has also concerned about this issue and in 2008 it enacted the Government Regulation that gives mandate for the implementation of risk management in government organizations. This paper investigates risk management implementation in the Indonesian public sector organizations and the role of transformational leadership and internal audit activities. Data was collected via survey. A total of 202 effective responses (30% response rate) from employees in 34 government ministries were statistically analyzed by using Partial least square structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) and the software was SmartPLS 3.0. All the constructs were lower order, except for the risk management implementation construct, which was treated as a second-order construct. A two-stage approach was employed in the analysis of the higher order component. The findings revealed that transformational leadership positively influence risk management implementation. The findings also found that the core and legitimate roles of internal audit in risk management positively affect the implementation of risk management. The final finding showed that internal auditing mediates a relationship between transformational leadership and risk management implementation. These results suggest that the implementation of risk management in the Indonesian public sector was significantly supported by internal auditors and leadership. The findings confirm the importance of transformational leadership and internal audit in the public sector risk management strategies.

Keywords: Indonesian public sector, internal audit, risk management, transformational leadership

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Authors: Nilamadhab Mohanty

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It is essential to use message formats that make communication understandable and correct. It is because; the information format can influence consumer decision on the purchase of a product. This study combines information from qualitative inquiry, media trend analysis, eye tracking experiment, and questionnaire data to examine the impact of specific message format and consumer perceived risk on attention to the information and risk retention. We investigated the influence of message framing (goal framing, attribute framing, and mix framing) on consumer memory, study time, and decisional uncertainty while deciding on the purchase of drugs. Furthermore, we explored the impact of consumer perceived risk (associated with the use of the drug, i.e., RISK-AB and perceived risk associated with the non-use of the drug, i.e., RISK-EB) on message format preference. The study used eye-tracking methods to understand the differences in message processing. Findings of the study suggest that the message format influences information processing, and participants' risk perception impacts message format preference. Eye tracking can be used to understand the format differences and design effective advertisements.

Keywords: message framing, consumer perceived risk, advertising, eye tracking

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Authors: L. Lindsay, S. A. Coleman, D. Kerr, B. J. Taylor, A. Moorhead

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Cognitive decline and frailty is apparent in older adults leading to an increased likelihood of the risk of falling. Currently health care professionals have to make professional decisions regarding such risks, and hence make difficult decisions regarding the future welfare of the ageing population. This study uses health data from The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA), focusing on adults over the age of 50 years, in order to analyse health risk factors and predict the likelihood of falls. This prediction is based on the use of machine learning algorithms whereby health risk factors are used as inputs to predict the likelihood of falling. Initial results show that health risk factors such as long-term health issues contribute to the number of falls. The identification of such health risk factors has the potential to inform health and social care professionals, older people and their family members in order to mitigate daily living risks.

Keywords: classification, falls, health risk factors, machine learning, older adults

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Authors: Jan Stodt, Christoph Reich

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The usage of machine learning models for prediction is growing rapidly and proof that the intended requirements are met is essential. Audits are a proven method to determine whether requirements or guidelines are met. However, machine learning models have intrinsic characteristics, such as the quality of training data, that make it difficult to demonstrate the required behavior and make audits more challenging. This paper describes an ML audit framework that evaluates and reviews the risks of machine learning applications, the quality of the training data, and the machine learning model. We evaluate and demonstrate the functionality of the proposed framework by auditing an steel plate fault prediction model.

Keywords: audit, machine learning, assessment, metrics

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Authors: Kirsty Biggs, Peter Larsen-Disney

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Background: The UK cervical screening programme significantly reduces cancer mortality through the early detection of abnormal cells. Despite this, over a quarter of eligible women choose not to attend their appointment. Objective: To qualitatively explore patients’ barriers to attending cervical smear appointments and identify key trends of cervical screening behaviour, knowledge, and attitudes in primary and secondary care. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted to evaluate smear services in Brighton and Hove using questionnaires in general practice and colposcopy. 226 patients participated in the voluntary questionnaire between 10/11/2017 and 02/02/2018. 118 patients were recruited from general practice surgeries and 108 from the colposcopy department. Women were asked about their smear knowledge, self-perceived risks factors, prior experiences and reasons for non-attendance. Demographic data was also collected. Results: Approximately a third of women did not engage in smear testing services. This was consistent across primary and secondary care groups. Over 90% were aware of the role of the screening process in relation to cervical cancer; however, over two thirds believed the smear was also a tool to screen for other pathologies. The most commonly cited reasons for non-attendance were negative emotions or previous experiences. Inconvenient appointment times were also commonly described. In a comparison of attenders versus non-attenders previous negative experiences (p < 0.01) and number of identified risk factors (p = 0.02) were statistically significant with non-attenders describing more prior negative smears and identifying more risk factors. Smear knowledge, risk perception and perceived importance of screening were not significant. Negative previous experiences were described in relation to poor bedside manner, pain, embarrassment and staff competency. Conclusions: In contrary to the literature, our white Caucasian cohort experienced significant barriers to accessing smear services. Women’s prior negative experiences are overriding their perceived importance to attend the screening programme; therefore, efforts need to focus on improving clinical experiences through auditing tools, training and providing a supportive appointment setting. Positive changes can also be expected by improving appointment availabilities with extended hours and self-booking systems.

