Sample records for included service types
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42 CFR 410.100 - Included services.
2010-10-01
... service; however, maintenance therapy itself is not covered as part of these services. (c) Occupational... increase respiratory function, such as graded activity services; these services include physiologic... rehabilitation plan of treatment, including physical therapy services, occupational therapy services, speech...
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Including customers in health service design.
Perrott, Bruce E
2013-01-01
This article will explore the concept and meaning of codesign as it applies to the delivery of health services. The results of a pilot study in health codesign will be used as a research based case discussion, thus providing a platform to suggest future research that could lead to building more robust knowledge of how the consumers of health services may be more effectively involved in the process of developing and delivering the type of services that are in line with expectations of the various stakeholder groups.
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2011-01-26
... DEPARTMENT OF LABOR Employment and Training Administration [TA-W-74,411] Avaya Global Services, AOS Service Delivery, Worldwide Services Group, Including Workers Whose Unemployment Insurance (UI) Wages Are Reported Through Diamondware, Ltd and Nortel Networks, Inc., Including Workers Working at...
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2010-05-20
...., Worldwide Services Group, Global Support Services (GSS) Organization, Including On-Site Leased Workers From..., Highlands Ranch, CO; Including Employees in Support of Avaya Inc., Worldwide Services Group, Global Support... workers of Avaya Inc., Worldwide Services Group, Global Support Services (GSS) Organization, including on...
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25 CFR 20.403 - What do protective services include?
2010-04-01
....403 Indians BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR HUMAN SERVICES FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE AND SOCIAL SERVICES PROGRAMS Services to Children, Elderly, and Families § 20.403 What do protective services include? Protective services provided to a child, family or elderly person will be documented in...
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A Kantorovich Type of Szasz Operators Including Brenke-Type Polynomials
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Fatma Taşdelen
2012-01-01
convergence properties of these operators by using Korovkin's theorem. We also present the order of convergence with the help of a classical approach, the second modulus of continuity, and Peetre's -functional. Furthermore, an example of Kantorovich type of the operators including Gould-Hopper polynomials is presented and Voronovskaya-type result is given for these operators including Gould-Hopper polynomials.
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Interactions between perceived uncertainty types in service dyads
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Kreye, Melanie
2018-01-01
to avoid business failure. A conceptual framework of four uncertainty types is investigated: environmental, technological, organisational, and relational uncertainty. We present insights from four empirical cases of service dyads collected via multiple sources of evidence including 54 semi-structured...... interviews, observations, and secondary data. The cases show seven interaction paths with direct knock-on effects between two uncertainty types and indirect knock-on effects between three or four uncertainty types. The findings suggest a causal chain from environmental, technological, organisational......, to relational uncertainty. This research contributes to the servitization literature by (i) con-firming the existence of uncertainty types, (ii) providing an in-depth characterisation of technological uncertainty, and (iii) showing the interaction paths between four uncertainty types in the form of a causal...
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Gabhainn, Saoirse Nic; Dolan, Pat; Canavan, John; O'Higgins, Siobhan
2009-01-01
The needs of all service users include those related to physical, emotional, sexual and mental health. This article documents where child health needs are recognised and being met within family support services in the west of Ireland, investigates whether there is variation across different types of family support services and presents the views…
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7 CFR 56.28 - Types of service.
2010-01-01
... grader or quality assurance inspector as provided in § 56.39. (c) Temporary grading service. This type of... under the supervision of a grader or quality assurance inspector as provided in § 56.39. (d) Auditing... 7 Agriculture 3 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Types of service. 56.28 Section 56.28 Agriculture...
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Exclusive queueing model including the choice of service windows
Tanaka, Masahiro; Yanagisawa, Daichi; Nishinari, Katsuhiro
2018-01-01
In a queueing system involving multiple service windows, choice behavior is a significant concern. This paper incorporates the choice of service windows into a queueing model with a floor represented by discrete cells. We contrived a logit-based choice algorithm for agents considering the numbers of agents and the distances to all service windows. Simulations were conducted with various parameters of agent choice preference for these two elements and for different floor configurations, including the floor length and the number of service windows. We investigated the model from the viewpoint of transit times and entrance block rates. The influences of the parameters on these factors were surveyed in detail and we determined that there are optimum floor lengths that minimize the transit times. In addition, we observed that the transit times were determined almost entirely by the entrance block rates. The results of the presented model are relevant to understanding queueing systems including the choice of service windows and can be employed to optimize facility design and floor management.
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29 CFR 779.329 - Effect of type of customer and type of goods or services.
2010-07-01
... 29 Labor 3 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Effect of type of customer and type of goods or services... FAIR LABOR STANDARDS ACT AS APPLIED TO RETAILERS OF GOODS OR SERVICES Exemptions for Certain Retail or Service Establishments ârecognizedâ As Retail âin the Particular Industryâ § 779.329 Effect of type of...
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A Kantorovich-Stancu Type Generalization of Szasz Operators including Brenke Type Polynomials
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Rabia Aktaş
2013-01-01
Full Text Available We introduce a Kantorovich-Stancu type modification of a generalization of Szasz operators defined by means of the Brenke type polynomials and obtain approximation properties of these operators. Also, we give a Voronovskaya type theorem for Kantorovich-Stancu type operators including Gould-Hopper polynomials.
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DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Timeus, Krista; Ricard, Lykke Margot
The paper addresses two questions; what do professionals working in the public administration understand by ‘risk’ in relation to their work on innovation?; and how do these professionals understand their own role in managing risks of innovation? The paper takes an inductive approach and focuses....... In the last five years, Copenhagen municipality has implemented programmes and partnerships for innovation, especially in social services, such as a new ‘innovation house’ to coordinate the municipality’s innovation strategy across all administrative departments. This context makes it a suitable case to study...... on individuals, namely, professionals in Copenhagen municipality working on public services innovation. Such innovation includes new services or new methods of service delivery. Although all types of innovation include some risk, in public services, risks are exacerbated by the vulnerability of many users...
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Designing an ICT self-management service: suggestions from persons with type 2 diabetes.
Gardsten, Cecilia; Mörtberg, Christina; Blomqvist, Kerstin
2017-01-01
This paper reports the wishes and needs of people with type 2 diabetes (T2DM) for a future information and communication technology (ICT) self-management service to help manage their condition and their everyday life. Diabetes is a chronic disease affecting more and more people and placing increasing demands on health care. The self-management of diabetes includes instrumental and, decision-making skills and skills in managing daily activities, which may be supported by an ICT service. In this study we used a participatory design including two sessions of Future Workshop (FW) as part of a larger research project on the self-management of diabetes. Adults with type 2 diabetes participated in two FW sessions in which their expressed wishes and needs for an ICT service all fell under the broad category of Acceptance of the diagnosis, with three other suggestions; Trust in partnerships, Communication, and Individualized information. The participants' experience of the FW as a democratic process and their appreciation of mutual learning contributed to these results, which are consistent with the aims of person-centred care.
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Homeless university students: Experiences with foyer-type service
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Marty Grace
2012-06-01
Full Text Available Some young people who have been homeless during their secondary schooling manage to obtain a university place. These young people, and others who become homeless during their university courses, have the opportunity to build a sustainable exit from homelessness through education and support. Very little is known about how many young Australians are in this situation, or what can be done to assist them to complete their degrees. This article reports on research that aimed to document the experiences of 11 university students who had experienced homelessness. The research focussed on the difficulties that these young people faced, and the types of environments and service responses that can make a difference for them. The students were part of a larger study of a foyer-type service. The research found that these young people took longer than the standard duration to complete their degrees. Their study was facilitated by provision of stable, safe accommodation and support when they were acutely homeless, relief from other pressures such as family conflict, protection while maturing, time for overseas born including refugee young people to develop language, skills, and resources, support to heal from past damaging experiences and improve their health, assistance to gain entry to preferred university courses, and pathways into stable housing for the duration of their study.
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Extent and types of management consulting services to SMEs in Vojvodina
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Dragan Dukić
2013-11-01
Full Text Available Growth and development of small and medium enterprises depends on many external and internal factors, as well as the volume, type and quality of support available to them. This paper highlights the importance of management knowledge and skills in small business, and the importance of management consulting in their acquisition and development. We have researched and analyzed the extent to management consulting (MC services, separately in the micro, small and medium enterprises. In addition, we learn which types of MC services are most commonly used by companies of different sizes. In that way, we provided qualitative and quantitative data for each group of enterprises, both in the type and volume of services used. It is observed that micro-enterprises use a small amount MC services, and those of more general type. With the growth of the enterprises, comes an increase in scope, and sophistication of services used. The results may be useful both for small and medium enterprises, as well as for institutional and private providers of management consulting services.
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42 CFR 413.217 - Items and services included in the ESRD prospective payment system.
2010-10-01
... payment system. 413.217 Section 413.217 Public Health CENTERS FOR MEDICARE & MEDICAID SERVICES, DEPARTMENT....217 Items and services included in the ESRD prospective payment system. The following items and services are included in the ESRD prospective payment system effective January 1, 2011: (a) Renal dialysis...
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Workplace Breastfeeding Support Varies by Employment Type: The Service Workplace Disadvantage.
Snyder, Kailey; Hansen, Kelli; Brown, Sara; Portratz, Amy; White, Kate; Dinkel, Danae
The majority of women are returning to work full-time after childbirth, and support within their place of employment may influence intention and duration for breastfeeding, but more research is needed. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to explore the influence of employment type on breastfeeding duration upon return to work by examining informal (i.e., verbal encouragement) and direct (i.e., lactation space, flexible time) factors of support. This was a retrospective survey of women's returning-to-work experiences while breastfeeding. Survey contents included respondent demographics as well as questions surrounding perceptions of employer support, work environment, and goal/satisfaction regarding breastfeeding. Data were analyzed via crosstabs and chi-square goodness of fit tests. A total of 1,002 women completed the survey. Significant differences were seen across different employment types. Women within the professional/management industry were most likely to receive informal and direct support for breastfeeding upon return to work. Women within the service industry and production/transportation industry reported receiving the lowest levels of informal and direct support. Workplace support varies by employment type and women in the service and production/transportation industry appear to be at a disadvantage compared with other employment types. There is a need for more breastfeeding support programs to be developed that target specific workplace characteristics.
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Development of the pneumatic service robot with a hybrid type
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Choi, Cheol U; Choi, Hyeun Seok; Han, Chang Soo
2001-01-01
In this paper, the pneumatic service robot with a hybrid type is developed. A pneumatic has the advantage of good compliance, high payload-to-weight and payload-to-volume ratios, high speed and force capabilities. Using pneumatic actuators which have low stiffness, the service robot can guarantee safety. By suggesting a new serial-parallel hybrid type for the service robot which separates into positioning motion and orienting motion, we can achieve large workspace and high strength-to-moving-weight ratio at the same time. A sliding mode controller can be designed for tracking the desired output using the Lyapunov stability theory and structural properties of pneumatic servo systems. Through many experiments of circular trajectory, the pneumatic service robot is evaluated and verified
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25 CFR 20.401 - What is included under Services to Children, Elderly, and Families?
2010-04-01
... 25 Indians 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false What is included under Services to Children, Elderly, and Families? 20.401 Section 20.401 Indians BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR HUMAN SERVICES FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE AND SOCIAL SERVICES PROGRAMS Services to Children, Elderly, and Families § 20.401 What...
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Alamgir, Mohammed; Turton, Stephen M; Macgregor, Colin J; Pert, Petina L
2016-10-01
As ecosystem services supply from tropical forests is declining due to deforestation and forest degradation, much effort is essential to sustain ecosystem services supply from tropical forested landscapes, because tropical forests provide the largest flow of multiple ecosystem services among the terrestrial ecosystems. In order to sustain multiple ecosystem services, understanding ecosystem services capacity across heterogeneous forest types and identifying certain ecosystem services that could be managed to leverage positive effects across the wider bundle of ecosystem services are required. We sampled three forest types, tropical rainforests, sclerophyll forests, and rehabilitated plantation forests, over an area of 32,000m(2) from Wet Tropics bioregion, Australia, aiming to compare supply and evaluate interactions and patterns of eight ecosystem services (global climate regulation, air quality regulation, erosion regulation, nutrient regulation, cyclone protection, habitat provision, energy provision, and timber provision). On average, multiple ecosystem services were highest in the rainforests, lowest in sclerophyll forests, and intermediate in rehabilitated plantation forests. However, a wide variation was apparent among the plots across the three forest types. Global climate regulation service had a synergistic impact on the supply of multiple ecosystem services, while nutrient regulation service was found to have a trade-off impact. Considering multiple ecosystem services, most of the rehabilitated plantation forest plots shared the same ordination space with rainforest plots in the ordination analysis, indicating that rehabilitated plantation forests may supply certain ecosystem services nearly equivalent to rainforests. Two synergy groups and one trade-off group were identified. Apart from conserving rainforests and sclerophyll forests, our findings suggest two additional integrated pathways to sustain the supply of multiple ecosystem services from a
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Vissers, C.A.; van Sinderen, Marten J.; Pras, Aiko
In the following, the diversity of services which a distributed system can provide is illustrated, and a main classification of services is presented. Services are described in an informal but abstract way, conforming with the current descriptions used by ISO in its OSI/RM related (draft) standards.
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2010-07-26
... Technology Services, a Subsidiary of Experian, Including a Leased Employee From Tapfin Working Off-Site in... Experian, Global Technology Services, a subsidiary of Experian, including on-site leased workers from... control of the Schaumburg, Illinois location of Experian, Global Technology Services, a subsidiary of...
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2013-02-22
... office financial services from India and the Philippines. Based on these findings, the Department is..., Financial Shared Services West, Including On- Site Leased Workers From Aerotek, eXcel Staffing, Experis..., applicable to workers of Cardinal Health, Financial Shared Services West, including on-site leased workers...
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2013-02-22
..., Inc., Wealth Management Americas Operations, Including On-Site Leased Workers From Leafstone... Services, Inc., Wealth Management Americas Operations (UBS), Weehawken, New Jersey. The workers are engaged... to include all leased workers on-site at UBS Financial Services, Inc., Wealth Management Americas...
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41 CFR 101-5.304 - Type of occupational health services.
2010-07-01
... employees to maintain personal health; and (3) To provide specific disease screening examinations and... FEDERAL BUILDINGS AND COMPLEXES 5.3-Federal Employee Health Services § 101-5.304 Type of occupational... service unit, whether or not such injury was sustained by the employee while in the performance of duty or...
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International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Bremond, Celine Clelia
2003-01-01
The notion of universal service emerged in the European regulation of the telecommunications sector, and can be applied to all network-type industries. Public monopolies have been put into question again. The introduction of deregulation and competitiveness were expected to improve the service provided to the end consumer, but this deregulation has been also put into question again for matters of universality and equity. Then the issue of financing of these services emerges. The aim of this research thesis is therefore to identify which funding modes can be optimal, and to identify a general methodology for all network-type industries. In the first part of this research thesis, the author studies the cost of universal service obligations. She explains the general methodology of calculation of this cost, and reports this calculation while taking indirect benefits of the operator into account. In a second part, she studies the modalities of financing thus calculated cost by describing the different possible modalities, their benefits and drawbacks, and by presenting a comparison between these methodologies according to three criteria: those set by the European Commission, welfare, and applicability. For these different topics, the author takes all experiments and recent developments into account. These experiments and developments are noticed in different countries: USA, Australia, UK, Sweden, Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, Italy, France
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Influence of Sex and Bank- Type on Service Quality Perceptions ...
African Journals Online (AJOL)
The importance of customer's perception of service quality has received tremendous research attention. What is not yet established are the factors that underlie such perception of service quality. To fill this gap, the present study was designed to examine the influence of sex of bank customers and bank-type on customer's ...
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2012-08-14
... Services, Post Production Feature Mastering Division Including On-Site Leased Workers From Ajilon... Services, Post Production Feature Mastering Division, Hollywood, California (subject firm). The worker... the workers meet the eligibility requirements of the Trade Act of 1974. Conclusion After careful...
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42 CFR 409.10 - Included services.
2010-10-01
... an inpatient of a participating hospital or of a participating CAH or, in the case of emergency... practitioner and clinical nurse specialist services, as defined in section 1861(s)(2)(K)(ii) of the Act. (6...
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2011-06-03
..., Inc., Including On-Site Leased Workers From Comsys Information Technology Services, Megaforce, and Kelly Services Kansas City, MO; DST Technologies, a Wholly Owned Subsidiary of DST Systems, Inc., Boston... Information Technology Services, Megaforce, and Kelly Services, Kansas City, Missouri (subject firm). The...
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2010-03-12
... DEPARTMENT OF LABOR Employment and Training Administration [TA-W-72,924] Heritage Aviation, Ltd., Including On-Site Leased Workers From Global Technical Services and Global, Inc. (Global Employment... from Heritage Aviation, Ltd, including on-site leased workers from Global Technical Services, Grand...
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2011-01-12
.... Information Technology Help Desk Services Including On-Site Leased Workers From Modis, West Norriton, PA..., applicable to workers of Quest Diagnostics, Inc., Information Technology Help Desk Services, West Norriton... Quest Diagnostics, Inc., Information Technology Help Desk [[Page 2145
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2010-04-29
... DEPARTMENT OF LABOR Employment and Training Administration [TA-W-72,778] Kenco Logistic Services... January 8, 2010, applicable to workers of Kenco Logistic Services, LLC, Electrolux Webster City, including... logistic services for the Electrolux, Webster City, Iowa. The company reports that workers leased from...
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41 CFR 101-26.506-1 - Types of service.
2010-07-01
... 41 Public Contracts and Property Management 2 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 true Types of service. 101-26.506-1 Section 101-26.506-1 Public Contracts and Property Management Federal Property Management Regulations System FEDERAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT REGULATIONS SUPPLY AND PROCUREMENT 26-PROCUREMENT SOURCES AND...
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PROVIDING SERVICEABILITY OF STRUCTURAL BEARING TYPES FOR ROADWAY BRIDGES
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
R. I. Polyuga
2010-03-01
Full Text Available In the article the description of structural bearing types for roadway bridges and their classification is given. Special attention is paid to effective bearings with elastomeric materials – rubber, pot, spherical ones. Characteristic defects of structural bearings and demands of serviceability are noticed.
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Three Types of Memory in Emergency Medical Services Communication
Angeli, Elizabeth L.
