Search results for: maritime services

Authors: Kerem Ok, Cem Cevikbas, Vedat Coskun, Mohammed Alsadi, Busra Ozdenizci

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Un-keyed SIM cards do not contain the required security infrastructure to provide end-to-end encryption with Service Providers. Hence, new, emerging, or smart services those require end-to-end encryption between SIM card and a Service Provider is impossible. SIMSec key exchange protocol creates symmetric keys between SIM card and Service Provider. After a successful protocol execution, SIM card and Service Provider creates the symmetric keys and can perform end-to-end data encryption when required. In this paper, our aim is to analyze the SIMSec protocol’s security. According to the results, SIM card and Service Provider can generate keys securely using SIMSec protocol.

Keywords: End-to-end encryption, key exchange, SIM card, smart card

Procedia PDF Downloads 286

Authors: Bishnupriya Sahoo, Prasad K. Bhaskaran

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Tropical cyclone is one among the worst natural hazards that results in a trail of destruction causing enormous damage to life, property, and coastal infrastructures. In a global perspective, the Indian Ocean is considered as one of the cyclone prone basins in the world. Specifically, the frequency of cyclogenesis in the Bay of Bengal is higher compared to the Arabian Sea. Out of the four maritime states in the East coast of India, Odisha is highly susceptible to tropical cyclone landfall. Historical records clearly decipher the fact that the frequency of cyclones have reduced in this basin. However, in the recent decades, the intensity and size of tropical cyclones have increased. This is a matter of concern as the risk and vulnerability level of Odisha coast exposed to high wind speed and gusts during cyclone landfall have increased. In this context, there is a need to assess and evaluate the severity of coastal risk, area of exposure under risk, and associated vulnerability with a higher dimension in a multi-risk perspective. Changing climate can result in the emergence of a new hazard and vulnerability over a region with differential spatial and socio-economic impact. Hence there is a need to have coastal vulnerability projections in a changing climate scenario. With this motivation, the present study attempts to estimate the destructiveness of tropical cyclones based on Power Dissipation Index (PDI) for those cyclones that made landfall along Odisha coast that exhibits an increasing trend based on historical data. The study also covers the futuristic scenarios of integral coastal vulnerability based on the trends in PDI for the Odisha coast. This study considers 11 essential and important parameters; the cyclone intensity, storm surge, onshore inundation, mean tidal range, continental shelf slope, topo-graphic elevation onshore, rate of shoreline change, maximum wave height, relative sea level rise, rainfall distribution, and coastal geomorphology. The study signifies that over a decadal scale, the coastal vulnerability index (CVI) depends largely on the incremental change in variables such as cyclone intensity, storm surge, and associated inundation. In addition, the study also performs a critical analysis on the modulation of PDI on storm surge and inundation characteristics for the entire coastal belt of Odisha State. Interestingly, the study brings to light that a linear correlation exists between the storm-tide with PDI. The trend analysis of PDI and its projection for coastal Odisha have direct practical applications in effective coastal zone management and vulnerability assessment.

Keywords: Bay of Bengal, coastal vulnerability index, power dissipation index, tropical cyclone

Procedia PDF Downloads 238

Authors: Ahmad Fahad Alotaibi, Khalid Hamed Hajri, Humoud Hudiban Rashidi

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Intelligent information technology infrastructure is considered one of the enablers to enhance digital transformation in the gas and oil fields to optimize IT infrastructure reliability by supporting operations and maintenance in a safe and secure method to optimize resources. Smart IT buildings, communication rooms and shelters with intelligent technologies can strengthen the performance and profitability of gas and oil companies by ensuring business continuity. This paper describes the advantages of deploying intelligent IT infrastructure in the oil and gas industry by illustrating its positive impacts on some development aspects, for instance, operations, maintenance, safety, security and resource optimization. Moreover, it highlights the challenges and difficulties of providing smart IT services in a remote area and proposes solutions to overcome such difficulties.