Keywords: barriers, cervical, Papanicolaou, screening, smear

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Authors: Sonia Mannan, M. Jobair Alam

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The concept of palliative care in Bangladesh largely remained limited to the sympathetic caring of patients with a life-limiting illness. Quality of Life (QoL) issues are rarely practiced in Bangladesh. Furthermore, palliative medicine, in the perspective of holistic palliative care service, does not have its proper recognition in Bangladesh. Apart from those socio-medical aspects, palliative care patients face legal issues that impact their quality of life, including access to health services and social benefits and dealing with other life-transactions of the patients and their families (such as disposing of property; planning for children). This paper is an attempt to articulate these legal dimensions of the right to palliative care in the context of Bangladesh. The major focus of this paper will be founded on the doctrinal analysis of the constitutional provisions and other relevant legislation on the right to health and their judicial interpretation, which is argued to offer a meaningful space for the right to palliative care. This paper will also investigate the gaps in the said legal framework to better secure such care. In conclusion, a few recommendations are made so that the palliative care practices in Bangladesh are better aligned with international standards, and it can respond more humanely to the patients who need palliative care.

Keywords: Bangladesh, constitution, legal regime, palliative care, quality of life

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Authors: Hilal Al Shamsi, Abdullah Almutairi

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Introduction: As primary healthcare centres play an important role in implementing Saudi Arabia’s health strategy, this paper offers a review of publications on the quality of the country’s primary health care. With the aim of deciding on solutions for improvement, it provides an overview of healthcare quality in this context and indicates barriers to quality. Method: Using two databases, ProQuest and Scopus, data extracted from published articles were systematically analysed for determining the care quality in Saudi primary health centres and obstacles to achieving higher quality. Results: Twenty-six articles met the criteria for inclusion in this review. The components of healthcare quality were examined in terms of the access to and effectiveness of interpersonal and clinical care. Good access and effective care were identified in such areas as maternal health care and the control of epidemic diseases, whereas poor access and effectiveness of care were shown for chronic disease management programmes, referral patterns (in terms of referral letters and feedback reports), health education and interpersonal care (in terms of language barriers). Several factors were identified as barriers to high-quality care. These included problems with evidence-based practice implementation, professional development, the use of referrals to secondary care and organisational culture. Successful improvements have been implemented by other systems, such as mobile medical units, electronic referrals, online translation tools and mobile devices and their applications; these can be implemented in Saudi Arabia for improving the quality of the primary healthcare system in this country. Conclusion: The quality of primary health care in Saudi Arabia varies among the different services. To improve quality, management programmes and organisational culture must be promoted in primary health care. Professional development strategies are also needed for improving the skills and knowledge of healthcare professionals. Potential improvements can be implemented to improve the quality of the primary health system.

Keywords: quality, primary health care, Saudi Arabia, health centres, general medical

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Authors: Joshua Midha

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This paper provides an evaluation of an intervention designed to promote a risk-realistic environment for women in the workplace and regulate their risk-related decision-making. In past research, women -specifically women of color- are highly risk-averse, and this may prove to be an innate obstacle in gender progress in corporations. By helping women see the risks and the benefits and increasing potential benefits, we can increase the chances of success in the workplace. Our intervention was a success and significantly increased comfort, trust, and frequency in the use of decision-making skills in the workplace. In this paper, we explore the intervention, the methods, the results, and the implications.