2015-01-01
This article examines memory and distributed cognition involved in the writing practices of emergency medical services (EMS) professionals. Results from a 16-month study indicate that EMS professionals rely on distributed cognition and three kinds of memory: individual, collaborative, and professional. Distributed cognition and the three types of…
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A discrete single server queue with Markovian arrivals and phase type group services
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Attahiru Sule Alfa
1995-01-01
Full Text Available We consider a single-server discrete queueing system in which arrivals occur according to a Markovian arrival process. Service is provided in groups of size no more than M customers. The service times are assumed to follow a discrete phase type distribution, whose representation may depend on the group size. Under a probabilistic service rule, which depends on the number of customers waiting in the queue, this system is studied as a Markov process. This type of queueing system is encountered in the operations of an automatic storage retrieval system. The steady-state probability vector is shown to be of (modified matrix-geometric type. Efficient algorithmic procedures for the computation of the rate matrix, steady-state probability vector, and some important system performance measures are developed. The steady-state waiting time distribution is derived explicitly. Some numerical examples are presented.
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2010-04-19
...-site leased workers of Bosch Management Services North America, South Haven Community Hospital... leased workers of Bosch Management Services North America, South Haven Community Hospital, Huffmaster Inc..., Including On-Site Leased Workers From Bosch Management Services North America, South Haven Community...
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14 CFR 291.44 - BTS Schedule P-12(a), Fuel Consumption by Type of Service and Entity.
2010-01-01
... 14 Aeronautics and Space 4 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false BTS Schedule P-12(a), Fuel Consumption by... TRANSPORTATION Reporting Rules § 291.44 BTS Schedule P-12(a), Fuel Consumption by Type of Service and Entity. (a.... (e)(1) The cost of fuel shall include shrinkage, but excludes: (i) “Throughput” and “in to plane...
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Dalmida, Safiya George; Amerson, Roxanne; Foster, Jennifer; McWhinney-Dehaney, Leila; Magowe, Mabel; Nicholas, Patrice K; Pehrson, Karen; Leffers, Jeanne
2016-09-01
This article explores approaches to service involvement and provides direction to nurse leaders and others who wish to begin or further develop global (local and international) service or service learning projects. We review types of service involvement, analyze service-related data from a recent survey of nearly 500 chapters of the Honor Society of Nursing, Sigma Theta Tau International (STTI), make recommendations to guide collaborative partnerships and to model engagement in global and local service and service learning. This article offers a literature review and describes results of a survey conducted by the STTI International Service Learning Task Force. Results describe the types of service currently conducted by STTI nursing members and chapters, including disaster response, service learning, and service-related responses relative to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The needs of chapter members for information about international service are explored and recommendations for promoting global service and sustainability goals for STTI chapters are examined. Before engaging in service, volunteers should consider the types of service engagement, as well as the design of projects to include collaboration, bidirectionality, sustainability, equitable partnerships, and inclusion of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. STTI supports the learning, knowledge, and professional development of nurses worldwide. International service and collaboration are key to the advancement of the nursing profession. Culturally relevant approaches to international service and service learning are essential to our global organization, as it aims to impact the health status of people globally. © 2016 Sigma Theta Tau International.
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2011-05-03
... Digital River Education Services acquired Journey Education Marketing (JEM) in August 2010. Some workers... DEPARTMENT OF LABOR Employment and Training Administration [TA-W-74,975] Digital River Education Services, Inc., a Division of Digital River, Inc., Including Workers Whose Unemployment Insurance (UI...
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2010-12-30
... DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY Federal Energy Regulatory Commission [Docket No. ER11-2436-000] Oracle Energy Services, LLC; Supplemental Notice That Initial Market-Based Rate Filing Includes Request for Blanket... proceeding of Oracle Energy Services, LLC's application for market-based rate authority, with an accompanying...
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2010-10-29
... follows: ``All workers TTM Technologies, including on-site leased workers from Kelly Services and Aerotek... DEPARTMENT OF LABOR Employment and Training Administration [TA-W-64,993] TTM Technologies, Including On-Site Leased Workers From Kelly Services, Aerotek, and an On-Site Leased Worker From Orbotech...
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On Some Extensions of Szasz Operators Including Boas-Buck-Type Polynomials
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Sezgin Sucu
2012-01-01
Full Text Available This paper is concerned with a new sequence of linear positive operators which generalize Szasz operators including Boas-Buck-type polynomials. We establish a convergence theorem for these operators and give the quantitative estimation of the approximation process by using a classical approach and the second modulus of continuity. Some explicit examples of our operators involving Laguerre polynomials, Charlier polynomials, and Gould-Hopper polynomials are given. Moreover, a Voronovskaya-type result is obtained for the operators containing Gould-Hopper polynomials.
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Food Production, Management and Services: Service. Teacher Edition. Second Edition.
Palan, Earl
This food production, management, and services teacher guide contains nine units: (1) orientation; (2) types of service; (3) table settings; (4) dining room personnel; (5) dining room procedures; (6) side work; (7) guest/employee relationships; (8) sales techniques; and (9) safety and sanitation. Suggestions are included to increase reinforcement…
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Schmitt, Ara J.; Wodrich, David L.; Lazar, Susan
2010-01-01
Type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) is a chronic illness that can impact learning and often requires medical management in the school setting. School psychologists must therefore be knowledgeable of special service eligibility criteria associated with T1DM, the health-related services often required of such students, and what health-related services…
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Understanding type 2 diabetes: including the family member's perspective.
LENUS (Irish Health Repository)
White, Patricia
2012-02-01
PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between psychological and social factors and diabetes outcomes in people with type 2 diabetes and their family members. METHODS: A total of 153 patients with type 2 diabetes were assessed at a diabetes outpatient clinic and postal questionnaires were sent to nominated family members. The measures examined were diabetes knowledge, social support, well-being, and illness perceptions. RESULTS: When compared with those with diabetes, family members reported lower positive well-being and lower levels of satisfaction with support. They also perceived diabetes as a more cyclical illness, which was controlled more by treatment than by the individual. Family members also reported that the person with diabetes was more emotionally distressed and knew more about diabetes than the patient had actually reported himself or herself. There were no differences between the family members of those in good or poor glycaemic control. CONCLUSIONS: This study reinforces the importance of understanding social context and illness beliefs in diabetes management. It also highlights the potential for including family members in discussions and education about diabetes management.
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U.S. Department of Health & Human Services — The POS file contains data on characteristics of hospitals and other types of healthcare facilities, including the name and address of the facility and the type of...
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International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Matal, O.
1988-01-01
A detailed description is presented of the systems of vibration inspections and systems of determining residual service life, implemented as in-service diagnostic systems for steam generators and pressurizers at the Dukovany nuclear power plant. Low temperature accelerometers of the KD or KS type and high temperature accelerometers CA 91 are used as vibration sensors. In the system of vibration inspection a total of 64 vibration measuring chains of Czechoslovak make and design are installed in the power plant. Systems are being built for determining residual service life which consist of 75 special chains for heat monitoring with thermocouples installed on selected assemblies of the steam generators and the pressurizers serving to monitor and evaluate heat stress. Also included in the system for determining residual service life are 16 routes for water withdrawal from steam generators. Their purpose is to make in-service determinations of places of biggest concentrations of impurities in secondary water, to determine the biggest local chemical exposure of primary collector and heat exchange tube materials and to optimize the size and place of leachate withdrawal. (Z.M.). 2 figs., 2 tabs., 15 refs
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Spatial dynamics of ecosystem service flows: a comprehensive approach to quantifying actual services
Bagstad, Kenneth J.; Johnson, Gary W.; Voigt, Brian; Villa, Ferdinando
2013-01-01
Recent ecosystem services research has highlighted the importance of spatial connectivity between ecosystems and their beneficiaries. Despite this need, a systematic approach to ecosystem service flow quantification has not yet emerged. In this article, we present such an approach, which we formalize as a class of agent-based models termed “Service Path Attribution Networks” (SPANs). These models, developed as part of the Artificial Intelligence for Ecosystem Services (ARIES) project, expand on ecosystem services classification terminology introduced by other authors. Conceptual elements needed to support flow modeling include a service's rivalness, its flow routing type (e.g., through hydrologic or transportation networks, lines of sight, or other approaches), and whether the benefit is supplied by an ecosystem's provision of a beneficial flow to people or by absorption of a detrimental flow before it reaches them. We describe our implementation of the SPAN framework for five ecosystem services and discuss how to generalize the approach to additional services. SPAN model outputs include maps of ecosystem service provision, use, depletion, and flows under theoretical, possible, actual, inaccessible, and blocked conditions. We highlight how these different ecosystem service flow maps could be used to support various types of decision making for conservation and resource management planning.
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2010-10-08
...-Branded as HP--Enterprise Services) Including On-Site Workers From: Abel Personnel Inc., Advantage Tech... February 4, 2010, applicable to workers of EDS, an HP Company (Re- branded as HP--Enterprise Services...-branded as HP-- Enterprise Services). These employees provided various activities related to the supply of...
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Information Brokers/Free-Lance Librarians: An Alternative Reference Service.
Hogan, Matthew
This paper examines the profession of information brokerage through a look at types of services provided, and through a discussion of major issues, including that of fee for service. The types of information broker and free-lance librarian services are identified: (1) non-profit reference and research services administered by public libraries and…
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2013-08-27
... Services GmbH (Type Certificate Previously Held by AvCraft Aerospace GmbH; Fairchild Dornier GmbH; Dornier... certain 328 Support Services GmbH (Type Certificate Previously Held by AvCraft Aerospace GmbH; Fairchild... send any written relevant data, views, or arguments about this proposed AD. Send your comments to an...
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2010-01-01
... 12 Banks and Banking 4 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Financial education programs that include the provision of bank products and services. 303.46 Section 303.46 Banks and Banking FEDERAL DEPOSIT INSURANCE... Branches and Offices § 303.46 Financial education programs that include the provision of bank products and...
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Factors Influencing the Types of Products and Services Purchased over the Internet.
Phau, Ian; Poon, Sui Meng
2000-01-01
Presents the findings of an empirical investigation of Internet shopping in Singapore. Compares Internet buying behavior between potential Internet buyers and non-Internet buyers, and concludes that the classification of different types of products and services will significantly influence consumer choice between a retail store and the Internet.…
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DOPA, a Digital Observatory for Protected Areas including Monitoring and Forecasting Services
Dubois, Gregoire; Hartley, Andrew; Peedell, Stephen; de Jesus, Jorge; Ó Tuama, Éamonn; Cottam, Andrew; May, Ian; Fisher, Ian; Nativi, Stefano; Bertrand, Francis
2010-05-01
The Digital Observatory for Protected Areas (DOPA) is a biodiversity information system currently developed as an interoperable web service at the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission in collaboration with other international organizations, including GBIF, UNEP-WCMC, Birdlife International and RSPB. DOPA is designed to assess the state and pressure of Protected Areas (PAs) and to prioritize them accordingly, in order to support decision making and fund allocation processes. To become an operational web service allowing the automatic monitoring of protected areas, DOPA needs to be able to capture the dynamics of spatio-temporal changes in habitats and anthropogenic pressure on PAs as well as the changes in the species distributions. Because some of the most valuable natural ecosystems and species on the planet cover large areas making field monitoring methods very difficult for a large scale assessment, the automatic collection and processing of remote sensing data are processes at the heart of the problem. To further be able to forecast changes due to climate change, DOPA has to rely on an architecture that enables it to communicate with the appropriate modeling web services. The purpose of this presentation is to present the architecture of the DOPA with special attention to e-Habitat, its web processing service designed for assessing the irreplaceability of habitats as well as for the modeling of habitats under different climate change scenarios. The use of open standards for spatial data and of open source programming languages for the development of the core functionalities of the system are expected to encourage the participation of the scientific community beyond the current partnerships and to favour the sharing of such an observatory which could be installed at any other location. Acknowledgement: Part of this work is funded under the 7th Framework Programme by the EuroGEOSS (www.eurogeoss.eu) project of the European Commission. The views
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40 CFR 35.937 - Subagreements for architectural or engineering services.
2010-07-01
... competence and qualifications for the type of professional services required and at fair and reasonable... announcement of the requirements for personal and professional services, including engineering services... engineering services. Those professional services associated with research, development, design and...
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2013-06-21
... supply of administrative support services (in support of production). The worker group includes on-site... components produced by the subject workers. Further, aggregate imports of articles like or directly... reconsideration, the worker supplied new information regarding a possible shift in the production of like or...
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How forest management affects ecosystem services, including timber production and economic return
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Duncker, Philipp S.; Raulund-Rasmussen, Karsten; Gundersen, Per
2012-01-01
and services. By use of virtual but realistic datasets, we quantified, for multiple services, the effects of five forest management alternatives that form an intensity gradient. Our virtual forest management units represented Central European forest ecosystems in the submontane vegetation zone under a humid......–temperate climate with acidic soils. In this zone the European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) is the dominant tree species. In order to assess the effects on ecosystem services, the untouched natural forest reserve served as a reference. Wherever possible, response functions were deduced to couple the various services...... via stand-level data to demonstrate trade-offs between the services. Management units comprised all development phases in the sense of a "normal forest". It was clearly illustrated that maximizing the rates of biomass production and carbon sequestration may conflict with protection of authentic...
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Yuvarani, S.; Saravanarajan, M. C.
2017-11-01
This paper concerned with performance analysis of single server preemptive priority retrial queue with a single vacation where two types of customers are considered and they are called priority customers and ordinary customers. The ordinary customers arrive in batch into the system. The priority customers do not form any queue. After the completion of regular service, the customers may demand re-service for the previous service without joining the orbit or may leave the system. As soon as the system is empty, the server goes for vacation and the regular busy server can be subjected to breakdown. By using the supplementary variable technique, we obtain the steady-state probability generating functions for the system/orbit size. Some important system performance measures and the stochastic decomposition are discussed. Finally, numerical examples are presented to visualize the effect of parameters on system performance measures.
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Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Laverty Wilson, K.
2002-06-03
After a decade of extensive dismantling and reconstruction, changes in the downstream refining and marketing side of the petroleum industry have progressed to the point where downstream assets are once again considered to be among the strongest and most vital parts of the industry. Merchandising has become a way of life in gasoline service stations to the point where the service station of the 21. century will likely carry mass-consumption items from panty hose to sandwiches in addition to gasoline. Petro-Canada is in the forefront of rolling out the new-image service stations, while high traffic Esso locations are adding cafes serving doughnuts, muffins, bagels, soup and sandwiches in partnership with the Tim Horton's chain. In Canada, Quebec is way ahead of the other provinces in setting the high tone in the business of catering to consumers on wheels as demonstrated by the 1,932 retail sites of 'Couche-Tard', a name synonymous with gas pumps, fresh coffee and the myriad items offered in traditional convenience stores. With a total of 1,693 stores in Canada, 239 in the United States, 13,000 plus employees and more than 800 gas pumps (80 of them branded to in-house gasoline) Couche-Tard is the ninth largest convenience retailer in North America. The article describes the rise to prominence of the Couche-Tard empire, explains why circumstances in Quebec were ripe for this type of development, and offers a glimpse into the future of the likely further development of the retail gasoline market in the rest of Canada.
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50 CFR 36.37 - Revenue producing visitor services.
2010-10-01
... Section 36.37 Wildlife and Fisheries UNITED STATES FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR... compensation to persons who visit a refuge, including such services as providing food, accommodations... equal and are not additive. (2) In selecting persons to provide any type of visitor service for refuges...
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Simulating the service life performance of an inspected group of jacket-type structures
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Schneider, Ronald; Thöns, Sebastian; Rogge, Andreas
2017-01-01
and risk. We intend to adopt this approach to optimize inspection, monitoring and repair activities for offshore wind park support structures. As a first step, we simulate – in analogy to an offshore wind park – the service life performance of an inspected group of jacket-type frames. The performance......A novel method for risk-based optimization of inspection and repair strategies for deteriorating structural systems has recently been proposed. The method defines heuristics at the system level to reduce the number of possible strategies. For each defined strategy, it computes the updated system...... failure probability conditional on simulated inspection and repair histories, and evaluates the associated costs and risk. The expected total service life costs and risk for a strategy are finally determined using Monte Carlo simulation. The optimal strategy minimizes the expected total service life costs...
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Heidi H. Ewen
2017-03-01
Full Text Available Background: The majority of older adults prefer to remain in their homes, or to “age-in-place.” To accomplish this goal, many older adults will rely upon home- and community-based services (HCBS for support. However, the availability and accessibility of HCBS may differ based on whether the older adult lives in the community or in a senior housing apartment facility. Methods: This paper reports findings from the Pathways to Life Quality study of residential change and stability among seniors in upstate New York. Data were analyzed from 663 older adults living in one of three housing types: service-rich facilities, service-poor facilities, and community-dwelling in single-family homes. A multinomial logistic regression model was used to examine factors associated with residence type. A linear regression model was fitted to examine factors associated with HCBS utilization. Results: When compared to community-dwelling older adults, those residing in service-rich and service-poor facilities were more likely to be older, report more activity limitations, and provide less instrumental assistance to others. Those in service-poor facilities were more likely to have poorer mental health and lower perceived purpose in life. The three leading HCBS utilized were senior centers (20%, homemaker services (19%, and transportation services (18%. More HCBS utilization was associated with participants who resided in service-poor housing, were older, were female, and had more activity limitations. More HCBS utilization was also associated with those who received instrumental support, had higher perceived purpose in life, and poorer mental health. Conclusions: Findings suggest that older adults’ residential environment is associated with their health status and HCBS utilization. Building upon the Person–Environment Fit theories, dedicated efforts are needed to introduce and expand upon existing HCBS available to facility residents to address physical and
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Ewen, Heidi H.; Washington, Tiffany R.; Emerson, Kerstin G.; Carswell, Andrew T.; Smith, Matthew Lee
2017-01-01
Background: The majority of older adults prefer to remain in their homes, or to “age-in-place.” To accomplish this goal, many older adults will rely upon home- and community-based services (HCBS) for support. However, the availability and accessibility of HCBS may differ based on whether the older adult lives in the community or in a senior housing apartment facility. Methods: This paper reports findings from the Pathways to Life Quality study of residential change and stability among seniors in upstate New York. Data were analyzed from 663 older adults living in one of three housing types: service-rich facilities, service-poor facilities, and community-dwelling in single-family homes. A multinomial logistic regression model was used to examine factors associated with residence type. A linear regression model was fitted to examine factors associated with HCBS utilization. Results: When compared to community-dwelling older adults, those residing in service-rich and service-poor facilities were more likely to be older, report more activity limitations, and provide less instrumental assistance to others. Those in service-poor facilities were more likely to have poorer mental health and lower perceived purpose in life. The three leading HCBS utilized were senior centers (20%), homemaker services (19%), and transportation services (18%). More HCBS utilization was associated with participants who resided in service-poor housing, were older, were female, and had more activity limitations. More HCBS utilization was also associated with those who received instrumental support, had higher perceived purpose in life, and poorer mental health. Conclusions: Findings suggest that older adults’ residential environment is associated with their health status and HCBS utilization. Building upon the Person–Environment Fit theories, dedicated efforts are needed to introduce and expand upon existing HCBS available to facility residents to address physical and mental health needs
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McDonald, Julie; Jayasuriya, Rohan; Harris, Mark Fort
2011-01-01
Adults with type 2 diabetes or with behavioural risk factors require comprehensive and well coordinated responses from a range of health care providers who often work in different organisational settings. This study examines three types of collaborative links between organisations involved in a rural setting. Social network methods were employed using survey data on three types of links, and data was collected from a purposive sample of 17 organisations representing the major provider types. The analysis included a mix of unconfirmed and confirmed links, and network measures. General practices were the most influential provider group in initiating referrals, and they referred to the broadest range of organisations in the network. Team care arrangements formed a small part of the general practice referral network. They were used more for access to private sector allied health care providers and less for sharing care with public sector health services. Involvement in joint programs/activities was limited to public and non-government sector services, with no participation from the private sector. The patterns of interactions suggest that informal referral networks provide access to services and coordination of care for individual patients with diabetes. Two population subgroups would benefit from more proactive approaches to ensure equitable access to services and coordination of care across organisational boundaries: people with more complex health care needs and people at risk of developing diabetes.