Keywords: intelligent IT infrastructure, remote areas, oil and gas field, digitalization

Procedia PDF Downloads 63

Authors: Martina Marinelli, Samanta Vellante, Francesco Pilotti, Daniele Di Valerio, Gaetanino Paolone

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Any development in web marketing technology requires changes in information engineering to identify instruments and techniques suitable for the production of software applications for informative marketing. Moreover, for large web solutions, designing an interface that enables human interactions is a complex process that must bridge between informative marketing requirements and the developed solution. A user-friendly interface in web marketing applications is crucial for a successful business. The paper introduces mkInfo - a software platform that implements informative marketing. Informative marketing is a new interpretation of marketing which places the information at the center of every marketing action. The creative team includes software engineering researchers who have recently authored an article on automatic code generation. The authors have created the mkInfo software platform to generate informative marketing web applications. For each web application, it is possible to automatically implement an opt in page, a landing page, a sales page, and a thank you page: one only needs to insert the content. mkInfo implements an autoresponder to send mail according to a predetermined schedule. The mkInfo platform also includes e-commerce for a product or service. The stakeholder can access any opt-in page and get basic information about a product or service. If he wants to know more, he will need to provide an e-mail address to access a landing page that will generate an e-mail sequence. It will provide him with complete information about the product or the service. From this point on, the stakeholder becomes a user and is now able to purchase the product or related services through the mkInfo platform. This paper suggests a possible definition for Informative Marketing, illustrates its basic principles, and finally details the mkInfo platform that implements it. This paper also offers some Informative Marketing models, which are implemented in the mkInfo platform. Informative marketing can be applied to products or services. It is necessary to realize a web application for each product or service. The mkInfo platform enables the product or the service producer to send information concerning a specific product or service to all stakeholders. In conclusion, the technical contributions of this paper are: a different interpretation of marketing based on information; a modular architecture for web applications, particularly for one with standard features such as information storage, exchange, and delivery; multiple models to implement informative marketing; a software platform enabling the implementation of such models in a web application. Future research aims to enable stakeholders to provide information about a product or a service so that the information gathered about a product or a service includes both the producer’s and the stakeholders' point of view. The purpose is to create an all-inclusive management system of the knowledge regarding a specific product or service: a system that includes everything about the product or service and is able to address even unexpected questions.

Keywords: informative marketing, opt in page, software platform, web application

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Authors: Boukhatem Mohamed Belkaid, Lahdi Mourad

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In this paper, we propose a new encryption system for security issues medical images. The hybrid encryption scheme is based on AES and RSA algorithms to validate the three security services are authentication, integrity, and confidentiality. Privacy is ensured by AES, authenticity is ensured by the RSA algorithm. Integrity is assured by the basic function of the correlation between adjacent pixels. Our system generates a unique password every new session of encryption, that will be used to encrypt each frame of the medical image basis to strengthen and ensure his safety. Several metrics have been used for various tests of our analysis. For the integrity test, we noticed the efficiencies of our system and how the imprint cryptographic changes at reception if a change affects the image in the transmission channel.

Keywords: AES, RSA, integrity, confidentiality, authentication, medical images, encryption, decryption, key, correlation

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Authors: Chinyama Lukama, Million Phiri, Namuunda Mutombo

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Background: Improving access and utilization to high-quality sexual and reproductive health (SRH) information and services, including family planning (FP) commodities, is central to the global developmental agenda of sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Despite the importance of family planning use in enhancing maternal health outcomes and fertility reduction, the prevalence of adolescents and young women using modern contraception is generally low in SSA. Zambia is one of the countries in Southern Africa with a high prevalence of teenage pregnancies and fertility rates. Despite many initiatives that have been implemented to improve access and demand for family planning commodities, utilization of FP, especially among adolescents and young women, has generally been low. The objective of this research agenda was to better understand the determinants of modern contraceptive use in adolescents and young women in Zambia. This analysis produced findings that will be critical for informing the strengthening of sexual and reproductive health policy strategies aimed at bolstering the provision and use of maternal health services in order to further improve maternal health outcomes in the country. Method: The study used the recent data from the Demographic and Health Survey of 2018. A sample of 3,513 adolescents and young women (ADYW) were included in the analysis. Multilevel logistic regression models were employed to examine the association of individual and contextual factors with modern contraceptive use among adolescents and young women. Results: The prevalence of modern contraception among sexually active ADYW in Zambia was 38.1% [95% CI, 35.9, 40.4]. ADYW who had secondary or higher level education [aOR = 2.16, 95% CI=1.35–3.47], those with exposure to listening to the radio or watching television [aOR = 1.26, 95% CI=1.01–1.57], and those who had decision-making power at household level [aOR = 2.18, 95% CI=1.71–2.77] were more likely to use modern contraceptives. Conversely, strong neighborhood desire for large family size among ADYW [aOR = 0.65 95% CI = 0.47–0.88] was associated with less likelihood to use modern contraceptives. Community access to family planning information through community health worker visits increased the likelihood [aOR = 1.48, 95% CI=1.16–1.91] of using modern contraception among ADYW. Conclusion: The study found that both individual and community factors were key in influencing modern contraceptive use among adolescents and young women in Zambia. Therefore, when designing family planning interventions, the Government of Zambia, through its policymakers and sexual reproductive health program implementers at the Ministry of Health, in collaboration with stakeholders, should consider the community context. There should also be deliberate actions to encourage family planning education through the media.