Keywords: behavioral economics, decision support, risk, gender equality

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Authors: Olga Muries-Cantan, Alice Schippers, Climent Gine, Noelle van den Heuvel

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A systematic review of the literature about the quality of life perceptions of siblings of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (ID/DD) has shown differences and similarities among siblings’ perceptions around the world. Some of these differences might be explained by the influence of cultural and religious backgrounds on siblings’ quality of life through values, beliefs, and perceptions of ‘normalcy’ and stigma. The main goal of the multiple case study that we present, is to explore the quality of life perceptions of two adolescent siblings of individuals with ID/DD in order to identify the role cultural influence has played in their perceptions of quality of life. Two siblings from different European regions will participate in the study: one from a Southern European country (Spain) and the other one from a Western European country (The Netherlands). Taking a cross-cultural perspective, concepts such as values, cultural beliefs regarding disability, expectations, identity, supports, desires, and sibling relationships, will be discussed in a semi-structured interview with each sibling. Data will be analysed following an interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA). It is expected that findings will show the particularities of the experience of having a brother or a sister with ID/DD and the singular influence of the culture on siblings’ perceptions of quality of life. The results of this study will help to spread awareness around the necessity that researchers, practitioners, and policymakers take into account the cultural background of the individuals in order to provide them with better services and support. In this line, more culturally situated research is required to enlarge the knowledge in this field.

Keywords: culture, intellectual disability, quality of life, siblings

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Authors: Szu-Hua Wang, Yi-Wen Chen

Abstract:

Urban ecosystems are complex coupled human-environment systems. They contain abundant natural resources for producing natural assets and attract urban assets to consume natural resources for urban development. Urban ecosystems provide several ecosystem services, including provisioning services, regulating services, cultural services, and supporting services. Rapid global climate change makes urban ecosystems and their ecosystem services encountering various natural disasters. Lots of natural disasters have occurred around the world under the constant changes in the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events in the past two decades. In Taiwan, hydrological disasters have been paid more attention due to the potential high sensitivity of Taiwan’s cities to climate change, and it impacts. However, climate change not only causes extreme weather events directly but also affects the interactions among human, ecosystem services and their dynamic feedback processes indirectly. Therefore, this study adopts a systematic method, solar energy synthesis, based on the concept of the eco-energy analysis. The Taipei area, the most densely populated area in Taiwan, is selected as the study area. The changes of ecosystem services between 2015 and Typhoon Soudelor have been compared in order to investigate the impacts of extreme precipitation events on ecosystem services. The results show that the forest areas are the largest contributions of energy to ecosystem services in the Taipei area generally. Different soil textures of different subsystem have various upper limits of water contents or substances. The major contribution of ecosystem services of the study area is natural hazard regulation provided by the surface water resources areas. During the period of Typhoon Soudelor, the freshwater supply in the forest areas had become the main contribution. Erosion control services were the main ecosystem service affected by Typhoon Soudelor. The second and third main ecosystem services were hydrologic regulation and food supply. Due to the interactions among ecosystem services, fresh water supply, water purification, and waste treatment had been affected severely.

Keywords: ecosystem, extreme precipitation events, ecosystem services, solar energy synthesis

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Authors: Yung-Feng Yen, Yun-Ju Lai

Abstract:

Background: Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is reversible; however, the effect of changes in MetS status on the risk of incident cancer has not been extensively studied. We aimed to investigate the effects of changes in MetS status on incident cancer risk. Methods: This prospective, longitudinal study used data from Taiwan’s MJ cohort of 157,915 adults recruited from 2002–2016 who had repeated MetS measurements 5.2 (±3.5) years apart and were followed up for the new onset of cancer over 8.2 (±4.5) years. A new diagnosis of incident cancer in study individuals was confirmed by their pathohistological reports. The participants’ MetS status included MetS-free (n=119,331), MetS-developed (n=14,272), MetS-recovered (n=7,914), and MetS-persistent (n=16,398). We used the Fine-Gray sub-distribution method, with death as the competing risk, to determine the association between MetS changes and the risk of incident cancer. Results: During the follow-up period, 7,486 individuals had new development of cancer. Compared with the MetS-free group, MetS-persistent individuals had a significantly higher risk of incident cancer (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR], 1.10; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.03-1.18). Considering the effect of dynamic changes in MetS status on the risk of specific cancer types, MetS persistence was significantly associated with a higher risk of incident colon and rectum, kidney, pancreas, uterus, and thyroid cancer. The risk of kidney, uterus, and thyroid cancer in MetS-recovered individuals was higher than in those who remained MetS but lower than MetS-persistent individuals. Conclusions: Persistent MetS is associated with a higher risk of incident cancer, and recovery from MetS may reduce the risk. The findings of our study suggest that it is imperative for individuals with pre-existing MetS to seek treatment for this condition to reduce the cancer risk.