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26 CFR 31.3121(c)-1 - Included and excluded services.
2010-04-01
...) EMPLOYMENT TAXES AND COLLECTION OF INCOME TAX AT SOURCE EMPLOYMENT TAXES AND COLLECTION OF INCOME TAX AT... enrolled and is regularly attending classes at a university, to perform domestic service for the club and...
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2010-07-01
... 29 Labor 3 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Inapplicability of âretail conceptâ to some types of sales... DIRECTLY RELATED TO REGULATIONS THE FAIR LABOR STANDARDS ACT AS APPLIED TO RETAILERS OF GOODS OR SERVICES... Retailâ § 779.321 Inapplicability of “retail concept” to some types of sales or services of an eligible...
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Real, Shirley; Cobbe, Sinead; Slattery, Sinead
2016-07-01
Edema in palliative care patients is a common symptom, however, the research base for all aspects of its care is extremely poor. To evaluate a specialist palliative care edema service in order to report on the patient population referred, the types of edema encountered, and the causes of edema. Prior to study, three different edema types were described for evaluation: lymphedema, nonlymphatic edema, and a combination of the two. Retrospective chart evaluation was completed from August 2013 through January 2014. Patients with edema assessed by the specialist palliative care physiotherapy edema service. Sixty-three cases were included, comprising 10.5% of all new palliative care referrals during the study period. Ninety-two percent (n = 58) had a diagnosis of cancer and 57% (n = 36) were female. Age ranged from 45-97 years. The most common edema type was a mixed edema (46%, n = 29), followed by lymphedema (27%, n = 18) and nonlymphatic edema (16%, n = 10). Lymphorrhea occurred in 9.5% of cases. The most common reasons for edema, based on clinical opinion, were blocked lymphatics (33%) and dependency from immobility (27%). The most common site for edema was in the lower limbs (89%, n = 56). The time lapse from the last treatment to death ranged from 1-225 days. Having a mixed edema type or lymphorrhea was a relatively poor prognostic sign. This is the first study to describe in detail the occurrence of edema in palliative care patients. Edema may be present for many months prior to death making the search for effective treatments imperative.
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Factors associated to the imposition of types of violence against women informed in sentry services
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Luiza Jane Eyre de Souza Vieira
2013-07-01
Full Text Available OBJECTIVE: to identify the prevalence and the factors associated to the imposition of the different types of violence against women informed in sentry services. METHOD: transversal study accomplished through 939 notification forms of cases of violence against women, referring to the three years from 2006 to 2008 in Fortaleza, Ceará. Univariate and multiple analyses by logistic regression were realized. RESULT: the results showed a positive association between the imposition of types of violence against women with a schooling varying from illiterate to basic education and the aggression which had occurred other times. CONCLUSION: this knowledge contributes to the delineation of specific actions that aim at facing this problem, as well as generates subsidies for adequate attendance proposals and guidance for the victims who call on health services.
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2012-10-05
... relevant period and that the subject firm had sufficient control over the leased workers for the Department to determine that there was operational control of the leased workers by the subject firm. The... Managerial Services, Inc., Including On-Site Leased Workers of Entegee East Longmeadow, MA Amended...
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Switching Service Providers: Reasons, Service Types, and Sequences
African Journals Online (AJOL)
In Keaveney.s (1995) landmark study on the reasons for switching service providers, data were gathered using critical incident technique (CIT); here the original findings are tested using survey method. Keaveney.s typology of reasons for switching is supported across a range of categories but, in this new study, the reasons ...
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Providing Services to Virtual Patrons.
Hulshof, Robert
1999-01-01
Discusses the types of services libraries need to support patrons who access the library via the Internet or e-mail. Highlights include issues in technical support; establishing policies and procedures; tools for technical support, including hardware and software; impacts of technical support on staff; and future possibilities. (LRW)
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Odzakovic, Elzana; Hydén, Lars-Christer; Festin, Karin; Kullberg, Agneta
2018-02-01
This study aims to examine what types of home care services and housing are granted to people with a dementia diagnosis and how these types are associated with socio-demographic factors (sex, age, marital status, native or foreign born, and regional area). A cross-sectional study of all people diagnosed with dementia in three Swedish counties was conducted from the medical records in 2012. Logistic regression analysis was carried out to investigate associations between home care services and housing and socio-demographic variables. In total, 17,405 people had a dementia diagnosis, and the majority were women, aged 80+ years, and unmarried. Some 72% were living in ordinary housing and 28% lived in special housing. Of those who lived in ordinary housing, 50% did not receive any home care service. Not receiving any type of home care services was less common for older people and was also associated with being married and living in rural municipalities. The most common home care services granted were home help and personal care. Special housing was more common for older people, unmarried persons, and those living in rural municipalities. Most people with a dementia diagnosis were living in ordinary housing, and, surprisingly, half of those did not receive any type of home care service. This knowledge is essential for making the living conditions and needs of people living with dementia more visible and to provide good home care services for people with dementia and their families.
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Sherrouse, B.C.; Semmens, D.J.
2010-01-01
Ecosystem services can be defined in various ways; simply put, they are the benefits provided by nature, which contribute to human well-being. These benefits can range from tangible products such as food and fresh water to cultural services such as recreation and esthetics. As the use of these benefits continues to increase, additional pressures are placed on the natural ecosystems providing them. This makes it all the more important when assessing possible tradeoffs among ecosystem services to consider the human attitudes and preferences that express underlying social values associated with their benefits. While some of these values can be accounted for through economic markets, other values can be more difficult to quantify, and attaching dollar amounts to them may not be very useful in all cases. Regardless of the processes or units used for quantifying such values, the ability to map them across the landscape and relate them to the ecosystem services to which they are attributed is necessary for effective assessments. To address some of the needs associated with quantifying and mapping social values for inclusion in ecosystem services assessments, scientists at the Rocky Mountain Geographic Science Center (RMGSC), in collaboration with Colorado State University, have developed a public domain tool, Social Values for Ecosystem Services (SolVES). SolVES is a geographic information system (GIS) application designed to use data from public attitude and preference surveys to assess, map, and quantify social values for ecosystem services. SolVES calculates and maps a 10-point Value Index representing the relative perceived social values of ecosystem services such as recreation and biodiversity for various groups of ecosystem stakeholders. SolVES output can also be used to identify and model relationships between social values and physical characteristics of the underlying landscape. These relationships can then be used to generate predicted Value Index maps for areas
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2011-10-26
... DEPARTMENT OF LABOR Employment and Training Administration [TA-W-80,110] Callaway Golf Ball... Golf Ball Operations, Inc., including on-site leased workers from Reliable Temp Services, Inc., and... production of golf balls. The notice was published in the Federal Register on July 8, 2011 (76 FR 40401). At...
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A Model-Driven, Science Data Product Registration Service
Hardman, S.; Ramirez, P.; Hughes, J. S.; Joyner, R.; Cayanan, M.; Lee, H.; Crichton, D. J.
2011-12-01
The Planetary Data System (PDS) has undertaken an effort to overhaul the PDS data architecture (including the data model, data structures, data dictionary, etc.) and to deploy an upgraded software system (including data services, distributed data catalog, etc.) that fully embraces the PDS federation as an integrated system while taking advantage of modern innovations in information technology (including networking capabilities, processing speeds, and software breakthroughs). A core component of this new system is the Registry Service that will provide functionality for tracking, auditing, locating, and maintaining artifacts within the system. These artifacts can range from data files and label files, schemas, dictionary definitions for objects and elements, documents, services, etc. This service offers a single reference implementation of the registry capabilities detailed in the Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems (CCSDS) Registry Reference Model White Book. The CCSDS Reference Model in turn relies heavily on the Electronic Business using eXtensible Markup Language (ebXML) standards for registry services and the registry information model, managed by the OASIS consortium. Registries are pervasive components in most information systems. For example, data dictionaries, service registries, LDAP directory services, and even databases provide registry-like services. These all include an account of informational items that are used in large-scale information systems ranging from data values such as names and codes, to vocabularies, services and software components. The problem is that many of these registry-like services were designed with their own data models associated with the specific type of artifact they track. Additionally these services each have their own specific interface for interacting with the service. This Registry Service implements the data model specified in the ebXML Registry Information Model (RIM) specification that supports the various
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Service mining framework and application
Chang, Wei-Lun
2014-01-01
The shifting focus of service from the 1980s to 2000s has proved that IT not only lowers the cost of service but creates avenues to enhance and increase revenue through service. The new type of service, e-service, is mobile, flexible, interactive, and interchangeable. While service science provides an avenue for future service researches, the specific research areas from the IT perspective still need to be elaborated. This book introduces a novel concept-service mining-to address several research areas from technology, model, management, and application perspectives. Service mining is defined as "a systematical process including service discovery, service experience, service recovery, and service retention to discover unique patterns and exceptional values within the existing services." The goal of service mining is similar to data mining, text mining, or web mining, and aims to "detect something new" from the service pool. The major difference is the feature of service is quite distinct from the mining targe...
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2010-07-01
... Include When Purchasing Goods or Services Under a TIA? E Appendix E to Part 37 National Defense Department... When Purchasing Goods or Services Under a TIA? A. As discussed in § 37.705, you must inform recipients...., supplies or equipment) under their TIAs. Note that purchases of goods or services differ from subawards...
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2014-01-01
Virtually all nontrivial and modern service related problems and systems involve data volumes and types that clearly fall into what is presently meant as "big data", that is, are huge, heterogeneous, complex, distributed, etc. Data mining is a series of processes which include collecting and accumulating data, modeling phenomena, and discovering new information, and it is one of the most important steps to scientific analysis of the processes of services. Data mining application in services requires a thorough understanding of the characteristics of each service and knowledge of the compatibility of data mining technology within each particular service, rather than knowledge only in calculation speed and prediction accuracy. Varied examples of services provided in this book will help readers understand the relation between services and data mining technology. This book is intended to stimulate interest among researchers and practitioners in the relation between data mining technology and its application to ...
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Evaluating School Library Information Services in the Digital Age.
Everhart, Nancy
2000-01-01
Discusses criteria for evaluating school library information services. Highlights include types of services; physical facilities; library usage; circulation statistics; changes due to technology; fill rate, or the percentage of successful searches for library materials; OPAC (online public access catalog) reports; observation; and examining…
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Yosi Wibowo
2015-12-01
Full Text Available Background. Diabetes is an emerging chronic disease in developing countries. Its management in developing countries is mainly hospital/clinic based. The increasing diabetes burden in developing countries provides opportunities for community pharmacists to deliver a range of services. Since the management of diabetes requires the patient’s own involvement, it is important to gain their views in order to develop pharmacy-based diabetes services. Studies on diabetes patients’ views have been limited to developed countries.Objectives. To investigate, within a developing country setting (Indonesia, current use of pharmacy services by type 2 diabetes patients, and to evaluate their views regarding community pharmacists’ roles, and the characteristics that influence their views.Methods. A questionnaire survey was conducted within 10 purposefully selected community pharmacies in Surabaya, Indonesia. Each pharmacy recruited approximately 20 patients seeking antidiabetic medications. Usage of pharmacy services was identified using binary responses (‘yes’/‘no’ and views on pharmacists’ roles were rated using Likert scales; an open-ended question was used to identify patient perceived priority roles. Logistic regression models were used to determine characteristics associated with patients’ views.Results. A total of 196 pharmacy patients with type 2 diabetes responded (58.3% response rate. Most patients used community pharmacies for dispensing (100% and education on how to use medications (79.6%. There were mixed views towards pharmacists providing services beyond dispensing. The highest priorities identified were from the ‘patient education’ domain: education on medications (i.e., directions for use (64.5%, storage (26.6%, common/important adverse effects (25.5%; and the ‘monitoring’ domain: monitoring medication compliance (37.3%. Patients with higher incomes or who were working were less supportive of these expanded services
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Patwardhan, Anjali; Patwardhan, Prakash
2009-01-01
In the recent climate of consumerism and consumer focused care, health and social care needs to be more responsive than ever before. Consumer needs and preferences can be elicited with accepted validity and reliability only by strict methodological control, customerisation of the questionnaire and skilled interpretation. To construct, conduct, interpret and implement improved service provision, requires a trained work force and infrastructure. This article aims to appraise various aspects of consumer surveys and to assess their value as effective service improvement tools. The customer is the sole reason organisations exist. Consumer surveys are used worldwide as service and quality of care improvement tools by all types of service providers including health service providers. The article critically appraises the value of consumer surveys as service improvement tools in health services tool and its future applications. No one type of survey is the best or ideal. The key is the selection of the correct survey methodology, unique and customised for the particular type/aspect of care being evaluated. The method used should reflect the importance of the information required. Methodological rigor is essential for the effectiveness of consumer surveys as service improvement tools. Unfortunately so far there is no universal consensus on superiority of one particular methodology over another or any benefit of one specific methodology in a given situation. More training and some dedicated resource allocation is required to develop consumer surveys. More research is needed to develop specific survey methodology and evaluation techniques for improved validity and reliability of the surveys as service improvement tools. Measurement of consumer preferences/priorities, evaluation of services and key performance scores, is not easy. Consumer surveys seem impressive tools as they provide the customer a voice for change or modification. However, from a scientific point
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Perceived Risk in Service Consumption – a C2C Perspective
Nicholls, Richard
2008-01-01
In the field of services marketing some attention has been paid to the theme of risks associated with purchasing and consuming services. The literature includes issues such as: the relative uncertainty of services and goods at various stages of consumption; types of perceived risk; difficulties associated with evaluating services; service organisation responses to consumer perceived risk; and consumer risk reduction strategies. This literature, however, focuses overwhelmingly on service consu...
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[Urban ecosystem services: A review].
Mao, Qi-zheng; Huang, Gan-lin; Wu, Jian-guo
2015-04-01
Maintaining and improving ecosystem services in urban areas and human well-being are essential for sustainable development and therefore constitute an important topic in urban ecology. Here we reviewed studies on ecosystem services in urban areas. Based on the concept and classification of urban ecosystem services, we summarized characteristics of urban ecosystem services, including the human domination, high demand of ecosystem services in urban areas, spatial heterogeneity and temporal dynamics of ecosystem services supply and demand in urban areas, multi-services of urban green infrastructures, the socio-economic dimension of ecosystem services supply and ecosystem disservices in urban areas. Among different urban ecosystem services, the regulating service and cultural service are particularly indispensable to benefit human health. We pointed out that tradeoffs among different types of ecosystem services mostly occur between supportive service and cultural service, as well as regulating service and cultural service. In particular, we emphasized the relationship between landscape design (i.e. green infrastructure) and ecosystem services supply. Finally, we discussed current gaps to link urban ecosystem services studies to landscape design and management and pointed out several directions for future research in urban ecosystem services.
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Dynamic RACH Partition for Massive Access of Differentiated M2M Services
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Qinghe Du
2016-03-01
Full Text Available In machine-to-machine (M2M networks, a key challenge is to overcome the overload problem caused by random access requests from massive machine-type communication (MTC devices. When differentiated services coexist, such as delay-sensitive and delay-tolerant services, the problem becomes more complicated and challenging. This is because delay-sensitive services often use more aggressive policies, and thus, delay-tolerant services get much fewer chances to access the network. To conquer the problem, we propose an efficient mechanism for massive access control over differentiated M2M services, including delay-sensitive and delay-tolerant services. Specifically, based on the traffic loads of the two types of services, the proposed scheme dynamically partitions and allocates the random access channel (RACH resource to each type of services. The RACH partition strategy is thoroughly optimized to increase the access performances of M2M networks. Analyses and simulation demonstrate the effectiveness of our design. The proposed scheme can outperform the baseline access class barring (ACB scheme, which ignores service types in access control, in terms of access success probability and the average access delay.