Keywords: adolescents, young women, modern contraception use, fertility, family planning

Procedia PDF Downloads 108

Authors: F. Amin, S. Feizi

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Big data has the potential to improve the quality of services; enable infrastructure that businesses depend on to adapt continually and efficiently; improve the performance of employees; help organizations better understand customers; and reduce liability risks. Analytics and marketing models of fixed and mobile operators are falling short in combating churn and declining revenue per user. Big Data presents new method to reverse the way and improve profitability. The benefits of Big Data and next-generation network, however, are more exorbitant than improved customer relationship management. Next generation of networks are in a prime position to monetize rich supplies of customer information—while being mindful of legal and privacy issues. As data assets are transformed into new revenue streams will become integral to high performance.

Keywords: big data, next generation networks, network transformation, strategy

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Authors: Alka Obadić

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The research concentrates on the role of tourism in generating female employment and on impact of gender discrimination in tourism sector. Unfortunately, in many countries there are still some barriers to the inclusion of women at all hierarchical levels of tourism labor market. Research analysis focuses on EU countries where tourism is a main employer of women. The analysis shows that women represent over third persons employed in the non-financial business economy and almost two thirds in core tourism activities. Women's gross hourly earnings in accommodation and food services were below those of men in the European Union and only countries who recorded increase of gender pay gap from the beginning of crisis are Bulgaria and Croatia. Women in tourism industry are still overrepresented in lower status jobs with fewer opportunities for career progression and are often treated unequally.

Keywords: employment, gender discrimination, tourism, women’s participation

Procedia PDF Downloads 771

Authors: Almoutassem Bellah Nasser

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This paper is aimed at calculating the intangible assets of Jordanian economy. This effort is a response to the demand from corporations for these services which reflects a perceived gap in internal and external financial reporting on intangible investments. The main conclusion of the paper is to suggest that the way forward to a standardized, more comparable approach to measuring intangible capital is to employ CIV method of valuation. Published macroeconomic data traditionally exclude most intangible investment from measured GDP. This situation is beginning to change as some attempts have been made to measure the amount of intangible assets. It was found that intangible assets account for $164.20 million in all the listed companies of Jordan. All this money does not appear on the balance sheets of these companies and hence requires special attention of policy makers for better utilization.

Keywords: intangible capital, stock prices, Amman Stock Exchange

Procedia PDF Downloads 380

Authors: N. S. Ajisha

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In today’s competitive world the quality of the service you deliver is one of the important factor that determine customer satisfaction. Service quality is considered to be one important determinant to evaluate customer satisfaction and the relationship between service quality and customer satisfaction is considered as the foundation in researches on customer satisfaction. This research examines to do a gap analysis between the perception and expectation of the services delivered and find relation between the service quality and customer satisfaction. Service quality is found out here using the SERVQUAL model. And it finds out the dimension of service quality which is more important to measure customer satisfaction. The dimensions which we measure using SERVQUAL include the tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, assurance, and empathy. This study involves primary data collection like market survey.

Keywords: customer satisfaction, service quality, retail service quality, Kochi

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Authors: Elizabeth Watson, Sara Vogt

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The transition from high school to college can be an exciting and confusing time for many students, especially college students with disabilities. In 1983, the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater created a Summer Transition Program (STP) for such students as part of a US Department of Education Demonstration Grant. This program offers incoming students the opportunity to take 2 college courses and live on campus for 4 weeks to help introduce and familiarize them with typical college expectations and support services. Over the past 30 years, 48% of the students have graduated, exceeding the national college graduation rate for students with disabilities. This mixed methods longitudinal study will discuss how this program has increased retention and graduation rates, and success in the co-curricular and living environments for students with disabilities.