Keywords: metabolic syndrome change, cancer, risk factor, cohort study

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Authors: Naila Awan, Shahrukh Inam

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This study was conducted to highlight the role of basic health units in district Swabi, which provides primary health services to the people of district Swabi having four tehsils. Tehsil Swabi was selected purposively for the study. Three villages were purposively selected from district Swabi. A sum of 110 respondents was randomly selected for interview i.e., 27 from Botakaa, 39 from Gulatee, and 44 from Darra Cham, using proportion allocation sampling technique. A pretested and well-designed interview schedule was used to collect as per the objective and Chi square test was applied to find an association between the quality of medicines and health improvement. The output of the test shows that the government was doing its best and providing enough facilities to the individuals at the healthcare units, and they were utilizing them. These resources were easily accessible to the people of the community. Medicines provided by the government were of good quality and quantity. There were also school health sessions and community health sessions (SHS/CHS) to deliver useful information and awareness regarding health problems and diseases were conducted. The staff of the BHU was present at work time and was performing their duties. The respondents seemed satisfied with their behavior and the duty of the staff. However, there were no emergency resources existing at the BHU after the working hours of the medical staff. It is recommended that government should provide appropriate quantity and quality of medicines to the basic health units so that these healthcare units don’t have to face any shortages regarding medicines at the end of the month. In addition, laboratory and blood testing facilities need to be provided in the basic health units, and also the infrastructure should be made suitable, satisfactory, and more functional.

Keywords: community health session, basic health units, outpatient department, tuberculosis

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Authors: Irfan Zafar

Abstract:

Over the years the Telecom Industry in the country has shown a lot of progress in terms of infrastructure development coupled with the availability of telecom services. This has however led to the cut throat completion among various operators thus leading to reduced tariffs to the customers. The profit margins have seen a reduction thus leading the operators to think of other avenues by adopting new models while keeping the quality of service intact. The outsourcing of the network and the resources is one such model which has shown promising benefits which includes lower costs, less risk, higher levels of customer support and engagement, predictable expenses, access to the emerging technologies, benefiting from a highly skilled workforce, adaptability, focus on the core business while reducing capital costs. A lot of research has been done on outsourcing in terms of reasons of outsourcing and its benefits. However this study is an attempt to analyze the effects of the outsourcing on an organizations performance (Telecommunication Sector) considering the variables (1) Cost Reduction (2) Organizational Performance (3) Flexibility (4) Employee Performance (5) Access to Specialized Skills & Technology and the (6) Outsourcing Risks.

Keywords: outsourcing, ICT, telecommunication, IT, networking

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Authors: Pooja Pandey

Abstract:

The role of communication plays an integral part in the management of any disaster, whether natural or human-induced, both require effective and strategic delivery of information. The way any information is conveyed carries the most weight while dealing with the disaster. Hence, integrating communication strategies in disaster risk management (DRM) are extensively acknowledged however, these integration and planning are missing from the practical books. Researchers are continuously exploring integrated DRM and have established substantial vents between research and implementation of the strategies (gaps between science and policy). For this reason, this paper reviews the communication barriers that obstruct effective management of the disaster. Communication between first responders (government agencies, police, medical services) and the public (people directly affected by the disaster) is most critical and lacks proper delivery during a disaster. And these challenges can only be resolved if the foundation of the problem is properly dealt with, which is resolving the issues within the organizations. Through this study, it was found that it is necessary to build the communication gap between the organizations themselves as most of the hindrances occur during the mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery phase of the disaster. The study is concluded with the main aim to review the communication barriers within and at the organizational, technological, and social levels that impact effective DRM. In the end, some suggestions are made to strengthen the knowledge for future improvement in communication between the responders and their organizations.

Keywords: communication, organization, barriers, first responders, disaster risk management

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Authors: Nam Don Kim, Jungho Moon, Tae Yun Chung

Abstract:

This paper proposes an Internet of Things (IoT) based virtualization platform for providing smart tourism services. The virtualization platform provides a consistent access interface to various types of data by naming IoT devices and legacy information systems as pathnames in a virtual file system. In the other words, the IoT virtualization platform functions as a middleware which uses the metadata for underlying collected data. The proposed platform makes it easy to provide customized tourism information by using tourist locations collected by IoT devices and additionally enables to create new interactive smart tourism services focused on the tourist locations. The proposed platform is very efficient so that the provided tourism services are isolated from changes in raw data and the services can be modified or expanded without changing the underlying data structure.

Keywords: internet of things (IoT), IoT platform, serviceplatform, virtual file system (VSF)

Procedia PDF Downloads 500