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Fiona Cianci
Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Female Sex workers (FSW are important in driving HIV transmission in West Africa. The Yerelon clinic in Burkina Faso has provided combined preventative and therapeutic services, including anti-retroviral therapy (ART, for FSWs since 1998, with evidence suggesting it has decreased HIV prevalence and incidence in this group. No data exists on the costs of such a combined prevention and treatment intervention for FSW. This study aims to determine the mean cost of service provision per patient year for FSWs attending the Yerelon clinic, and identifies differences in costs between patient groups. METHODS: Field-based retrospective cost analyses were undertaken using top-down and bottom-up costing approaches for 2010. Expenditure and service utilisation data was collated from primary sources. Patients were divided into groups according to full-time or occasional sex-work, HIV status and ART duration. Patient specific service use data was extracted. Costs were converted to 2012 US$. Sensitivity analyses considered removal of all research costs, different discount rates and use of different ART treatment regimens and follow-up schedules. RESULTS: Using the top-down costing approach, the mean annual cost of service provision for FSWs on or off ART was US$1098 and US$882, respectively. The cost for FSWs on ART reduced by 29%, to US$781, if all research-related costs were removed and national ART monitoring guidelines were followed. The bottom-up patient-level costing showed the cost of the service varied greatly across patient groups (US$505-US$1117, primarily due to large differences in the costs of different ART regimens. HIV-negative women had the lowest annual cost at US$505. CONCLUSION: Whilst FSWs may require specialised services to optimise their care and hence, the public health benefits, our study shows that the cost of ART provision within a combined prevention and treatment intervention setting is comparable to providing ART to
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Analysis of E-mail Transactions in Virtual Reference Services
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Astutik Nur Qomariyah
2018-01-01
Full Text Available Today, the use of traditional reference desk in the academic libraries has been rarely used, thus expanding or even move to a virtual reference service. A minimum level of virtual reference services are provided in the academic library is currently in general is the electronic mail (e-mail. One of the academic library specifically provide virtual reference services via e-mail is a Petra Christian University (PCU Library (refdesk@petra.ac.id.. In such services librarians provide assistance to users in finding information and answer questions. This study aimed to analyze the transaction reference services virtually through e-mail at the PCU Library, with a view of the types of questions based on user background, the writing style of language communication interaction used based on user background, and cultural values are revealed behind the user in virtual reference services (e-mail. This study uses content analysis (content analysis of the transcript e-mail received librarians of reference services began March 10 until June 16, 2015. The results showed that the types of questions asked in reference service virtual (e-mail in the Library UK Petra include: specific search, access online resources, operation of online resources, policies and procedures for services, and library holdings with background the student (PCU and non-PCU, faculty, and librarians. Based on the background of users found that overall more types of questions asked in virtual reference services (e-mail is a problem of access to online resources, and generally submitted by the students. Then, the writing style of the user's language in interaction reference service virtual (e-mail tends to be formal, which includes the word greeting, the message will be delivered, and regards cover, either by the student (PCU and non-PCU, lecturer, or librarians. While cultural values that revealed the background behind the user in virtual reference services (e-mail is obedience, courtesy and
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Patterns of Service Use in Two Types of Managed Behavioral Health Care Plan
Merrick, Elizabeth Levy; Hodgkin, Dominic; Hiatt, Deirdre; Horgan, Constance M.; Azzone, Vanessa; McCann, Bernard; Ritter, Grant; Zolotusky, Galina; McGuire, Thomas G.; Reif, Sharon
2009-01-01
Objective To describe service use patterns by level of care in two managed care products: employee assistance program (EAP) combined with behavioral health benefits, and standard behavioral health benefits. Methods This is a cross-sectional analysis of administrative data for 2004 from a national managed behavioral health care organization (MBHO). Utilization of 11 specific service categories was compared across products. The weighted sample reflected exact matching on sociodemographics (N= 710,014 unweighted; 286,750 weighted). Results In the EAP/behavioral health product,, the proportion of enrollees with outpatient mental health and substance abuse office visits (including EAP) was higher (pEAP/behavioral health and standard behavioral health care products had distinct utilization patterns in this large MBHO. In particular, greater use of certain outpatient services was observed within the EAP/behavioral health product. PMID:20044425
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Enhancing Data Interoperability with Web Services
Shrestha, S. R.; Zimble, D. A.; Wang, W.; Herring, D.; Halpert, M.
2014-12-01
In an effort to improve data access and interoperability of climate and weather data, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Climate.gov and Climate Prediction Center (CPC) are exploring various platform solutions to enhance a user's ability to locate, preview, and acquire the data. The Climate.gov and CPC data team faces multiple challenges including the various kinds of data and formats, inconsistency of metadata records, variety of data service implementations, very large volumes of data and geographically distributed locations. We have created the Data Access and Interoperability project to design a web-based platform, where interoperability between systems can be leveraged to allow greater data discovery, access, visualization and delivery. In the interoperable data platform, systems can integrate with each other to support the synthesis of climate and weather data. Interoperability is the ability for users to discover the available climate and weather data, preview and interact with the data, and acquire the data in common digital formats through a simple web-based interface. The goal of the interoperable data platform is to leverage existing web services, implement the established standards and integrate with existing solutions across the earth sciences domain instead of creating new technologies. Towards this effort to improve the interoperability of the platform, we are collaborating with ESRI Inc. to provide climate and weather data via web services. In this presentation, we will discuss and demonstrate how to use ArcGIS to author RESTful based scientific web services using open standards. These web services are able to encapsulate the logic required to handle and describe scientific data through a variety of service types including, image, map, feature, geoprocessing, and their respective service methods. Combining these types of services and leveraging well-documented APIs, including the ArcGIS JavaScript API, we can afford to
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2013-11-26
...) Wages are Reported Through Siemens IT Solutions and Services, Mason, Ohio; Amended Certification... Solutions & Services, Inc., Billing and Collections Department, Mason, Ohio. The workers are engaged in... workers separated from employment at the Mason, Ohio location of ATOS IT Solutions & Services, Inc...
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29 CFR 4.130 - Types of covered service contracts illustrated.
2010-07-01
... services. (8) Chemical testing and analysis. (9) Clothing alteration and repair. (10) Computer services... construction). (17) Film processing. (18) Fire fighting and protection. (19) Fueling services. (20) Furniture...) Guard and watchman security service. (24) Inventory services. (25) Keypunching and keyverifying...
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US Agency for International Development — A cloud based service for creating a single system of record for all types of business services used by OCIO. Service Now applications are built on a single platform...
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Current Commitments under the GATS in Educational Services. Background Document.
Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, Paris (France). Centre for Educational Research and Innovation.
The GATS is a multilateral, legally enforceable agreement among members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) that regulates international trade services. Rules regulating internationally traded educational services, which include various types of exchange programs, are part of the agreement. Among the 42 member countries that have made…
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The association between question type and the outcomes of a Dermatology eConsult service.
O'Toole, Ashley; Joo, Jiyeh; DesGroseilliers, Jean-Pierre; Liddy, Clare; Glassman, Steven; Afkham, Amir; Keely, Erin
2017-08-01
eConsult is a web based service that facilitates communication between primary care providers (PCPs) and specialists, which can reduce the need for face-to-face consultations with specialists. One example is the Champlain BASE (Building Access to Specialist through eConsultation) service with dermatology being the largest specialty consulted. Dermatology eConsults submitted from July 2011 to January 2015 were reviewed. Post eConsult surveys for PCPs were analyzed to determine the number of traditional consults avoided and perceived value of eConsults. The time it took the PCP to receive a reply and the amount of time reported by the specialist to answer eConsult were proactively recorded and analyzed. A subset of 154 most recent eConsults was categorized for dermatology content and question type (e.g. diagnosis or management) using a validated taxonomy. A total of 965 eConsults were directed to dermatology from 217 unique PCPs. The majority of eConsults (64%) took the specialist between 10 and 15 minutes to answer. The overall value of this service to the provider was rated as very good or excellent in 95% of cases. In 49%, traditional in-person assessments were avoided. In the subset of the most recent cases, diagnosis was the most common question type asked (65.2%) followed by management (29%) and drug treatment (10.6%). The top five subject areas (40%) were: Dermatitis, Infections, Neoplasm, Nevi, and Pruritus. eConsults was feasible and well received by PCPs, which improves access to dermatology care with a potential to reduce wait times for traditional consultation. © 2017 The International Society of Dermatology.
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2011-03-17
... Contract Services, Integrated Partners Group LLC, Kelly Services, Manpower, Inc., Rapid Global Business Solutions, Inc., TAC Worldwide, Trialon Corp., Trison Business Solutions, Wright K. Technologies, Interim... Services, Integrated Partners Group LLC, Kelly Services, Manpower, Inc., Rapid Global Business Solutions...
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Services of strategic consulting: special features and types
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Klenin Oleh Volodymyrovych
2016-09-01
Full Text Available In the article essence of terms “consulting” and “strategic consulting” was studied. It was proved that strategic consulting must be analyzed as professional activity in the system of enterprise strategic management. Specific features of consultative services and its composition was added from the point of view of strategic management and innovative development were studied. In the process of providing consulting services it was suggested to take into account the strategic orientation of human capital of consulting company that was accepted to determine as professional actions of consultants. It was found out main problems that could prevent stable activity of industrial enterprises. It was proved necessity of researches concerning authentication factors of industrial enterprises innovative development and the role of consulting company in its decision making. It was made review of the most widespread classifications of consulting services. Was shown author`s view concerning forming more demanded services of strategic consulting by subject basis.
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Analysis of E-mail Transactions in Virtual Reference Services
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Astutik Nur Qomariyah
2016-01-01
Full Text Available Today, the use of traditional reference desk in the academic libraries has been rarely used, thus expanding or even move to a virtual reference service. A minimum level of virtual reference services are provided in the academic library is currently in general is the electronic mail (e-mail. One of the academic library specifically provide virtual reference services via e-mail is a Petra Christian University (PCU Library (ref-desk@petra.ac.id.. In such services librarians provide assistance to users in finding information and answer questions. This study aimed to analyze the transaction reference services virtually through e-mail at the PCU Library, with a view of the types of questions based on user background, the writing style of language communication interaction used based on user background, and cultural values are revealed behind the user in virtual reference services (e-mail. This study uses content analysis (content analysis of the transcript e-mail received librarians of reference services began March 10 until June 16, 2015. The results showed that the types of questions asked in reference service virtual (e-mail in the Library UK Petra include: specific search, access online resources, operation of online resources, policies and procedures for services, and library holdings with background the student (PCU and non-PCU, faculty, and librarians. Based on the background of users found that overall more types of questions asked in virtual reference services (e-mail is a problem of access to online resources, and generally submitted by the students. Then, the writing style of the user's language in interaction reference service virtual (e-mail tends to be formal, which includes the word greeting, the message will be delivered, and regards cover, either by the student (PCU and non-PCU, lecturer, or librarians. While cultural values that revealed the background behind the user in virtual reference services (e-mail is obedience, courtesy and
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9 CFR 350.3 - Types and availability of service.
2010-01-01
....3 Section 350.3 Animals and Animal Products FOOD SAFETY AND INSPECTION SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF... product must be sound, wholesome and fit for human food. The service will be available only on premises... service will be available for products moved in tank cars and tank trucks from an official establishment...
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Kågesten, Anna; Parekh, Jenita; Tunçalp, Ozge; Turke, Shani; Blum, Robert William
2014-12-01
We systematically reviewed peer-reviewed and gray literature on comprehensive adolescent health (CAH) programs (1998-2013), including sexual and reproductive health services. We screened 36 119 records and extracted articles using predefined criteria. We synthesized data into descriptive characteristics and assessed quality by evidence level. We extracted data on 46 programs, of which 19 were defined as comprehensive. Ten met all inclusion criteria. Most were US based; others were implemented in Egypt, Ethiopia, and Mexico. Three programs displayed rigorous evidence; 5 had strong and 2 had modest evidence. Those with rigorous or strong evidence directly or indirectly influenced adolescent sexual and reproductive health. The long-term impact of many CAH programs cannot be proven because of insufficient evaluations. Evaluation approaches that take into account the complex operating conditions of many programs are needed to better understand mechanisms behind program effects.
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Global fund financing of tuberculosis services delivery in prisons.
Lee, Donna; Lal, S S; Komatsu, Ryuichi; Zumla, Alimuddin; Atun, Rifat
2012-05-15
Despite concerted efforts to scale up tuberculosis control with large amounts of international financing in the last 2 decades, tuberculosis continues to be a social issue affecting the world's most marginalized and disadvantaged communities. This includes prisoners, estimated at about 10 million globally, for whom tuberculosis is a leading cause of mortality and morbidity. The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria has emerged as the single largest international donor for tuberculosis control, including funding support in delivering tuberculosis treatment for the confined population. The Global Fund grants database, with an aggregate approved investment of $21.7 billion in 150 countries by the end of 2010, was reviewed to identify tuberculosis and human immunodeficiency virus/tuberculosis grants and activities that monitored the delivery of tuberculosis treatment and support activities in penitentiary settings. The distribution and trend of number of countries with tuberculosis prison support was mapped by year, geographic region, tuberculosis or multidrug-resistant tuberculosis burden, and prison population rate. We examined the types of grant recipients managing program delivery, their performance, and the nature and range of services provided. Fifty-three of the 105 countries (50%) with Global Fund-supported tuberculosis programs delivered services within prison settings. Thirty-two percent (73 of 228) of tuberculosis grants, representing $558 million of all disbursements of Global Fund tuberculosis support by the end of 2010, included output indicators related to tuberculosis services delivered in prisons. Nearly two-thirds (64%) of these grants were implemented by governments, with the remaining by civil society and other partners. In terms of services, half (36 of 73) of grants provided diagnosis and treatment and an additional 27% provided screening and monitoring of tuberculosis for prisoners. The range of services tracked was limited in scope
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Bundling ecosystem services in Denmark
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Turner, Katrine Grace; Odgaard, Mette Vestergaard; Bøcher, Peder Klith
2014-01-01
We made a spatial analysis of 11 ecosystem services at a 10 km × 10 km grid scale covering most of Denmark. Our objective was to describe their spatial distribution and interactions and also to analyze whether they formed specific bundle types on a regional scale in the Danish cultural landscape....... We found clustered distribution patterns of ecosystem services across the country. There was a significant tendency for trade-offs between on the one hand cultural and regulating services and on the other provisioning services, and we also found the potential of regulating and cultural services...... to form synergies. We identified six distinct ecosystem service bundle types, indicating multiple interactions at a landscape level. The bundle types showed specialized areas of agricultural production, high provision of cultural services at the coasts, multifunctional mixed-use bundle types around urban...
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Vujicic, Marko; Buchmueller, Thomas; Klein, Rachel
2016-12-01
The Affordable Care Act is improving access to and the affordability of a wide range of health care services. While dental care for children is part of the law's essential health benefits and state Medicaid programs must cover it, coverage of dental care for adults is not guaranteed. As a result, even with the recent health insurance expansion, many Americans face financial barriers to receiving dental care that lead to unmet oral health needs. Using data from the 2014 National Health Interview Survey, we analyzed financial barriers to a wide range of health care services. We found that irrespective of age, income level, and type of insurance, more people reported financial barriers to receiving dental care, compared to any other type of health care. We discuss policy options to address financial barriers to dental care, particularly for adults. Project HOPE—The People-to-People Health Foundation, Inc.
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LENUS (Irish Health Repository)
Lavelle, C
2017-06-01
Psychological distress is common in patients with cancer and psychological well-being is increasingly seen as an important component of cancer care. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between cancer type and subjective distress. The following data were collected from a database of consecutive psycho-oncology referrals to the Liaison Psychiatry service in Cork University Hospital from 2006 to 2015: demographics, cancer diagnosis, Distress Thermometer (DT) score. 2102 out of 2384 referrals were assessed. Of those assessed, the most common cancer diagnoses were breast (23%, n=486) followed by haematological (21%, n=445). There were significant difference in DT score between the different cancer types, (χ2(13)=33.685, p=0.001, Kruskal–Wallis test). When adjusted for age, gender and whether or not the cancer was recently diagnosed, there was no significant association between cancer type and psychological distress. In conclusion, cancer type is not associated with level of distress in cancer.
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Ozcan S
2013-06-01
Full Text Available Seyda Ozcan,1–3 Helen Rogers,3 Pratik Choudhary,3 Stephanie A Amiel,3 Alison Cox,3 Angus Forbes2,3 1Department of Medical Nursing, Florence Nightingale Nursing Faculty, Istanbul University, Istanbul, Turkey; 2Department of Primary and Intermediate Care, Florence Nightingale School of Nursing and Midwifery, King’s College London, London, United Kingdom; 3Department of Diabetes, King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, London, United Kingdom Context: Providing effective support for patients in using insulin effectively is essential for good diabetes care. For that support to be effective it must reflect and attend to the needs of patients. Purpose: To explore the perspectives of adult type 1 diabetes patients on their current diabetes care in order to generate ideas for creating a new patient centered intensive insulin clinic. Methods: A multi-method approach was used, comprising: an observational exercise of current clinical care; three focus groups (n = 17; and a survey of service users (n = 419 to test the ideas generated from the observational exercise and focus groups (rating 1 to 5 in terms of importance. The ideas generated by the multi-method approach were organized thematically and mapped onto the Chronic Care Model (CCM. Results: The themes and preferences for service redesign in relation to CCM components were: health care organization, there was an interest in having enhanced systems for sharing clinical information; self-management support, patients would like more flexible and easy to access resources and more help with diabetes technology and psychosocial support; delivery system design and clinical information systems, the need for greater integration of care and better use of clinic time; productive relationships, participants would like more continuity; access to health professionals, patient involvement and care planning. The findings from the patient survey indicate high preferences for most of the areas for service
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[Health services' utilization patterns in Catalonia, Spain].
Medina, Carmen; Salvador, Xavier; Faixedas, M Teresa; Gallo, Pedro
2011-12-01
The purpose of this article is disclose services utilization patterns among the Catalan population with particular emphasis on primary care, specialised care, hospital care and emergency care. A number of logistic regression models were used to explain the utilization of the various types of services. Variables in the analysis included self-perceived need, lifestyles, and sociodemographic variables. Separate analyses were performed for male, female, adults, and children as well as for the general population. Women use all types of services more often than men. Children and people over 64 are more frequent users of primary care. Primary care is also associated to lower socioeconomic conditions. Young adults and the migrant population in general are found to be under users of services, except of emergency care services. The use of specialised care is associated to the better-off, to those with university level education attainment, individual private insurance, and those living in the city of Barcelona. Hospital care is largely associated to need variables. The use of health services is explained by self-perceived need as well as by demographic, socioeconomic and geographical factors. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier España S.L. All rights reserved.
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細木, 宏和; ホソキ, ヒロカズ; Hirokazu, HOSOKI
2011-01-01
This paper examines a tax jurisdiction issue of the consumption tax system with regard to Japanese service trading. The Destination principle for service trading has not been established in Japanese consumption tax, but taxation at the place of consumption is gradually being adopted for value-added taxes in the EU. Under these circumstances, it is necessary for us to revise the Japanese consumption tax system in favor of taxation at the place of consumption, using EU-type value-added tax syst...
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Basow, Susan A; Thompson, Janelle
2012-05-01
In this online vignette study, a national sample of domestic violence shelter service providers (N = 282) completed a 10-item questionnaire about a woman experiencing intimate partner violence (IPV). Scenarios varied in terms of couple sexual orientation (heterosexual or lesbian) and type of abuse (physical or nonphysical). Results indicate that although participants did not overtly discriminate against a woman in a lesbian relationship, they were less likely to perceive her as a victim, and their acceptance of a lesbian as a client was more dependent on their comfort with her than was the case for a woman in a heterosexual relationship. Type of abuse, as expected, had a main effect on many questions, with physical abuse taken more seriously than nonphysical abuse. Scores on the Attitudes Toward Lesbians subscale (Herek) were unrelated to responses. Implications for service providers are discussed.
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International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Oblozinsky, P.; Schwerer, O.
1998-09-01
The IAEA Nuclear Data Section provides convenient, cost-free access to the world's most comprehensive collection of numerical nuclear physics data. These nuclear data libraries result from a worldwide cooperation of nuclear data centres coordinated by the IAEA. An introduction is given to the various nuclear data types and libraries with particular emphasis to online services via the Internet. This paper summarizes a presentation for the IAEA Workshop on ''Nuclear Reaction Data and Nuclear Reactors: Physics, Design and Safety'' held at ICTP Trieste, Italy, 23 February - 17 March 1998. (author)
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Management and Oversight of Services Acquisition Within the United States Air Force
2008-12-01
Air Mobility Command AFDW Air Force District of Washington AFSPC Air Force Space Command AT&L Acquisition Technologies and Logistics CPM ...were commonly performed in industry. The types of services included advertising for Navy recruitment, custodial services on Air Force bases, and on
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Patterns of service use in two types of managed behavioral health care plans.