Keywords: disability, transition, post-secondary education, retention

Procedia PDF Downloads 293

Authors: Wan-Yu Liu, Tiffany April Lin, Yu-Chieh Tang, Yi-Lin Wang, Chieh-Hui Li

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As the national income in Taiwan has been raised, the life style of the public has also been changed, so that the tourism industry gradually moves from a service industry to an experience economy. The Lihpaoland is one of the most popular theme parks in Taiwan. However, the related works on performance of service quality of the park have been lacking since its re-operation in 2012. Therefore, this study investigates the quality of software/hardware facilities and services of the Lihpaoland, and aims to achieve the following three goals: 1) analyzing how various sample data of tourists leads to different results for service quality of LihpaoLand; 2) analyzing how tourists respond to the service tangibility, service reliability, service responsiveness, service guarantee, and service empathy of LihpaoLand; 3) according to the theoretical and empirical results, proposing how to improve the overall facilities and services of LihpaoLand, and hoping to provide suggestions to the LihpaoLand or other related businesses to make decision. The survey was conducted on the tourists to the LihpaoLand using convenience sampling, and 400 questionnaires were collected successfully. Analysis results show that tourists paid much attention to maintenance of amusement facilities and safety of the park, and were satisfied with them, which are great advantages of the park. However, transportation around the LihpaoLand was inadequate, and the price of the Fullon hotel (which is the hotel closest to the LihpaoLand) were not accepted by tourists – more promotion events are recommended. Additionally, the shows are not diversified, and should be improved with the highest priority. Tourists did not pay attention to service personnel’s clothing and the ticket price, but they were not satisfied with them. Hence, this study recommends to design more distinctive costumes and conduct ticket promotions. Accordingly, the suggestions made in this study for LihpaoLand are stated as follows: 1) Diversified amusement facilities should be provided to satisfy the needs at different ages. 2) Cheep but tasty catering and more distinctive souvenirs should be offered. 3) Diversified propaganda schemes should be strengthened to increase number of tourists. 4) Quality and professional of the service staff should be enhanced to acquire public praise and tourists revisiting. 5) Ticket promotions in peak seasons, low seasons, and special events should be conducted. 6) Proper traffic flows should be planned and combined with technologies to reduce waiting time of tourists. 7) The features of theme landscape in LihpaoLand should be strengthened to increase willingness of the tourists with special preferences to visit the park. 8) Ticket discounts or premier points card promotions should be adopted to reward the tourists with high loyalty.

Keywords: service quality, customers’ satisfaction, theme park, Taiwan

Procedia PDF Downloads 473

Authors: Saadia Drissi

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The cloud computing is an innovative paradigm that introduces several changes in technology that have resulted a new ways for cloud providers to deliver their services to cloud consumers mainly in term of security risk assessment, thus, adapting a current risk assessment tools to cloud computing is a very difficult task due to its several characteristics that challenge the effectiveness of risk assessment approaches. As consequence, there is a need of risk assessment model adapted to cloud computing. This paper requires a new risk assessment model based on multi-agent system and AHP model as fundamental steps towards the development of flexible risk assessment approach regarding cloud consumers.

Keywords: cloud computing, risk assessment model, multi-agent system, AHP model, cloud consumer

Procedia PDF Downloads 547

Authors: Majid A. AlSayari

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The study reported here investigated social cognitive theory (SCT) in the context of Vocational Rehab (VR) for people with disabilities. The prime purpose was to increase knowledge of VR phenomena and make recommendations for improving VR services. The sample consisted of 242 persons with Spinal Cord Injuries (SCI) who completed questionnaires. A further 32 participants were Trainers. Analysis of questionnaire data was carried out using factor analysis, multiple regression analysis, and thematic analysis. The analysis suggested that, in motivational terms, and consistent with research carried out in other academic contexts, self-efficacy was the best predictor of VR performance. The author concludes that that VR self-efficacy predicted VR training performance.

Keywords: people with physical disabilities, social cognitive theory, self-efficacy, vocational training