Merrick, Elizabeth L; Hodgkin, Dominic; Hiatt, Deirdre; Horgan, Constance M; Azzone, Vanessa; McCann, Bernard; Ritter, Grant; Zolotusky, Galima; McGuire, Thomas G; Reif, Sharon
2010-01-01
The study examined service use patterns by level of care in two managed care plans offered by a national managed behavioral health care organization (MBHO): an employee assistance program (EAP) combined with a standard behavioral health plan (integrated plan) and a standard behavioral health plan. The cross-sectional analysis used 2004 administrative data from the MBHO. Utilization of 11 specific service categories was compared. The weighted sample reflected exact matching on sociodemographic characteristics (unweighted N=710,014; weighted N=286,750). A larger proportion of enrollees in the integrated plan than in the standard plan used outpatient mental health and substance abuse office visits (including EAP visits) (p<.01) and substance abuse intensive outpatient or day treatment (p<.05), and the proportion using residential substance abuse rehabilitation was lower (p<.05). The integrated and standard products had distinct utilization patterns in this large MBHO. In particular, greater use of certain outpatient services was observed in the integrated plan.
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Young, Deidra; Bebbington, Ami; de Klerk, Nick; Bower, Carol; Nagarajan, Lakshmi; Leonard, Helen
2011-01-01
This study aimed to investigate the trajectories over time of health status and health service use in Rett syndrome by mutation type. Data were obtained from questionnaires administered over 6 years to 256 participants from the Australian Rett Syndrome Database. Health status (episodes of illness and medication load) and health service use…
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Hydraulic testing of Type Q septifoils including modifications
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Steimke, J.L.; Fowley, M.D.; Guerrero, H.N.
1992-09-01
On May 25, 1992 a leak of moderator was detected as K Reactor was approaching initial criticality. The partial length control rods were being withdrawn when the leak detectors in the Process Room alarmed. The apparent location of the moderator leak was the top of the guide tubes which are positioned over the new Type Q septifoils. The reactor was shut down immediately. In response, a testing program was begun at the Heat Transfer Laboratory (HTL). The goals of the program were to determine the cause of the septifoil leak and to test methods for preventing future leaks. These tests are described in this report
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2010-10-01
... facilities may be included in an eligible rural water supply project? 404.9 Section 404.9 Public Lands... RURAL WATER SUPPLY PROGRAM Overview § 404.9 What types of infrastructure and facilities may be included in an eligible rural water supply project? A rural water supply project may include, but is not...
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Okkyung Choi
2014-01-01
Full Text Available With smartphone distribution becoming common and robotic applications on the rise, social tagging services for various applications including robotic domains have advanced significantly. Though social tagging plays an important role when users are finding the exact information through web search, reliability and semantic relation between web contents and tags are not considered. Spams are making ill use of this aspect and put irrelevant tags deliberately on contents and induce users to advertise contents when they click items of search results. Therefore, this study proposes a detection method for tag-ranking manipulation to solve the problem of the existing methods which cannot guarantee the reliability of tagging. Similarity is measured for ranking the grade of registered tag on the contents, and weighted values of each tag are measured by means of synonym relevance, frequency, and semantic distances between tags. Lastly, experimental evaluation results are provided and its efficiency and accuracy are verified through them.
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Choi, Okkyung; Jung, Hanyoung; Moon, Seungbin
2014-01-01
With smartphone distribution becoming common and robotic applications on the rise, social tagging services for various applications including robotic domains have advanced significantly. Though social tagging plays an important role when users are finding the exact information through web search, reliability and semantic relation between web contents and tags are not considered. Spams are making ill use of this aspect and put irrelevant tags deliberately on contents and induce users to advertise contents when they click items of search results. Therefore, this study proposes a detection method for tag-ranking manipulation to solve the problem of the existing methods which cannot guarantee the reliability of tagging. Similarity is measured for ranking the grade of registered tag on the contents, and weighted values of each tag are measured by means of synonym relevance, frequency, and semantic distances between tags. Lastly, experimental evaluation results are provided and its efficiency and accuracy are verified through them.
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Services of strategic consulting: special features and types
Klenin Oleh Volodymyrovych
2016-01-01
In the article essence of terms “consulting” and “strategic consulting” was studied. It was proved that strategic consulting must be analyzed as professional activity in the system of enterprise strategic management. Specific features of consultative services and its composition was added from the point of view of strategic management and innovative development were studied. In the process of providing consulting services it was suggested to take into account the strategic orientation of huma...
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[Vacuum-assisted therapy for various wound types including diabetic foot ulcer].
Farah, Raymond; Gantus, Maher; Kogan, Leonid
2011-03-01
Vacuum is a noninvasive system that creates a localized controlled negative pressure environment. In this study, vacuum was provided by the V.A.C. Therapy system, which promotes wound healing by delayed primary or secondary intention through creating a moist wound environment, preparing the wound bed for closure, reducing edema, and promoting formation and perfusion of granulation tissue. Vacuum-assisted closure therapy is indicated for use in all care settings and for a variety of wound types including diabetic foot ulcers. The purpose of this study was to evaluate safety and clinical efficacy of negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) compared with advanced moist wound therapy and standard treatment to treat foot ulcers in diabetic patients. This trial enrolled 43 patients; most of them were diabetic patients at any age with various skin ulcers and diabetic foot. These patients were divided into two groups, 17 patients were treated with vacuum and the 26 patients in the control group were treated with standard therapy including debridement. A greater proportion of foot and skin ulcers achieved complete ulcer closure with vacuum-assisted therapy p<0.001 compared with the standard therapy. Vacuum therapy significantly decreased the duration and frequency of admission p=0.032 and decreased the rate of amputation p<0.001. Results of our trial support other studies and demonstrate that vacuum is as safe as and more efficacious than standard therapy in the treatment of diabetic foot ulcers. A significantly greater number of patients achieved complete ulcer closure and granulation tissue formation with this therapy. The study group showed a significant reduction in the median time needed to heal ulcers, reduction of the number of admissions and amputation frequency.
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Siddique, Md Kaoser Bin; Islam, Sheikh Mohammed Shariful; Banik, Palash Chandra; Rawal, Lal B
2017-08-22
Diabetes is a significant global public health concern. Poor knowledge of disease and healthcare utilization is associated with worse health outcomes, leading to increasing burden of diabetes in many developing countries. This study aimed to determine diabetes related knowledge and factors affecting utilization of healthcare services among patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus in Bangladesh. This analytical study was conducted among 318 patients with type 2 diabetes (T2DM) attending two large tertiary hospitals in Dhaka, Bangladesh between August 2014 and January 2015. Interviewer assisted semi-structured survey questionnaire was used to collect data on diabetes knowledge (measured by a validated Likert scale) and self-reported utilization of service for diabetes. Univariate and bivariate analyses were conducted to determine the factors associated with diabetes knowledge and healthcare utilization. The mean (±SD) age of participants was 52 (±10) years. Majority of the participants were females (58%) and urban residents (74%). Almost two-third (66%) of the participants had an average level of knowledge of T2DM. One-fifth (21%) of the participants had poor knowledge which was significantly associated with gender (P knowledge of diabetes which might affect the utilization of healthcare services for diabetes management. Innovations in increasing diabetes knowledge and health behavior change are recommended specially for females, those with lower education and less income.
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Low-Value Service Use in Provider Organizations.
Schwartz, Aaron L; Zaslavsky, Alan M; Landon, Bruce E; Chernew, Michael E; McWilliams, J Michael
2018-02-01
To assess whether provider organizations exhibit distinct profiles of low-value service provision. 2007-2011 Medicare fee-for-service claims and enrollment data. Use of 31 services that provide minimal clinical benefit was measured for 4,039,733 beneficiaries served by 3,137 provider organizations. Variation across organizations, persistence within organizations over time, and correlations in use of different types of low-value services within organizations were estimated via multilevel modeling, with adjustment for beneficiary sociodemographic and clinical characteristics. Organizations provided 45.6 low-value services per 100 beneficiaries on average, with considerable variation across organizations (90th/10th percentile ratio, 1.78; 95 percent CI, 1.72-1.84), including substantial between-organization variation within hospital referral regions (90th/10th percentile ratio, 1.66; 95 percent CI, 1.60-1.71). Low-value service use within organizations was highly correlated over time (r, 0.98; 95 percent CI, 0.97-0.99) and positively correlated between 13 of 15 pairs of service categories (average r, 0.26; 95 percent CI, 0.24-0.28), with the greatest correlation between low-value imaging and low-value cardiovascular testing and procedures (r, 0.54). Use of low-value services in provider organizations exhibited substantial variation, high persistence, and modest consistency across service types. These findings are consistent with organizations shaping the practice patterns of affiliated physicians. © Health Research and Educational Trust.
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Lingqiao Kong
2018-03-01
Full Text Available The tradeoffs and synergies of ecosystem services are widely discussed and recognized. However, explicit information for understanding and managing the complex relationships of multiple ecosystem services at regional scales is still lacking, which often leads to the degradation of important ecosystem services due to one ecosystem service being enhanced over another. We assessed the biodiversity and the production of nine ESs (ecosystem services across 779 counties in the Yangtze River Basin, the largest basin in China. Then, we mapped the distribution of ES for each county and used correlations and “partitioning around medoids” clustering analysis to assess the existence of ES bundles. We found five distinct types of bundles of ecosystem services spatially agglomerated in the landscape, which could be mainly explained by land use, slope and altitude gradients. Our results also show landscape-scale tradeoffs between provisioning and almost all regulating services (and biodiversity, and synergies among almost all regulating services (and biodiversity. Mapping ecosystem service bundles can identify areas in a landscape where ecosystem management has produced exceptionally desirable or undesirable sets of ecosystem services, and can also provide explicit, tailored information on landscape planning for ecosystem service conservation and the design of payment policies for ecosystem services within diverse landscapes at watershed scales.
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AN ASSESSMENT OF THE SERVICE HISTORY AND CORROSION SUSCEPTIBILITY OF TYPE IV WASTE TANKS
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Wiersma, B
2008-01-01
Type IV waste tanks were designed and built to store waste that does not require auxiliary cooling. Each Type IV tank is a single-shell tank constructed of a steel-lined pre-stressed concrete tank in the form of a vertical cylinder with a concrete domed roof. There are four such tanks in F-area, Tanks 17-20F, and four in H-Area, Tanks 21-24H. Leak sites were discovered in the liners for Tanks 19 and 20F in the 1980's. Although these leaks were visually observed, the investigation to determine the mechanism by which the leaks had occurred was not completed at that time. Therefore, a concern was raised that the same mechanism which caused the leak sites in the Tanks in F-area may also be operable in the H-Area tanks. Data from the construction of the tanks (i.e., certified mill test reports for the steel, no stress-relief), the service history (i.e., waste sample data, temperature data), laboratory tests on actual wastes and simulants (i.e., electrochemical testing), and the results of the visual inspections were reviewed. The following observations and conclusions were made: (1) Comparison of the compositional and microstructural features indicate that the A212 material utilized for construction of the H-Area tanks are far more resistant to SCC than the A285 materials used for construction of the F-Area tanks. (2) A review of the materials of construction, temperature history, service histories concluded that F-Area tanks likely failed by caustic stress corrosion cracking. (3) The environment in the F-Area tanks was more aggressive than that experienced by the H-Area tanks. (4) Based on a review of the service history, the H-Area tanks have not been exposed to an environment that would render the tanks susceptible to either nitrate stress corrosion cracking (i.e., the cause of failures in the Type I and II tanks) or caustic stress corrosion cracking. (5) Due to the very dilute and uninhibited solutions that have been stored in Tank 23H, vapor space corrosion has
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A service brokering and recommendation mechanism for better selecting cloud services.
Gui, Zhipeng; Yang, Chaowei; Xia, Jizhe; Huang, Qunying; Liu, Kai; Li, Zhenlong; Yu, Manzhu; Sun, Min; Zhou, Nanyin; Jin, Baoxuan
2014-01-01
Cloud computing is becoming the new generation computing infrastructure, and many cloud vendors provide different types of cloud services. How to choose the best cloud services for specific applications is very challenging. Addressing this challenge requires balancing multiple factors, such as business demands, technologies, policies and preferences in addition to the computing requirements. This paper recommends a mechanism for selecting the best public cloud service at the levels of Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) and Platform as a Service (PaaS). A systematic framework and associated workflow include cloud service filtration, solution generation, evaluation, and selection of public cloud services. Specifically, we propose the following: a hierarchical information model for integrating heterogeneous cloud information from different providers and a corresponding cloud information collecting mechanism; a cloud service classification model for categorizing and filtering cloud services and an application requirement schema for providing rules for creating application-specific configuration solutions; and a preference-aware solution evaluation mode for evaluating and recommending solutions according to the preferences of application providers. To test the proposed framework and methodologies, a cloud service advisory tool prototype was developed after which relevant experiments were conducted. The results show that the proposed system collects/updates/records the cloud information from multiple mainstream public cloud services in real-time, generates feasible cloud configuration solutions according to user specifications and acceptable cost predication, assesses solutions from multiple aspects (e.g., computing capability, potential cost and Service Level Agreement, SLA) and offers rational recommendations based on user preferences and practical cloud provisioning; and visually presents and compares solutions through an interactive web Graphical User Interface (GUI).
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A Service Brokering and Recommendation Mechanism for Better Selecting Cloud Services
Gui, Zhipeng; Yang, Chaowei; Xia, Jizhe; Huang, Qunying; Liu, Kai; Li, Zhenlong; Yu, Manzhu; Sun, Min; Zhou, Nanyin; Jin, Baoxuan
2014-01-01
Cloud computing is becoming the new generation computing infrastructure, and many cloud vendors provide different types of cloud services. How to choose the best cloud services for specific applications is very challenging. Addressing this challenge requires balancing multiple factors, such as business demands, technologies, policies and preferences in addition to the computing requirements. This paper recommends a mechanism for selecting the best public cloud service at the levels of Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) and Platform as a Service (PaaS). A systematic framework and associated workflow include cloud service filtration, solution generation, evaluation, and selection of public cloud services. Specifically, we propose the following: a hierarchical information model for integrating heterogeneous cloud information from different providers and a corresponding cloud information collecting mechanism; a cloud service classification model for categorizing and filtering cloud services and an application requirement schema for providing rules for creating application-specific configuration solutions; and a preference-aware solution evaluation mode for evaluating and recommending solutions according to the preferences of application providers. To test the proposed framework and methodologies, a cloud service advisory tool prototype was developed after which relevant experiments were conducted. The results show that the proposed system collects/updates/records the cloud information from multiple mainstream public cloud services in real-time, generates feasible cloud configuration solutions according to user specifications and acceptable cost predication, assesses solutions from multiple aspects (e.g., computing capability, potential cost and Service Level Agreement, SLA) and offers rational recommendations based on user preferences and practical cloud provisioning; and visually presents and compares solutions through an interactive web Graphical User Interface (GUI
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Newins, Amie R; Wilson, Sarah M; Hopkins, Tiffany A; Straits-Troster, Kristy; Kudler, Harold; Calhoun, Patrick S
2018-02-08
The study investigated barriers to the utilization of Veterans Affairs (VA) health care services among female veterans who served in served in Iraq and Afghanistan, including reasons for not choosing VA health care, reasons for not seeking mental health treatment, and types of desired VA services. Female respondents to a survey assessing Operation Enduring Freedom/Operation Iraqi Freedom veterans' needs and health (N = 186) completed measures of military history, posttraumatic stress disorder, depression, barriers to VA health care, and preferences for services. Barriers to use of VA health care endorsed by female veterans included receiving care elsewhere and logistical issues. Barriers to utilization of mental health services among female veterans who screened positive for depression or posttraumatic stress disorder included negative treatment biases and concerns about stigma, privacy, and cost. Female veterans endorsed preferences for services related to eligibility education, nonprimary care physical health services, vocational assistance, and a few behavioral/mental health services. Findings highlight the need for ongoing outreach and education regarding eligibility and types of resources for physical and mental health problems experienced by female veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as inform types of VA programming and services desired by female veterans. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).
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Health care demand elasticities by type of service.
Ellis, Randall P; Martins, Bruno; Zhu, Wenjia
2017-09-01
We estimate within-year price elasticities of demand for detailed health care services using an instrumental variable strategy, in which individual monthly cost shares are instrumented by employer-year-plan-month average cost shares. A specification using backward myopic prices gives more plausible and stable results than using forward myopic prices. Using 171 million person-months spanning 73 employers from 2008 to 2014, we estimate that the overall demand elasticity by backward myopic consumers is -0.44, with higher elasticities of demand for pharmaceuticals (-0.44), specialists visits (-0.32), MRIs (-0.29) and mental health/substance abuse (-0.26), and lower elasticities for prevention visits (-0.02) and emergency rooms (-0.04). Demand response is lower for children, in larger firms, among hourly waged employees, and for sicker people. Overall the method appears promising for estimating elasticities for highly disaggregated services although the approach does not work well on services that are very expensive or persistent. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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Nolan, Brodie; Tien, Homer; Sawadsky, Bruce; Rizoli, Sandro; McFarlan, Amanda; Phillips, Andrea; Ackery, Alun
2017-01-01
Helicopter emergency medical services (HEMS) have become an engrained component of trauma systems. In Ontario, transportation for trauma patients is through one of three ways: scene call, modified scene call, or interfacility transfer. We hypothesize that differences exist between these types of transports in both patient demographics and patient outcomes. This study compares the characteristics of patients transported by each of these methods to two level 1 trauma centers and assesses for any impact on morbidity or mortality. As a secondary outcome reasons for delay were identified. A local trauma registry was used to identify and abstract data for all patients transported to two trauma centers by HEMS over a 36-month period. Further chart abstraction using the HEMS patient care reports was done to identify causes of delay during HEMS transport. During the study period HEMS transferred a total of 911 patients of which 139 were scene calls, 333 were modified scene calls and 439 were interfacility transfers. Scene calls had more patients with an ISS of less than 15 and had more patients discharged home from the ED. Modified scene calls had more patients with an ISS greater than 25. The most common delays that were considered modifiable included the sending physician doing a procedure, waiting to meet a land EMS crew, delays for diagnostic imaging and confirming disposition or destination. Differences exist between the types of transports done by HEMS for trauma patients. Many identified reasons for delay to HEMS transport are modifiable and have practical solutions. Future research should focus on solutions to identified delays to HEMS transport. Key words: helicopter emergency medical services; trauma; prehospital care; delays.