Procedia PDF Downloads 317

Authors: Terefe Fuge, George Tsourtos , Emma Miller

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Objectives: Maintaining optimal adherence and viral suppression in people living with HIV (PLWHA) is essential to ensure both preventative and therapeutic benefits of antiretroviral therapy (ART). Prisoners bear a particularly high burden of HIV infection and are highly likely to transmit to others during and after incarceration. However, the level of adherence and viral suppression, as well as its associated factors in incarcerated populations in low-income countries is unknown. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of non-adherence and viral failure, and contributing factors to this amongst prisoners in South Ethiopia. Methods: A prospective cohort study was conducted between June 1, 2019 and July 31, 2020 to compare the level of adherence and viral suppression between incarcerated and non-incarcerated PLWHA. The study involved 74 inmates living with HIV (ILWHA) and 296 non-incarcerated PLWHA. Background information including sociodemographic, socioeconomic, psychosocial, behavioural, and incarceration-related characteristics was collected using a structured questionnaire. Adherence was determined based on participants’ self-report and pharmacy refill records, and plasma viral load measurements which were undertaken within the study period were prospectively extracted to determine viral suppression. Various univariate and multivariate regression models were used to analyse data. Results: Self-reported dose adherence was approximately similar between ILWHA and non-incarcerated PLWHA (81% and 83% respectively), but ILWHA had a significantly higher medication possession ratio (MPR) (89% vs 75%). The prevalence of viral failure (VF) was slightly higher (6%) in ILWHA compared to non-incarcerated PLWHA (4.4%). The overall dose non-adherence (NA) was significantly associated with missing ART appointments, level of satisfaction with ART services, patient’s ability to comply with a specified medication schedule and types of methods used to monitor the schedule. In ILWHA specifically, accessing ART services from a hospital compared to a health centre, an inability to always attend clinic appointments, experience of depression and a lack of social support predicted NA. VF was significantly higher in males, people of age 31-35 years and in those who experienced social stigma, regardless of their incarceration status. Conclusions: This study revealed that HIV-infected prisoners in South Ethiopia were more likely to be non-adherent to doses and so to develop viral failure compared to their non-incarcerated counterparts. A multitude of factors was found to be responsible for this requiring multilevel intervention strategies focusing on the specific needs of prisoners.

Keywords: Adherence , Antiretroviral therapy, Incarceration, South Ethiopia, Viral suppression

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Authors: Anna Wiltshire, Rebecca Markham

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Over the last decade, a growing body of evidence has indicated that children with disabilities are often amongst the most excluded and vulnerable in society. The World Bank estimates that 20% of those living in poverty in developing countries are disabled which means that those with the least bear the greatest burden. Furthermore, children with disabilities in Africa have to face a multitude of difficulties ranging from the physical to the psychological. Misconceptions and cultural beliefs are used to justify violence against, or complete shunning of these individuals and their families. In addition, discrimination can prevent access to both education and health services, further compromising these individuals. All children, irrespective of their disability should be able to enjoy human rights without discrimination, but this is often not the case. This poster explores how and why children with disabilities in Africa are subject to violations of their human rights, and suggests ways of addressing these problems.

Keywords: Africa, children, disability, discrimination, human rights

Procedia PDF Downloads 566

Authors: O. A. Lawal, O. A Ojesanmi

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The demand for wireless cellular services continues to increase while the radio resources remain limited. Thus, network operators have to continuously manage the scarce radio resources in order to have an improved quality of service for mobile users. This paper proposes how to handle the problem of congestion in the mobile network by prioritizing handoff call, using the guard channel allocation scheme. The research uses specific threshold value for the time of allocation of the channel in the algorithm. The scheme would be simulated by generating various data for different traffics in the network as it would be in the real life. The result would be used to determine the probability of handoff call dropping and the probability of the new call blocking as a way of measuring the network performance.

Keywords: call block, channel, handoff, mobile cellular network

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Authors: Narges Solaymani

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medical training of patients. Nursing is a very important profession in the societies of the world. Although in the past, all caregivers of the sick and disabled were called nurses, nowadays, a nurse is a person who has a university education in this field. There are nurses in bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees in nursing. New courses have been launched in the master's degree based on duty-oriented nurses. A nurse cannot have an independent treatment center but is a member of the treatment team in established treatment centers such as hospitals, clinics, or offices. Nurses can establish counseling centers and provide nursing services at home. According to the standards, the number of nurses should be three times the number of doctors or twice the number of hospital beds, or there should be three nurses for every thousand people. Also, international standards show that in the internal and surgical department, every 4 to 6 patients should have a nurse.

Keywords: Nurse, Intensive Care, CPR, Bandage

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Authors: Sana Kouchi, Hassina Nacer, Kadda Beghdad-bey

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Cloud computing is growing very fast in the market and has become one of the most controversial discussed developments in recent years. Cloud computing providers become very numerous in these areas and each of them prefers its own cloud computing infrastructure, due to the incompatibility of standards and cloud access formats, which prevents them from accepting to support cloud computing applications in a standardized manner, this heterogeneity creates the problem of interoperability between clouds, and considering that cloud customers are probably in search of an interoperable cloud computing, where they will have total control over their applications and simply migrate their services as needed, without additional development investment. A cloud federation strategy should be considered. In this article, we propose a common architecture for the cloud that is based on existing architectures and also the use of best practices from ICT frameworks, such as IBM, ITIL, NIST, etc., to address the interoperability of architectures issues in a multi-cloud system.

Keywords: cloud computing, reference architecture, interoperability, standard

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Authors: Temmuz Gönç Şavran

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Migration is a multidimensional and health-related concept that has important consequences for both migrants and the host society. Due to past conflicts and poor living conditions that lead to migration, the dangerous and difficult journey, and the problems they face upon arrival in the destination country, migrants are at higher risk for poor health. Health is a human right, and all societies and communities, including migrant groups, must receive adequate health care. In addition, the health of migrants must be improved to protect the health of the host society and ensure social integration. The main determinants of health are employment, income, education, good housing, and adequate nutrition. It can be said that migrants are among the most vulnerable groups in society in these respects, and migrant health is negatively affected by this situation. Rigid immigration policies or financial constraints in destination countries, the complexity and bureaucracy of health systems, the low health literacy of migrant groups, and the inadequate provision of translation services in health facilities are among the other main factors affecting migrant health. Migrants are also at risk of stigma, exclusion, detection, and deportation when seeking medical care. Based on data from a qualitative study with a descriptive case study design, this paper aims to highlight and sociologically assess the health-related problems of international migrants in Eskisehir, Turkey. The sample consists of 30 international migrants living in Eskisehir, two-thirds of whom are from Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. Those who are citizens of the Republic of Turkey are excluded from the study; otherwise, the legal status of the participants is not considered in the selection of the sample. This makes it possible to distinguish the different needs and problems of subgroups and to consider migrant health as a comprehensive concept. The research is supported by Anadolu University in Eskisehir, and data will be collected through semi-structured interviews between November 2022 and February 2023. With holistic sociology of health approach, this study considers migrant health as a comprehensive sociological concept. It aims to reveal the health-related resources and needs of the international migrant groups living in the center of Eskisehir, the problems they encounter in meeting these needs, and the strategies they use to solve these problems. The results are expected to show that the health of migrants is not only influenced by legislation but is shaped by many processes, from housing conditions to cultural habits. It is expected that the results will also raise awareness of discrimination, exclusion, marginalization, and hate speech in migrants’ access to health services.

Keywords: migrant health, sociology of health, sociology of migration, Turkey, refugees

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Authors: Aysegul Salikutluk, Zehra Altinay, Gokmen Dagli, Fahriye Altinay

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The aim of the study is to reveal the performance of special education schools as regards the service quality and management within the school culture. The project management and school climate are the fundamental elements for the quality in organisations. Having strategic plans, activities and funded projects improve service quality and satisfaction for the families who have children with disabilities. The research has qualitative nature, self-reports were used to examine the perceptions of teachers upon project management and school climate for service quality. The results show that special education schools' teachers are aware of essence of school climate and flow of communication for service quality and project management.

Keywords: disability, education, service quality, project management

Procedia PDF Downloads 273

Authors: Abdullah Mohammadi

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Years of prolong war in Afghanistan has led to one of the largest refugee and migrant populations in the contemporary world. During this continuous unrest which began in 1970s (by military coup, Marxist revolution and the subsequent invasion of USSR), over one-third of the population migrated to neighboring countries, especially Pakistan and Iran. After the Soviet Army withdrawal in 1989, a new wave of conflicts emerged between rival Afghan groups and this led to new refugees. Taliban period, also, created its own refugees. During all these years, I.R. of Iran has been one of the main destinations of Afghan refugees and migrants. At first, due to the political situation after Islamic Revolution, Iran government didn’t restrict the entry of Afghan refugees. Those who came first in Iran received ID cards and had access to education and healthcare services. But in 1990s, due to economic and social concerns, Iran’s policy towards Afghan refugees and migrants changed. The government has tried to identify and register Afghans in Iran and limit their access to some services and jobs. Unfortunately, there are few studies on Afghan refugees and migrants’ situation in Iran and we have a dim and vague picture of them. Of the few studies done on this group, none of them focus on the illegal Afghan migrants’ situation in Iran. Here, we tried to study the social and economic aspects of illegal Afghan migrants’ living in Iran. In doing so, we interviewed 24 illegal Afghan migrants in Iran. The method applied for analyzing the data is thematic analysis. For the interviews, we chose family heads (17 men and 7 women). According to the findings, illegal Afghan migrants’ socio-economic situation in Iran is very undesirable. Its main cause is the marginalization of this group which is resulted from government policies towards Afghan migrants. Most of the illegal Afghan migrants work in unskilled and inferior jobs and live in rent houses on the margins of cities and villages. None of them could buy a house or vehicle due to law. Based on their income, they form one of the lowest, unprivileged groups in the society. Socially, they face many problems in their everyday life: social insecurity, harassment and violence, misuse of their situation by police and people, lack of education opportunity, etc. In general, we may conclude that illegal Afghan migrant have little adaptation with Iran’s society. They face severe limitations compared to legal migrants and refugees and have no opportunity for upward social mobility. However, they have managed some strategies to face these difficulties including: seeking financial and emotional helps from family and friendship networks, sending one of the family members to third country (mostly to European countries), establishing self-administered schools for children (schools which are illegal and run by Afghan educated youth).