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2010-01-20
... NSTAR, Austin, Texas. The notice was published in the Federal Register on November 17, 2009 (74 FR 59253... Resources, SQA Services and NSTAR, Austin, TX; Amended Certification Regarding Eligibility To Apply for..., Proactive Business Solution, Inc., Technical Resources, SQA Services, and NSTAR, Austin, Texas, who became...
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Influence of TQM Practices and Service Innovation Types on Performances of the IT Romanian Companies
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Mateescu Mihaela
2017-01-01
Full Text Available This paper presents a mathematical model intended to investigate the influence of TQM andservice innovation types on service companies performance. The company performance is regardedas the model output and is built out of the financial performance and the non-financialperformance. The two performances are generating competitive advantage. The estimated non–financial performances are represented by the quality performance and the innovativeperformance. The data used to build the model were taken from the IT Romanian companies.
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Microwave Cooking Practices in Minnesota Food Service Establishments.
Hedeen, Nicole; Reimann, David; Everstine, Karen
2016-03-01
Uneven cooking due to consumer use of microwave ovens to cook food products that have been prepared but are not ready to eat has been a documented risk factor in several foodborne disease outbreaks. However, the use of microwave ovens in restaurants and other food service establishments has not been well documented. The aim of this study was to describe the types of food service establishments that use microwave ovens, how these ovens are used, types of foods heated or cooked in these ovens, types of microwave ovens used in food service establishments, and the level of compliance with U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) guidelines. From 2008 to 2009, the Minnesota Department of Health collected data from a convenience sample of 60 food establishments within the state. Facility types included fast-food restaurants, sit-down restaurants, school food service, nursing homes, hotels and motels, and daycare centers. Food preparation practices were classified as prep-serve, cookserve, or complex. Minnesota environmental health specialists administered a study questionnaire to managers during routine inspections. Establishments included in this study reported using microwave ovens primarily to warm commercial ready-to-eat products (67%) and to warm foods for palatability (50%). No minimum temperatures are required for these processes because these foods do not require pathogen destruction. However, food establishments using complex preparation practices more often reported using microwave ovens for multiple processes and for processes that require pathogen destruction. For establishments that did report microwave oven use for food requiring pathogen destruction, the majority of managers reported following most FDA recommendations for cooking and reheating for hot-holding potentially hazardous foods, but many did not report letting food stand for 2 min after cooking. Additional training on stand time after microwave cooking could be beneficial because of low reporting
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Efficient Bandwidth Allocation for Integrated Services in Broadband Wireless ATM Networks
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Liu, Hong; Dittmann, Lars; Gliese, Ulrik Bo
1999-01-01
An efficient bandwidth allocation scheme is proposed for supporting intergrated services in wireless ATM networks. These include CBR, VBR amd ABR types of traffic. The proposed scheme is based om A-PRMA for carrying ATM traffic in a dynamic TDMA type access system. It allows mobile users to adjust...
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Seo, G.; DeAngelis, D.L.
2011-01-01
The most widely used functional response in describing predator-prey relationships is the Holling type II functional response, where per capita predation is a smooth, increasing, and saturating function of prey density. Beddington and DeAngelis modified the Holling type II response to include interference of predators that increases with predator density. Here we introduce a predator-interference term into a Holling type I functional response. We explain the ecological rationale for the response and note that the phase plane configuration of the predator and prey isoclines differs greatly from that of the Beddington-DeAngelis response; for example, in having three possible interior equilibria rather than one. In fact, this new functional response seems to be quite unique. We used analytical and numerical methods to show that the resulting system shows a much richer dynamical behavior than the Beddington-DeAngelis response, or other typically used functional responses. For example, cyclic-fold, saddle-fold, homoclinic saddle connection, and multiple crossing bifurcations can all occur. We then use a smooth approximation to the Holling type I functional response with predator mutual interference to show that these dynamical properties do not result from the lack of smoothness, but rather from subtle differences in the functional responses. ?? 2011 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.
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Unit type differences in RN workgroup job satisfaction.
Boyle, Diane K; Miller, Peggy A; Gajewski, Byron J; Hart, Sara E; Dunton, Nancy
2006-10-01
Using cross-sectional data from the 2004 National Database of Nursing Quality Indicators (NDNQI) RN Satisfaction Survey, differences in RN workgroup job satisfaction were examined among 10 unit types--medical-surgical, step-down, critical care, pediatric, maternal-newborn, psychiatric, emergency department, rehabilitation, surgical services, and outpatient clinics and labs. The national sample included RN workgroups in 2,900 patient care units (55,516 RNs; 206 hospitals in 44 states). Workgroup satisfaction across all unit types was moderate. RN workgroups in pediatric units were the most satisfied, whereas those in surgical services and emergency department unit types were least satisfied. A consistent finding across all unit types was high satisfaction with the specific domains of nurse-to-nurse interaction, professional status, and professional development versus much lower satisfaction with task, decision making, and pay. Findings can be used to inform and develop investigations that examine specific aspects of the work environment for RN workgroups in various unit types.
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A METHOD FOR IMPROVEMENT OF OBJECTIVITY OF E-SERVICE QUALITY EVALUATION
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Renata Mekovec
2007-12-01
Full Text Available Measurement and improvement of e-service quality is important for sustaining competitive advantage of an e-commerce web site. A number of e-service quality measures have recently been developed that predominantly rely on the subjective evaluation of diverse quality attributes. To increase the objectivity of e-service quality measurement a recently developed measure of e-service quality has been adapted in a way that replaces its Likert type scales for evaluation of specific attributes with check-lists that include specific observable elements for appraisal and a scoring procedure. The consistency of scoring with this adaptation of an e-service quality measure was investigated in comparison to the use of the standard measure with Likert type scales and by the use of untrained and trained evaluators. The results of the empirical evaluation indicate a greater inter-rater consistency when the adapted/objective measure is used for evaluation of the efficiency dimension of e-service quality.
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Van Vaerenbergh, Yves; De Keyser, Arne; Larivière, Bart
2014-01-01
Purpose – Many service providers feel confident about their service quality and thus offer service guarantees to their customers. Yet service failures are inevitable. As guarantees can only be invoked when customers report service failures, firms are given the opportunity to redress the original failure potentially influencing customer outcomes. The purpose of this paper is to provide the first empirical investigation of whether excellence in service recovery affects customers’ intentions to ...
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Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Buscarlet, C.; Filloux, A.
1998-12-31
This small booklet is the result of research studies carried out for the evaluation of solar water-heater performances, including service quality. Service quality is evaluated according to the capacity of production of `useful` hot water (hot water above a given temperature) and to the influence of the daily profile of drawing up on the performances of the water-heater. Procedures have been developed that allow to determine these indicators without the need of supplementary tests. A suggestion of information file for solar water-heaters without auxiliary heating is proposed which presents for each type of apparatus a synthetic information about its performances and service quality. (J.S.)
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International Digital Elevation Model Service (IDEMS): A Revived IAG Service
Kelly, K. M.; Hirt, C., , Dr; Kuhn, M.; Barzaghi, R.
2017-12-01
A newly developed International Digital Elevation Model Service (IDEMS) is now available under the umbrella of the International Gravity Field Service of the International Association of Geodesy. Hosted and operated by Environmental Systems Research Institute (Esri) (http://www.esri.com/), the new IDEMS website is available at: https://idems.maps.arcgis.com/home/index.html. IDEMS provides a focus for distribution of data and information about various digital elevation models, including spherical-harmonic models of Earth's global topography and lunar and planetary DEM. Related datasets, such as representation of inland water within DEMs, and relevant software which are available in the public domain are also provided. Currently, IDEMS serves as repository of links to providers of global terrain and bathymetry, terrain related Earth models and datasets such as digital elevation data services managed and maintained by Esri (Terrain and TopoBathy), Bedmap2-Ice thickness and subglacial topographic model of Antarctica and Ice, Cloud, and Land Elevation ICESat/GLAS Data, as well as planetary terrain data provided by PDS Geosciences Node at Washington University, St. Louis. These services provide online access to a collection of multi-resolution and multi-source elevation and bathymetry data, including metadata and source information. In addition to IDEMS current holdings of terrestrial and planetary DEMs, some topography related products IDEMS may include in future are: dynamic ocean topography, 3D crustal density models, Earth's dynamic topography, etc. IDEMS may also consider terrain related products such as quality assessments, global terrain corrections, global height anomaly-to-geoid height corrections and other geodesy-relevant studies and products. IDEMS encourages contributions to the site from the geodetic community in any of the product types listed above. Please contact the authors if you would like to contribute or recommend content you think appropriate for
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Building Service Provider Capabilities
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Brandl, Kristin; Jaura, Manya; Ørberg Jensen, Peter D.
2015-01-01
In this paper we study whether and how the interaction between clients and the service providers contributes to the development of capabilities in service provider firms. In situations where such a contribution occurs, we analyze how different types of activities in the production process...... process. We find that clients influence the development of human capital capabilities and management capabilities in reciprocally produced services. While in sequential produced services clients influence the development of organizational capital capabilities and management capital capabilities....... of the services, such as sequential or reciprocal task activities, influence the development of different types of capabilities. We study five cases of offshore-outsourced knowledge-intensive business services that are distinguished according to their reciprocal or sequential task activities in their production...
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Basow, Susan A.; Thompson, Janelle
2012-01-01
In this online vignette study, a national sample of domestic violence shelter service providers (N = 282) completed a 10-item questionnaire about a woman experiencing intimate partner violence (IPV). Scenarios varied in terms of couple sexual orientation (heterosexual or lesbian) and type of abuse (physical or nonphysical). Results indicate that…
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Service interoperability through advanced media gateways
van der Meer, S
2000-01-01
The convergence of telecommunications systems and the Internet causes a variety of concepts for service integration. The focus of the recent research studies and the work of several standardization bodies lies mostly on the interworking of services and the universal service access from end-user systems including both fixed and wireless terminals. All approaches are driven by the concept of providing several technologies to users by keeping the peculiarity of each service alive. But, developments should not only concentrate on media adaptation between VoIP and PSTN, but also consider the adaptation among completely different types of applications as for example E- mail, facsimile, or voice. Unified messaging, which is an already accepted service on the market, provides solutions for conversions of different application protocols into each other. The functionality of converting one medium into another is implemented here in so-called media gateways. This paper provides an overview of the current developments in...
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[Forest ecosystem service and its evaluation in China].
Fang, Jin; Lu, Shaowei; Yu, Xinxiao; Rao, Liangyi; Niu, Jianzhi; Xie, Yuanyuan; Zhag, Zhenming
2005-08-01
Facing the relative lag of forest ecosystem service and estimation in China, this paper proposed to quickly carry out the research on the evaluation of forest ecosystem service. On the basis of the classification of forest ecosystem types in China, the service of artificial and semi-artificial forest ecosystems was investigated, which was divided into eight types, i.e., timber and other products, recreation and eco-tourism, water storage, C fixation and O2 release, nutrient cycling, air quality purifying, erosion control, and habitat provision. According to the assessment index system for global ecosystem service proposed by Costanza et al., a series of assessment index system suitable for Chinese forest ecosystem service was set up, by which, the total value of forest ecosystem service in China was estimated to be 30 601.20 x 10(8) yuan x yr(-1), including direct and indirect economic value about 1 920.23 x 10(8) and 28 680.97 x 10(8) yuan x yr(-1), respectively. The indirect value was as 14.94 times as the direct one. The research aimed to bring natural resources and environment factors into the account system of national economy quickly, and to realize the green GDP at last, which would be helpful to realize sustainable development and environment protection.
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Jaeger, R.
2007-05-01
GNSS-positioning services like SAPOS/ascos in Germany and many others in Europe, America and worldwide, usually yield in a short time their interdisciplinary and country-wide use for precise geo-referencing, replacing traditional low order geodetic networks. So it becomes necessary that possible changes of the reference stations' coordinates are detected ad hoc. The GNSS-reference-station MONitoring by the KArlsruhe approach and software (MONIKA) are designed for that task. The developments at Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences in cooperation with the State Survey of Baden-Württemberg are further motivated by a the official resolution of the German state survey departments' association (Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Vermessungsverwaltungen Deutschland (AdV)) 2006 on coordinate monitoring as a quality-control duty of the GNSS-positioning service provider. The presented approach can - besides the coordinate control of GNSS-positioning services - also be used to set up any GNSS-service for the tasks of an area-wide geodynamical and natural disaster-prevention service. The mathematical model of approach, which enables a multivariate and multi-epochal design approach, is based on the GNSS-observations input of the RINEX-data of the GNSS service, followed by fully automatic processing of baselines and/or session, and a near-online setting up of epoch-state vectors and their covariance-matrices in a rigorous 3D network adjustment. In case of large scale and long-term monitoring situations, geodynamical standard trends (datum-drift, plate-movements etc.) are accordingly considered and included in the mathematical model of MONIKA. The coordinate-based deformation monitoring approach, as third step of the stepwise adjustments, is based on the above epoch-state vectors, and - splitting off geodynamics trends - hereby on a multivariate and multi-epochal congruency testing. So far, that no other information exists, all points are assumed as being stable and congruent reference
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Area health education centers and health science library services.
West, R T; Howard, F H
1977-07-01
A study to determine the impact that the Area Health Education Center type of programs may have on health science libraries was conducted by the Extramural Programs, National Library of Medicine, in conjunction with a contract awarded by the Bureau of Health Manpower, Health Resources Administration, to develop an inventory of the AHEC type of projects in the United States. Specific study tasks included a review of these programs as they relate to library and information activities, on-site surveys on the programs to define their needs for library services and information, and a categorization of library activities. A major finding was that health science libraries and information services are generally not included in AHEC program planning and development, although information and information exchange is a fundamental part of the AHEC type of programs. This study suggests that library inadequacies are basically the result of this planning failure and of a lack of financial resources; however, many other factors may be contributory. The design and value of library activities for these programs needs explication.
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Abdullah Baz
2016-01-01
The common aim of all our daily activities is providing services to others or ourselves. Services provided by the government are called public services while those provided by some people to some others are called private services. Both types differ from country to country and from region to region. In Saudi Arabia, public services include education, health, police, trading, and environmental services. It is the aim of all government agencies in Saudi Arabia and other countries around the wor...
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The Essentials of Proper Wine Service.
Manago, Gary H.
This instructional unit was designed to assist the food services instructor and/or the restaurant manager in training students and/or staff in the proper procedure for serving wines to guests. The lesson plans included in this unit focus on: (1) the different types of wine glasses and their uses; (2) the parts of a wine glass; (3) the proper…
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Multimedia services in intelligent environments recommendation services
Virvou, Maria; Jain, Lakhmi
2013-01-01
Multimedia services are now commonly used in various activities in the daily lives of humans. Related application areas include services that allow access to large depositories of information, digital libraries, e-learning and e-education, e-government and e-governance, e-commerce and e-auctions, e-entertainment, e-health and e-medicine, and e-legal services, as well as their mobile counterparts (i.e., m-services). Despite the tremendous growth of multimedia services over the recent years, there is an increasing demand for their further development. This demand is driven by the ever-increasing desire of society for easy accessibility to information in friendly, personalized and adaptive environments. In this book at hand, we examine recent Recommendation Services. Recommendation services appear in the mobile environment, medicine/biology, tourism, education, and so on. The book includes ten chapters, which present various recently developed recommendation services. This research book is directed to professors...
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Exercise-induced bronchospasm: coding and billing for physician services.
Pohlig, Carol
2009-01-01
Physician reporting of the service to insurance companies for reimbursement is multifaceted and perplexing to those who do not understand the factors to consider. Test selection should be individualized based on the patient's history and/or needs. Federal regulations concerning physician supervision of diagnostic tests mandate different levels of physician supervision based on the type and complexity of the test. Many factors play a key role in physician claim submission. These include testing location, component services, coding edits, and additional visits. Medical necessity of the service(s) must also be demonstrated for payer consideration and reimbursement. The following article reviews various tests for exercise-induced bronchospasm and focuses on issues to assist the physician in reporting the services accurately and appropriately.
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2013-08-21
... expands it to include Lake Charles, LA; consolidates and expands a VTS Special Area in Puget Sound, WA... requirements. The changes made by this rule will align regulations with the current operating procedures of the... compliance system and also expands the VTS Port Arthur area to include Lake Charles, LA. The Coast Guard...
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Use of fees to fund local public health services in Western Massachusetts.
Shila Waritu, A; Bulzacchelli, Maria T; Begay, Michael E
2015-01-01
Recent budget cuts have forced many local health departments (LHDs) to cut staff and services. Setting fees that cover the cost of service provision is one option for continuing to fund certain activities. To describe the use of fees by LHDs in Western Massachusetts and determine whether fees charged cover the cost of providing selected services. A cross-sectional descriptive analysis was used to identify the types of services for which fees are charged and the fee amounts charged. A comparative cost analysis was conducted to compare fees charged with estimated costs of service provision. Fifty-nine LHDs in Western Massachusetts. Number of towns charging fees for selected types of services; minimum, maximum, and mean fee amounts; estimated cost of service provision; number of towns experiencing a surplus or deficit for each service; and average size of deficits experienced. Enormous variation exists both in the types of services for which fees are charged and fee amounts charged. Fees set by most health departments did not cover the cost of service provision. Some fees were set as much as $600 below estimated costs. These results suggest that considerations other than costs of service provision factor into the setting of fees by LHDs in Western Massachusetts. Given their limited and often uncertain funding, LHDs could benefit from examining their fee schedules to ensure that the fee amounts charged cover the costs of providing the services. Cost estimates should include at least the health agent's wage and time spent performing inspections and completing paperwork, travel expenses, and cost of necessary materials.
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Segmenting, positioning and market targeting in service companies
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Kancir Rade
2004-01-01
Full Text Available Effective marketing management system in every company, including service companies, assumes existence of adequate information infrastructure which enables production of information relevant for making of different types of marketing decisions. Information based decisions are necessary in every phase of the management process, both on strategic and operative level.
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Service Learning and the Development of Social Responsibility.
Johnson, Scott D.; Bozeman, Marci
This essay presents the findings of a study employing a developmental approach to student acquisition of social responsibility. Professors at seven collegiate institutions of differing types who teach service-learning courses were asked if they would be willing to include their students in a study of social responsibility development through…
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Martins, Andréa Maria Eleutério de Barros Lima; Jardim, Lorena Amaral; Souza, João Gabriel Silva; Rodrigues, Carlos Alberto Quintão; Ferreira, Raquel Conceição; Pordeus, Isabela Almeida
2014-01-01
This study aimed at identifying the prevalence of the negative evaluation of dental services among elderly Brazilians and at investigating whether the prevalence was higher among those using public or philanthropic provider services than among those paying privately or using private health plans. Additionally, factors associated with this negative assessment were identified. Interview and survey data were collected in the residences of participants by trained and calibrated examiners as part of a national epidemiological survey of oral health conditions of the Brazilian population in 2002/2003. The dependent variable was obtained in response to questions regarding whether the participant had ever used dental services, the frequency of use, and the quality of this service. Potential responses to the questions regarding the quality of service were very poor or poor, fair, and good or very good. The main independent variable was the system of health care used with potential responses being health plan or private, public, and philanthropic services. We conducted univariate (linear tendency χ2 test) and multiple descriptive analyses, and the partial proportional Odds model for ordinal logistic regression. Among the elderly, 196 (3.7%) evaluated the provided services negatively (very poor or poor). Participants with the following responses were more likely to evaluate the services negatively: those who had used public or philanthropic services, men, those with higher education, the ones who had not received information about preventing dental problems, those who perceived pain in their teeth and gums in the last six months, and those who self-reported their oral health and speech was poor. In conclusion, elderly Brazilian users of public and philanthropic services were more likely than users of private or insurance-based plans to evaluate their dental services negatively, regardless of the other investigated variables.
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Noise in off-axis type holograms including reconstruction and CCD camera parameters
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Voelkl, Edgar, E-mail: edgar.voelkl@fei.com [FEI Company, 5350 NE Dawson Creek Drive, Hillsboro, OR 97124-5793 (United States)
2010-02-15
Phase and amplitude images as contained in digital holograms are commonly extracted via a process called 'reconstruction'. Expressions for the expected noise in these images have been given in the past by several authors; however, the effect of the actual reconstruction process has not been fully appreciated. By starting with the Quantum Mechanical intensity distribution of the off-axis type interference pattern, then building the digital hologram on an electron-by-electron base while simultaneously reconstructing the phase/amplitude images and evaluating their noise levels, an expression is derived that consistently describes the noise in simulated and experimental phase/amplitude images and contains the reconstruction parameters. Because of the necessity to discretize the intensity distribution function, the digitization effects of an ideal CCD camera had to be included. Subsequently, this allowed a comparison between real and simulated holograms which then led to a comparison between the performance of an 'ideal' CCD camera versus a real device. It was concluded that significant improvement of the phase and amplitude noise may be obtained if CCD cameras were optimized for digitizing intensity distributions at low sampling rates.
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Availability of school health services for young children.
Heneghan, A M; Malakoff, M E
1997-10-01
A survey to assess availability of school health services was distributed to 221 directors of Schools of the 21st Century, an educational model that provides integrated services to children and families. Of this distribution, 126 (57%) surveys were returned; 88% of respondents reported they provided some type of school health services for their students; 75% of schools had access to school nursing services, yet only 33% had a school nurse on-site; 50% had less than daily access to a school nurse. Despite a high reported prevalence of physical and mental health problems, other services such as acute care, nutrition counseling, dental screenings, or mental health services were provided less frequently. Barriers perceived as problematic for schools providing health services included inadequate funding, limited parental awareness, and opposition by school or community members. Respondents believed transportation, limited financial resources, and inadequate health insurance were barriers to care for children and families. Among this sample of schools, school health services varied in availability and comprehensiveness. Educators, health providers, and parents must work together to provide improved school health services for children.
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If this then that: an introduction to automated task services.
Hoy, Matthew B
2015-01-01
This article explores automated task services, a type of website that allows users to create rules that are triggered by activity on one website and perform a task on another site. The most well-known automated task service is If This Then That (IFTTT), but recently a large number of these services have sprung up. These services can be used to connect websites, apps, business services, and even devices such as phones and home automation equipment. This allows for millions of possible combinations of rules, triggers, and actions. Librarians can put these services to use in many ways, from automating social media postings to remembering to bring their umbrella when rain is in the forecast. A list of popular automated task services is included, as well as a number of ideas for using these services in libraries.
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Service experience with AISI type 316 steel components in CEGB Midlands Region power plant
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Plastow, B.; Bagnall, B.I.; Yeldham, D.E.
1979-01-01
The service performance of AISI Type 316 steel components in sections up to 100 mm thick in Power Plant of the Midlands Region of the C.E.G.B. is reviewed. A comparison is drawn between the satisfactory performance of components whose dimensional stability is not critical and the difficulties experienced when rapid rates of change of temperature cause distortion in thick section components. Weldment manufacture and performance are reviewed and both are considered to be satisfactory. In general the material has performed well and the difficulties due to distortion have been overcome by imposing operating regimes which limit rates of temperature change. (author)
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Anderson, Stephen C.; And Others
Module 2 of a seven module package for child protective service workers explores various types of parent aide programs for abused and neglected children and their families. Four training activities address models of parent aide programs, organization analysis, and selection of the appropriate program model. Included are directions for using the…
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17 CFR 248.6 - Information to be included in privacy notices.
2010-04-01
... examples to illustrate the types of third parties in each category: (i) Financial service providers; (ii) Non-financial companies; and (iii) Others. (4) Disclosures under exception for service providers and... (CONTINUED) REGULATIONS S-P AND S-AM Regulation S-P: Privacy of Consumer Financial Information and...
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Lee, Yee Ming; Kwon, Junehee; Park, Eunhye; Wang, Yujia; Rushing, Keith
2017-01-01
Purpose/Objectives: This study investigated the use of electronic and paper-based point-of-service (POS) systems in school nutrition programs (SNPs), including associated challenges and the desired skills and existing training practices for personnel handling such systems. Methods: A questionnaire was developed based on interviews with 25 SNP…
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A comparison of tools for modeling freshwater ecosystem services.
Vigerstol, Kari L; Aukema, Juliann E
2011-10-01
Interest in ecosystem services has grown tremendously among a wide range of sectors, including government agencies, NGO's and the business community. Ecosystem services entailing freshwater (e.g. flood control, the provision of hydropower, and water supply), as well as carbon storage and sequestration, have received the greatest attention in both scientific and on-the-ground applications. Given the newness of the field and the variety of tools for predicting water-based services, it is difficult to know which tools to use for different questions. There are two types of freshwater-related tools--traditional hydrologic tools and newer ecosystem services tools. Here we review two of the most prominent tools of each type and their possible applications. In particular, we compare the data requirements, ease of use, questions addressed, and interpretability of results among the models. We discuss the strengths, challenges and most appropriate applications of the different models. Traditional hydrological tools provide more detail whereas ecosystem services tools tend to be more accessible to non-experts and can provide a good general picture of these ecosystem services. We also suggest gaps in the modeling toolbox that would provide the greatest advances by improving existing tools. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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Karbach, U; Stamer, M; Holmberg, C; Güthlin, C; Patzelt, C; Meyer, T
2012-08-01
This is the second part of a 3-part discussion paper by the working group on "Qualitative Methods" in the German network of health services research (DNVF) that shall contribute to the development of a memorandum concerning qualitative health services research. It aims to depict the different types of qualitative research that are conducted in health services research in Germany. In addition, the authors present a specific set of qualitative data collection and analysis tools to demonstrate the potential of qualitative research for health services research. QUALITATIVE RESEARCH IN HEALTH SERVICES RESEARCH - AN OVERVIEW: To give an overview of the types of qualitative research conducted in German health services research, the abstracts of the 8th German Conference on Health Services Research were filtered to identify qualitative or mixed-methods studies. These were then analysed by looking at the context which was studied, who was studied, the aims of the studies, and what type of methods were used. Those methods that were mentioned most often for data collection and analysis are described in detail. QUALITATIVE RESEARCH AT THE CONFERENCE FOR HEALTH SERVICES RESEARCH 2009: Approximately a fifth of all abstracts (n=74) had a qualitative (n=47) or a mixed-methods approach combining quantitative and qualitative methods (n=27). Research aims included needs assessment (41%), survey development (36%), evaluation (22%), and theorizing (1%). Data collection mostly consisted of one-on-one interviews (n=45) and group discussions (n=29). Qualitative content analysis was named in 35 abstracts, 30 abstracts did not reference their method of analysis. In addition to a quantitative summary of the abstract findings, the diversity of fields addressed by qualitative methods is highlighted. Although drawing conclusions on the use of qualitative methods in German health services research from the analysis of conference abstracts is not possible, the overview we present demonstrates the
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Childhood bereavement services: a survey of UK provision.
Rolls, L; Payne, S
2003-07-01
The purpose of the study was to identify the location, range and type of childhood bereavement service provision in the UK. A questionnaire was mailed to 127 services who were either solely dedicated to childhood bereavement or who offered a service within the range of work of a host organization and for which there was a supporting organizational structure. Responses were received from 108 services (a response rate of 85%). The findings identified that 85% of childhood bereavement services are located in the voluntary sector; 14% are dedicated childhood bereavement services, while 86% are offered as part of a host organization. Forty-four per cent of host organizations are hospices. The majority of services (73%) relied on both paid and unpaid staff, with 11% relying entirely on paid staff and 14% of services relying entirely on unpaid staff. The interventions offered ranged from individual family work (86%), individual child work (62%), groupwork with families (53%) and groupwork with children (45%). In addition, services offered prebereavement support (64%), a 'drop-in' service (17%), information and advice (95%), training (32%) and the provision of resources (88%). As well as offering a service to children and their families, 74% of childhood bereavement services provided a service to 'secondary users', such as schools (66%), the emergency services (28%) and other professionals (63%). In terms of funding, 12% of services relied solely on external sources of funding, including donations, legacies, revenue from the host organization or grants, while 12% of services relied solely on internal sources of funding, including fundraising and training. The majority of services (73%), however, gained income from a range of sources. The study identifies the diversity of provision that has implications for the evaluation of childhood bereavement services.
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PRE-SERVICE MATHEMATICS TEACHERS’ CONCEPTION OF HIGHER-ORDER THINKING LEVEL IN BLOOM'S TAXONOMY
Damianus D Samo
2017-01-01
The purpose of this study is to explore pre-service mathematics teachers' conception of higher-order thinking in Bloom's Taxonomy, to explore pre-service mathematics teachers' ability in categorizing six cognitive levels of Bloom's Taxonomy as lower-order thinking and higher-order thinking, and pre-service mathematics teachers' ability in identifying some questionable items as lower-order and higher-order thinking. The higher-order thinking is the type of non-algorithm thinking which include ...
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Nahyun Kwon
2006-01-01
Full Text Available Introduction. This study investigated unmonitored referrals in a nationwide, collaborative chat reference service. Specifically, it examined the extent to which questions are referred, the types of questions that are more likely to be referred than others, and the level of user satisfaction with the referrals in the collaborative chat reference service. Method. The data analysed for this study were 420 chat reference transaction transcripts along with corresponding online survey questionnaires submitted by the service users. Both sets of data were collected from an electronic archive of a southeastern state public library system that has participated in 24/7 Reference of the Metropolitan Cooperative Library System (MCLS. Results. Referrals in the collaborative chat reference service comprised approximately 30% of the total transactions. Circulation-related questions were the most often referred among all question types, possibly because of the inability of 'outside' librarians to access patron accounts. Most importantly, user satisfaction with referrals was found to be significantly lower than that of completed answers. Conclusion. The findings of this study addressed the importance of distinguishing two types of referrals: the expert research referrals conducive to collaborative virtual reference services; and the re-directional local referrals that increase unnecessary question traffic, thereby being detrimental to effective use of collaborative reference. Continuing efforts to conceptualize referrals in multiple dimensions are anticipated to fully grasp complex phenomena underlying referrals.
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Health Physics and Medical Services report for 1986
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Burt, A.K.; Bird, R.W.
1987-09-01
A Health Physics and Medical Services report is presented for Harwell Laboratory for 1986. Health physics aspects covered include safety policy and organisation, monitoring results for the working environment and personnel, an analysis of radiological incidents and radioactive waste disposal, and protection of the public. Other non-radiological aspects of health and safety are briefly considered. The section on Medical Services contains details of the staffing, the types of medical examinations performed, the treatments received, work on the safety of asbestos and manmade mineral fibres and training and education programmes. (UK)
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Practice characteristics and service provision rates of dental hygienists in Australia.
Amarasena, N; Teusner, D N; Brennan, D S; Satur, J
2018-02-01
Dental hygienists (DHs) have been practising in Australia since the early 1970s. This study describes the clinical activity of Australian DHs. A questionnaire was mailed to members of two professional associations representing DHs. Practitioner characteristics, employment characteristics and clinical activity on a self-reported typical practice day were collected. The proportion of each service item of all services provided was estimated. Associations between practice characteristics and service provision were assessed by log-binomial regression models. Adjusted response rate was 60.6%. Of the DHs included in analysis (n=341), 80% were employed in general practice, and nearly all (96%) worked in the private sector. About half (53.7%) of all service provided were preventive services, and one-fourth (23.9%) were diagnostic. Service provision varied by practice and practitioner characteristics, with the largest variations observed by practice type. Unadjusted analysis showed that general practice DHs provided a higher mean number of periodontal instrumentation and coronal polishing (0.92 vs 0.26), fluoride applications (0.64 vs 0.08), oral examinations (0.51 vs 0.22) and intraoral radiographs (0.33 vs 0.07) per patient visit and a lower mean number of impressions (0.05 vs 0.17) and orthodontic services (0.02 vs 0.59) than specialist practice DHs. In adjusted analysis, rates of periodontal services also significantly varied by practice type; other associations persisted. Service provision of DHs varied by practice type. Practice activity was dominated by provision of preventive services while provision of periodontal treatments, fissure sealants and oral examinations was relatively limited indicating areas in which DHs are possibly underutilized. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
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Bridging the gap between legacy services and Web Services
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Bissyandé, Tegawendé; Réveillère, Laurent; Bromberg, Yérom-David
2010-01-01
itself. In this paper, we introduce a generative language based approach for constructing wrappers to facilitate the migration of legacy service functionalities to Web Services. To this end, we have designed the Janus domain-specific language, which provides developers with a high-level way to describe......Web Services is an increasingly used instantiation of Service-Oriented Architectures (SOA) that relies on standard Internet protocols to produce services that are highly interoperable. Other types of services, relying on legacy application layer protocols, however, cannot be composed directly....... A promising solution is to implement wrappers to translate between the application layer protocols and the WS protocol. Doing so manually, however, requires a high level of expertise, in the relevant application layer protocols, in low-level network and system programming, and in the Web Service paradigm...
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2010-04-01
... Engineering Division, Including B&C Distribution Center, Including On-Site Leased Workers From B&C Services... occurred during the relevant time period at the B&C Distribution Center, Inc. of the B&C Corporation, JR Engineering Division, Barberton, Ohio. The B&C Distribution Center provides distribution and logistical...
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Digioia, A.
2016-01-01
Type O Negative’s ‘Wolf Moon (including Zoanthropic Paranoia)’ seems to be a melodic ode to lascivious werewolves or to sexual intercourse during menstruation, which is transformative, allowing participation to channel animalistic instincts. Subject to more critical examination, ‘Wolf Moon (including Zoanthropic Paranoia)’ can also be presented as a contemporary incarnation of the ‘Little Red Riding Hood’ myth. Both contain the same themes: the stigmatization of eroticism, reclamation of agen...
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Navid Haghighat
2017-12-01
Full Text Available This paper focuses on evaluating airline service quality from the perspective of passengers' view. Until now a lot of researches has been performed in airline service quality evaluation in the world but a little research has been conducted in Iran, yet. In this study, a framework for measuring airline service quality in Iran is proposed. After reviewing airline service quality criteria, SSQAI model was selected because of its comprehensiveness in covering airline service quality dimensions. SSQAI questionnaire items were redesigned to adopt with Iranian airlines requirements and environmental circumstances in the Iran's economic and cultural context. This study includes fuzzy decision-making theory, considering the possible fuzzy subjective judgment of the evaluators during airline service quality evaluation. Fuzzy TOPSIS have been applied for ranking airlines service quality performances. Three major Iranian airlines which have the most passenger transfer volumes in domestic and foreign flights were chosen for evaluation in this research. Results demonstrated Mahan airline has got the best service quality performance rank in gaining passengers' satisfaction with delivery of high-quality services to its passengers, among the three major Iranian airlines. IranAir and Aseman airlines placed in the second and third rank, respectively, according to passenger's evaluation. Statistical analysis has been used in analyzing passenger responses. Due to the abnormality of data, Non-parametric tests were applied. To demonstrate airline ranks in every criterion separately, Friedman test was performed. Variance analysis and Tukey test were applied to study the influence of increasing in age and educational level of passengers on degree of their satisfaction from airline's service quality. Results showed that age has no significant relation to passenger satisfaction of airlines, however, increasing in educational level demonstrated a negative impact on
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Cassim, Naseem; Coetzee, Lindi M.; Schnippel, Kathryn; Glencross, Deborah K.
2014-01-01
Background An integrated tiered service delivery model (ITSDM) has been proposed to provide ‘full-coverage’ of CD4 services throughout South Africa. Five tiers are described, defined by testing volumes and number of referring health-facilities. These include: (1) Tier-1/decentralized point-of-care service (POC) in a single site; Tier-2/POC-hub servicing processing 600 samples/day and serving >100 or >200 health-clinics, respectively. The objective of this study was to establish costs of existing and ITSDM-tiers 1, 2 and 3 in a remote, under-serviced district in South Africa. Methods Historical health-facility workload volumes from the Pixley-ka-Seme district, and the total volumes of CD4 tests performed by the adjacent district referral CD4 laboratories, linked to locations of all referring clinics and related laboratory-to-result turn-around time (LTR-TAT) data, were extracted from the NHLS Corporate-Data-Warehouse for the period April-2012 to March-2013. Tiers were costed separately (as a cost-per-result) including equipment, staffing, reagents and test consumable costs. A one-way sensitivity analyses provided for changes in reagent price, test volumes and personnel time. Results The lowest cost-per-result was noted for the existing laboratory-based Tiers- 4 and 5 ($6.24 and $5.37 respectively), but with related increased LTR-TAT of >24–48 hours. Full service coverage with TAT cost-per-result of $32.32 and $15.88 respectively. A single district Tier-3 laboratory also ensured ‘full service coverage’ and Implementing a single Tier-3/community laboratory to extend and improve delivery of services in Pixley-ka-Seme, with an estimated local ∼12–24-hour LTR-TAT, is ∼$2 more than existing referred services per-test, but 2–4 fold cheaper than implementing eight Tier-2/POC-hubs or providing twenty-seven Tier-1/POCT CD4 services. PMID:25517412
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45 CFR 1308.11 - Eligibility criteria: Hearing impairment including deafness.
2010-10-01
... OF HUMAN DEVELOPMENT SERVICES, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES THE ADMINISTRATION FOR... impairment including deafness. (a) A child is classified as deaf if a hearing impairment exists which is so... hearing loss can include impaired listening skills, delayed language development, and articulation...