Keywords: illegal Afghan migrants, marginalization, social insecurity, upward social mobility

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Authors: Ebru Esen, Ömer Akkaya, Nattanan Pankrobkaew

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Though the experience concept found its place in the field of marketing in 1982, it is today in front of us as an important phenomenon in understanding the consumer behaviours. In parallel with the globalization and intensification of the competition, the enterprises have been in an effort to provide unique experiences for their consumers by going beyond providing services with the products. In this context, experience-oriented marketing enables the enterprises to use the marketing strategies of providing experiences for their customers and to have advantages in terms of competition. Based on it, this article discusses the concepts of experience, experience-oriented marketing and buying behaviour of consumers as a whole, and details about the application conducted in Konya Selcuklu University.

Keywords: experience, experience marketing, buying behaviour of consumers

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Authors: Christine Lassen, Elizabeth Leonard, Matthew Oliver

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The management of trauma is often complex and outcomes dependent on clinical expertise, effective teamwork, and a supported trauma system. The implementation of a statewide trauma education program should be accessible to all clinicians who manage trauma, but this can be challenging due to diverse individual needs, trauma service needs and geography. The NSW Institute of Trauma and Injury Management (ITIM) is a government funded body, responsible for coordinating and supporting the NSW Trauma System. The aim of this presentation is to describe how education initiatives have been implemented across the state. Simulation: In 2006, ITIM developed a Trauma Team Training Course - aimed to educate clinicians on the technical and non-technical skills required to manage trauma. The course is now independently coordinated by trauma services across the state at major trauma centres as well as in regional and rural hospitals. ITIM is currently in the process of re-evaluating and updating the Trauma Team Training Course to allow for the development of new resources and simulation scenarios. Trauma Education Evenings: In 2013, ITIM supported major trauma services to develop trauma education evenings which allowed the provision of free education to staff within the area health service and local area. The success of these local events expanded to regional hospitals. A total of 75 trauma education evenings have been conducted within NSW, with over 10,000 attendees. Wed-Based Resources: Recently, ITIM commenced free live streaming of the trauma education evenings which have now had over 3000 live views. The Trauma App developed in 2015 provides trauma clinicians with a centralised portal for trauma information and works on smartphones and tablets that integrate with the ITIM website. This supports pre-hospital and bedside clinical decisions and allows for trauma care to be more standardised, evidence-based, timely, and appropriate. Online e-Learning modules have been developed to assist clinicians, reduce unwarranted clinical variation and provide up to date evidence based education. The modules incorporate clinically focused education content with summative and formative assessments. Conclusion: Since 2005, ITIM has helped to facilitate the development of trauma education programs for doctors, nurses, pre-hospital and allied health clinicians. ITIM has been actively involved in more than 100 specialized trauma education programs, seminars and clinical workshops - attended by over 12,000 staff. The provision of state-wide trauma education is a challenging task requiring collaboration amongst numerous agencies working towards a common goal – to provide easily accessible trauma education.

Keywords: education, simulation, team-training, trauma

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Authors: Olusola Abiodun Arinde

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This research work was prompted by the very important role e-commerce plays in every organization, be it private or public. The underlying objective of this study is to have a critical appraisal of the extent to which e-commerce impacts on organizational effectiveness. This research was carried out using Zenith Bank Plc as a case study. Relevant data were collected through structured questionnaire, oral interview, journals, newspapers, and textbooks. The data collected were analyzed and hypotheses were tested. Based on the result of the hypotheses, it was observed that e-commerce is significant to every organization. Through e-commerce, fast services delivery would be guaranteed to customers, this would lead to higher productivity and profit for organizations. E-commerce should be managed in such a way that it does not alienate customers; it should also prevent enormous risks that are associated with e-commerce.

Keywords: e-commerce, fast service, productivity, profit

Procedia PDF Downloads 248

Authors: Michelle J. Miller

Abstract:

In recent year, there has been a rise of two emerging issues that impact the global employment and business market that the legal community must review closer: offshore outsourcing and data privacy. These two issues intersect because employment opportunities are shifting due to offshore outsourcing and some States, like the United States, anti-outsourcing legislation has been passed or presented to retain jobs within the country. In addition, the legal requirements to retain the privacy of data as a global employer extends to employees and third party service provides, including services outsourced to offshore locations. For this reason, this paper will review the intersection of these two issues with a specific focus on data privacy.

Keywords: outsourcing, data privacy, international compliance, multinational corporations

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Authors: Abbas Al-Refaie

Abstract:

The research examines the factors that affect customer churn (CC) in the Jordanian telecom industry. A total of 700 surveys were distributed. Cluster analysis revealed three main clusters. Results showed that CC and customer satisfaction (CS) were the key determinants in forming the three clusters. In two clusters, the center values of CC were high, indicating that the customers were loyal and SC was expensive and time- and energy-consuming. Still, the mobile service provider (MSP) should enhance its communication (COM), and value added services (VASs), as well as customer complaint management systems (CCMS). Finally, for the third cluster the center of the CC indicates a poor level of loyalty, which facilitates customers churn to another MSP. The results of this study provide valuable feedback for MSP decision makers regarding approaches to improving their performance and reducing CC.

Keywords: cluster analysis, telecom industry, switching cost, customer churn

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Authors: Said Fares, Mary Fares

Abstract:

It is well documented that introductory computer programming courses are difficult and that failure rates are high. The aim of this project was to reduce the high failure and withdrawal rates in learning to program. This paper presents a number of changes in module organization and instructional delivery system in teaching CS1. Daily out of class help sessions and tutoring services were applied, interactive lectures and laboratories, online resources, and timely feedback were introduced. Five years of data of 563 students in 21 sections was collected and analyzed. The primary results show that the failure and withdrawal rates were cut by more than half. Student surveys indicate a positive evaluation of the modified instructional approach, overall satisfaction with the course and consequently, higher success and retention rates.

Keywords: failure rate, interactive learning, student engagement, CS1

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Authors: Hamida Qumber Ali, Waseem Muhammad Arain, Shama Siddiqui, Sayeed Ghani

Abstract:

We present an implementing of RMAC in TinyOS 1.x. RMAC is a cross layer and Duty-cycle MAC protocols that was proposed to provide energy efficient transmission services for wireless sensor networks. The protocol has a unique and efficient packet transmission scheduling mechanism that enables it to overcome delivery latency and overcome traffic congestion. Design details and implementation challenges are divulged. Experiments are conducted to show the correctness of our implementation with numerous assumptions. Simulations are performed to compare the performance of RMAC and SMAC. Our results show that RMAC outperforms SMAC in energy efficiency and delay.

Keywords: MAC protocol, performance, RMAC, wireless sensor networks

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Authors: Deanne McArthur, Melinda Wall, Claire Hanlon, Dana Agnolin, Krista Davis, Melanie Dennis, Elizabeth Glidden, Anne Marie Smith, Claudette Thomson

Abstract:

Background and significance: Patients with eating disorders have traditionally been an underserviced population within the publicly-funded Canadian healthcare system. This situation was worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic and accompanying public health measures, such as “lockdowns” which led to increased isolation, changes in routine, and other disruptions. Illness severity and prevalence rose significantly with corresponding increases in patient suffering and poor outcomes. In Ontario, Canada, the provincial government responded by increasing funding for the treatment of eating disorders, including the launch of a new day program at an intermediate, regional health centre that already housed an outpatient treatment service. The funding was received in March 2022. The care team sought to optimize this opportunity by designing a program that would fit well within the resource-constrained context in Ontario. Methods: This case study will detail how the team consulted the literature and sought patient and family input to design a program that optimizes patient outcomes and supports for patients and families while they await treatment. Early steps include a review of the literature, expert consultation and patient and family focus groups. Interprofessional consensus was sought at each step with the team adopting a shared leadership and patient-centered approach. Methods will include interviews, observations and document reviews to detail a rich description of the process undertaken to design the program, including evaluation measures adopted. Interim findings pertaining to the early stages of the program-building process will be detailed as well as early lessons and ongoing evolution of the program and design process. Program implementation and outcome evaluation will continue throughout 2022 and early 2023 with further publication and presentation of study results expected in the summer of 2023. The aim of this study is to contribute to the body of knowledge pertaining to the design and implementation of eating disorder treatment services that combine outpatient and day treatment services in a resource-constrained context.

Keywords: eating disorders, day program, interprofessional, outpatient, adolescents, transitional aged youth

Procedia PDF Downloads 110