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International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Kim, Jin Hoi; Lee, Jeong Seok; Yun, Eun Sub
2014-01-01
The Pressurized water reactor owners group (PWROG) developed and applied a risk-informed in-service inspection (RI-ISI) program, as an alternative to the existing ASME Section XI sampling inspection method. The RI-ISI programs enhance overall safety by focusing inspections of piping at high safety significance (HSS) locations where failure mechanisms are likely to be present. Additionally, the RI-ISI program can reduce nondestructive evaluation (NDE) exams, man-rem exposure for inspectors, and inspection time, among other benefits. The RI-ISI method of in-service piping inspection was applied to 3 units (KSNPs: Korea standard nuclear power plants) and is being deployed to the other units. In this paper, the results of RI-ISI for a Framatome type (France CPI) nuclear power plant are presented. It was concluded that application of RI-ISI to the plant could enhance and maintain plant safety, as well as provide the benefits of greater reliability.
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Knoke, Thomas; Paul, Carola; Hildebrandt, Patrick; Calvas, Baltazar; Castro, Luz Maria; Härtl, Fabian; Döllerer, Martin; Hamer, Ute; Windhorst, David; Wiersma, Yolanda F.; Curatola Fernández, Giulia F.; Obermeier, Wolfgang A.; Adams, Julia; Breuer, Lutz; Mosandl, Reinhard; Beck, Erwin; Weber, Michael; Stimm, Bernd; Haber, Wolfgang; Fürst, Christine; Bendix, Jörg
2016-01-01
High landscape diversity is assumed to increase the number and level of ecosystem services. However, the interactions between ecosystem service provision, disturbance and landscape composition are poorly understood. Here we present a novel approach to include uncertainty in the optimization of land allocation for improving the provision of multiple ecosystem services. We refer to the rehabilitation of abandoned agricultural lands in Ecuador including two types of both afforestation and pasture rehabilitation, together with a succession option. Our results show that high compositional landscape diversity supports multiple ecosystem services (multifunction effect). This implicitly provides a buffer against uncertainty. Our work shows that active integration of uncertainty is only important when optimizing single or highly correlated ecosystem services and that the multifunction effect on landscape diversity is stronger than the uncertainty effect. This is an important insight to support a land-use planning based on ecosystem services. PMID:27292766
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Effect of including decay chains on predictions of equilibrium-type terrestrial food chain models
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Kirchner, G.
1990-01-01
Equilibrium-type food chain models are commonly used for assessing the radiological impact to man from environmental releases of radionuclides. Usually these do not take into account build-up of radioactive decay products during environmental transport. This may be a potential source of underprediction. For estimating consequences of this simplification, the equations of an internationally recognised terrestrial food chain model have been extended to include decay chains of variable length. Example calculations show that for releases from light water reactors as expected both during routine operation and in the case of severe accidents, the build-up of decay products during environmental transport is generally of minor importance. However, a considerable number of radionuclides of potential radiological significance have been identified which show marked contributions of decay products to calculated contamination of human food and resulting radiation dose rates. (author)
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Younghee Noh
2011-12-01
Full Text Available The purpose of this study is to improve library promotional marketing for the disabled by identifying requirements of public library disability services. This study aimed to investigate librarian service providers' awareness of library programs for the disabled in order to prepare a systematic plan for promoting such library services. Research methods used are a literature analysis and survey. First, the ratio of respondents with experience promoting activities and services for the disabled was less than 50%. Second, regarding methods for promoting library disability services, the respondents used library homepages, press releases, library user guides, library newsletters, and library pamphlets in that order. Third, when asked what kind of PR media the library disability service providers had experience with and how often they use it, library boards and banners were the most common response. Fourth, suggested improvements to the current design and content of PR materials included: clearer word choice (or greater understandability, more detailed descriptions, simpler layouts, and more interesting or eye-catching content in that order. Fifth, the library disability services which are in the most need of public relations were guide information for library disability services, Library and Information Service (DOI services and search services, using alternative materials and the library collection, and aiding the information search. Overall, when evaluating the promotion of disability services in Korea, the library's public relations for disabled services needs to improve because currently neither librarians nor the disabled community they are targeting has frequent or quality experience with it. Thus, the policy department for the library disability services must develop a variety of promotional strategies adjusted for each type of the disability and distribute PR materials to service providers individually, making sure to utilize effective PR
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Service Modeling for Service Engineering
Shimomura, Yoshiki; Tomiyama, Tetsuo
Intensification of service and knowledge contents within product life cycles is considered crucial for dematerialization, in particular, to design optimal product-service systems from the viewpoint of environmentally conscious design and manufacturing in advanced post industrial societies. In addition to the environmental limitations, we are facing social limitations which include limitations of markets to accept increasing numbers of mass-produced artifacts and such environmental and social limitations are restraining economic growth. To attack and remove these problems, we need to reconsider the current mass production paradigm and to make products have more added values largely from knowledge and service contents to compensate volume reduction under the concept of dematerialization. Namely, dematerialization of products needs to enrich service contents. However, service was mainly discussed within marketing and has been mostly neglected within traditional engineering. Therefore, we need new engineering methods to look at services, rather than just functions, called "Service Engineering." To establish service engineering, this paper proposes a modeling technique of service.
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Demand for Dental Services in Shiraz, Iran, 2013.
Jahromi, Negin Nassaji; Jafari, Abdosaleh; Kavosi, Zahra; Shokrpour, Nasrin; Sajjadnia, Zahra; Ravangard, Ramin
This cross-sectional and descriptive-analytic study aimed to estimate the demands for the use of dental services by Shirazi inhabitants in Iran from June 2013 to October 2013. Six hundred eighty subjects older than 18 years were selected from among the people living in Shiraz, using a multistage sampling method. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS 16.0 and Stata 11.0. The results showed that the factors affecting the number of referrals to the dental services centers and the use of these services included the age groups of 28 to 37 and 38 to 47 years, household expenses per month, and having supplementary health insurance coverage (P dental services and increase the probability of utilizing such services by people in need, the researchers recommend that the authorities should design and develop basic and supplementary health insurance plans to cover different types of dental services, allocate subsidies to dental health services, and increase the knowledge of all the people in different age groups about adherence to dental health principles and prevention of oral and dental diseases.
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Information Technology Research Services: Powerful Tools to Keep Up with a Rapidly Moving Field
Hunter, Paul
2010-01-01
Marty firms offer Information Technology Research reports, analyst calls, conferences, seminars, tools, leadership development, etc. These entities include Gartner, Forrester Research, IDC, The Burton Group, Society for Information Management, 1nfoTech Research, The Corporate Executive Board, and so on. This talk will cover how a number of such services are being used at the Goddard Space Flight Center to improve our IT management practices, workforce skills, approach to innovation, and service delivery. These tools and services are used across the workforce, from the executive leadership to the IT worker. The presentation will cover the types of services each vendor provides and their primary engagement model. The use of these services at other NASA Centers and Headquarters will be included. In addition, I will explain how two of these services are available now to the entire NASA IT workforce through enterprise-wide subscriptions.
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di, L.; Yue, P.; Yang, W.; Yu, G.
2006-12-01
Recent developments in geospatial semantic Web have shown promise for automatic discovery, access, and use of geospatial Web services to quickly and efficiently solve particular application problems. With the semantic Web technology, it is highly feasible to construct intelligent geospatial knowledge systems that can provide answers to many geospatial application questions. A key challenge in constructing such intelligent knowledge system is to automate the creation of a chain or process workflow that involves multiple services and highly diversified data and can generate the answer to a specific question of users. This presentation discusses an approach for automating composition of geospatial Web service chains by employing geospatial semantics described by geospatial ontologies. It shows how ontology-based geospatial semantics are used for enabling the automatic discovery, mediation, and chaining of geospatial Web services. OWL-S is used to represent the geospatial semantics of individual Web services and the type of the services it belongs to and the type of the data it can handle. The hierarchy and classification of service types are described in the service ontology. The hierarchy and classification of data types are presented in the data ontology. For answering users' geospatial questions, an Artificial Intelligent (AI) planning algorithm is used to construct the service chain by using the service and data logics expressed in the ontologies. The chain can be expressed as a graph with nodes representing services and connection weights representing degrees of semantic matching between nodes. The graph is a visual representation of logical geo-processing path for answering users' questions. The graph can be instantiated to a physical service workflow for execution to generate the answer to a user's question. A prototype system, which includes real world geospatial applications, is implemented to demonstrate the concept and approach.
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2010-09-29
... 25, 2010, applicable to workers of International Business Machines (IBM), Global Technology Services... hereby issued as follows: All workers of International Business Machines (IBM), Global Technology... DEPARTMENT OF LABOR Employment and Training Administration [TA-W-74,164] International Business...
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Triple Play Service and IPTV Services Offered within it
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Dagmar Pajdusakova
2008-01-01
Full Text Available This paper deals with Triple Play multimedia service and figures its architecture. Triple Play offers voice, video and data services together in one customer connection. There is offered IPTV (Internet Protocol Television service within this service, where we can include also Video on Demand service and other different additional services. In the paper is described classification of Video on Demand services.
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Involving mental health service users in quality assurance
Weinstein, Jenny
2006-01-01
Abstract Objective This study compares the process and outcomes of two approaches to engaging mental health (MH) service users in the quality assurance (QA) process. Background QA plays a significant role in health and care services, including those delivered in the voluntary sector. The importance of actively, rather than passively, involving service users in evaluation and service development has been increasingly recognized during the last decade. Design This retrospective small‐scale study uses document analysis to compare two QA reviews of a MH Day Centre, one that took place in 1998 as a traditional inspection‐type event and one that took place in 2000 as a collaborative process with a user‐led QA agenda. Setting and participants The project was undertaken with staff, volunteers and service users in a voluntary sector MH Day Centre. Intervention The study compares the management, style, evaluation tools and service user responses for the two reviews; it considers staff perspectives and discusses the implications of a collaborative, user‐led QA process for service development. Results The first traditional top–down inspection‐type QA event had less ownership from service users and staff and served the main purpose of demonstrating that services met organizational standards. The second review, undertaken collaboratively with a user‐led agenda focused on different priorities, evolving a new approach to seeking users’ views and achieving a higher response rate. Conclusions Because both users and staff had participated in most aspects of the second review they were more willing to work together and action plan to improve the service. It is suggested that the process contributed to an evolving ethos of more effective quality improvement and user involvement within the organization. PMID:16677189
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Chen, Ning; Zhao, Qi; Ardley, Barry
2015-01-01
In services marketing it is widely acknowledged that a relationship approach may facilitate in customer retention and enhance customer loyalty, and further influence customer post-purchase behaviours e.g. word-of-mouth. In this study, a specific relationship in service encounters, personal connections between customers and service employees, is explored in its indications on different outcomes from service encounters including three types of word-of-mouth behaviour intention and retention. Th...
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International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Tanimoto, K.; Ito, T.; Fujita, K.; Kurihara, C.; Sawada, Y.; Sakurai, A.
1988-01-01
The paper presents the seismic response of reactor vessel of pool type LMFBR with fluid-structure interaction. The reactor vessel has bottom support arrangement, the same core support system as Super-Phenix in France. Due to the bottom support arrangement, the level of core support is lower than that of the side support arrangement. So, in this reactor vessel, the displacement of the core top tends to increase because of the core's rocking. In this study, we investigated the vibration and seismic response characteristics of the reactor vessel. Therefore, the seismic experiments were carried out using one-eighth scale model and the seismic response including FSI and sloshing were investigated. From this study, the effect of liquid on the vibration characteristics and the seismic response characteristics of reactor vessel were clarified and sloshing characteristics were also clarified. It was confirmed that FEM analysis with FSI can reproduce the seismic behavior of the reactor vessel and is applicable to seismic design of the pool type LMFBR with bottom support arrangement. (author). 5 refs, 14 figs, 2 tabs
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Collaborative Service Arrangements
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
J. May, Peter; Winter, Søren
While much of prior research on collaboration addresses the service delivery network as a whole, we address collaborative relationships between one type of organization—municipal employment services—and a range of governmental and non-governmental partners for employment services in Denmark....... Municipalities differ in the type, degree, and character of collaboration with these partners. As others have found in prior research, we find that organizational benefits, trust, and a variety of contextual factors help shape the extent of collaboration. But, the relevance of these and problem-solving benefits...
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A meta-analysis of coastal wetland ecosystem services in Liaoning Province, China
Sun, Baodi; Cui, Lijuan; Li, Wei; Kang, Xiaoming; Pan, Xu; Lei, Yinru
2018-01-01
Wetlands are impacted by economic and political initiatives, and their ecosystem services are attracting increasing public attention. It is crucial that management decisions for wetland ecosystem services quantify the economic value of the ecosystem services. In this paper, we aimed to estimate a monetary value for coastal wetland ecosystem services in Liaoning Province, China. We selected 433 observations from 85 previous coastal wetland economic evaluations (mostly in China) including detailed spatial and economic characteristics in each wetland, then used a meta-analysis scale transfer method to calculate the total value of coastal wetland ecosystem services in Liaoning Province. Our results demonstrated that, on average, the ecosystem services provided by seven different coastal wetland types were worth US40,648 per ha per year, and the total value was 28,990,439,041 in 2013. Shallow marine waters accounted for the largest proportion (83.97%). Variables with a significant positive effect on the ecosystem service values included GDP per capita, population density, distance from the wetland to the city center and the year of evaluation, while wetland size and latitude had negative relationships.
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SIDECACHE: Information access, management and dissemination framework for web services.
Doderer, Mark S; Burkhardt, Cory; Robbins, Kay A
2011-06-14
Many bioinformatics algorithms and data sets are deployed using web services so that the results can be explored via the Internet and easily integrated into other tools and services. These services often include data from other sites that is accessed either dynamically or through file downloads. Developers of these services face several problems because of the dynamic nature of the information from the upstream services. Many publicly available repositories of bioinformatics data frequently update their information. When such an update occurs, the developers of the downstream service may also need to update. For file downloads, this process is typically performed manually followed by web service restart. Requests for information obtained by dynamic access of upstream sources is sometimes subject to rate restrictions. SideCache provides a framework for deploying web services that integrate information extracted from other databases and from web sources that are periodically updated. This situation occurs frequently in biotechnology where new information is being continuously generated and the latest information is important. SideCache provides several types of services including proxy access and rate control, local caching, and automatic web service updating. We have used the SideCache framework to automate the deployment and updating of a number of bioinformatics web services and tools that extract information from remote primary sources such as NCBI, NCIBI, and Ensembl. The SideCache framework also has been used to share research results through the use of a SideCache derived web service.
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In the Hands of Service Robots
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Peronard, Jean-Paul
the benefits of applying robots in professional service e.g. healthcare are extensive, the research into consumer motivation is limited. There is a need for a greater understanding of the individual differences in beliefs and perception in relation to service technology in general and in particular for service...... robots. Therefore, this article proposes a general typology of consumer attitudes and expectations towards service robots. Four types of values are identified and labelled critical, practical, affectionate, and desirable. Based on these values four consumer types are then theoretically develop and may...
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Service Innovation and Management Innovation: The Role of Service Tangibility
Alexiev, A.S.; Janssen, Matthijs; den Hertog, P.
2015-01-01
Although we have some knowledge about how different types of innovation can be combined together to improve firm performance, there is little research about the relationships that innovation types may have among them. In this paper, we examine how service innovation is related to organizational
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Professional Business Connectivity Services in SharePoint 2010
Hillier, Scot
2011-01-01
Comprehensive coverage on Business Connectivity Services within SharePoint 2010 As Microsoft's new multipurpose portal technology, Business Connectivity Services (BCS) is a brand new way for SharePoint users to seamlessly access and integrate data from any application or databases within SharePoint 2010. With this in-depth guide, a team of SharePoint experts walks you through the features of the new BCS, including the ability for users to view and modify the data from SharePoint 2010 with BCS. You'll explore how to use BCS, deploy solutions, create external content types and lists, create .NET
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An Analysis of Business Models in Public Service Platforms
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Ranerup, Agneta; Zinner Henriksen, Helle; Hedman, Jonas
2016-01-01
Public Service Platforms (PSPs) are a new type of technology platform. They are based in the philosophy of New Public Management (NPM) and support public services for citizens in quasi-markets. This article increases our understanding of the business models behind these PSPs in terms of their Value......” that includes dialogues, user evaluations, long-term perspectives on choice, promotion of the ideal of choice, and self-promotion by public agencies. The article contributes to research with its empirical example of the digitalization of NPM and the underlying business logic of PSPs....
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Ecosystem services: Urban parks under a magnifying glass.
Mexia, Teresa; Vieira, Joana; Príncipe, Adriana; Anjos, Andreia; Silva, Patrícia; Lopes, Nuno; Freitas, Catarina; Santos-Reis, Margarida; Correia, Otília; Branquinho, Cristina; Pinho, Pedro
2018-01-01
Urban areas' population has grown during the last century and it is expected that over 60% of the world population will live in cities by 2050. Urban parks provide several ecosystem services that are valuable to the well-being of city-dwellers and they are also considered a nature-based solution to tackle multiple environmental problems in cities. However, the type and amount of ecosystem services provided will vary with each park vegetation type, even within same the park. Our main goal was to quantify the trade-offs in ecosystem services associated to different vegetation types, using a spatially detailed approach. Rather than relying solely on general vegetation typologies, we took a more ecologically oriented approach, by explicitly considering different units of vegetation structure and composition. This was demonstrated in a large park (44ha) located in the city of Almada (Lisbon metropolitan area, Portugal), where six vegetation units were mapped in detail and six ecosystem services were evaluated: carbon sequestration, seed dispersal, erosion prevention, water purification, air purification and habitat quality. The results showed that, when looking at the park in detail, some ecosystem services varied greatly with vegetation type. Carbon sequestration was positively influenced by tree density, independently of species composition. Seed dispersal potential was higher in lawns, and mixed forest provided the highest amount of habitat quality. Air purification service was slightly higher in mixed forest, but was high in all vegetation types, probably due to low background pollution, and both water purification and erosion prevention were high in all vegetation types. Knowing the type, location, and amount of ecosystem services provided by each vegetation type can help to improve management options based on ecosystem services trade-offs and looking for win-win situations. The trade-offs are, for example, very clear for carbon: tree planting will boost carbon
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Library Services Online: Introducing Library Services for Online MBA Classes
Slavin, Laura C.
2015-01-01
In this article, a librarian at Lincoln Memorial University creates library services for an MBA program offered entirely online that is in the early stages of development. The library services include a subject guide and 4 tutorials that will be added to the MBA online orientation. Other services include offering online office hours and…
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Forms, functions, and foibles of humor used in AIDS service organizations.
Kosenko, Kami A; Rintamaki, Lance S
2010-01-01
Research has indicated that HIV service providers commonly use humor to cope with work-related stress; however, little is known about the forms and functions of humor used by these professionals. In this study, 25 HIV service providers from five AIDS service organizations were interviewed about their use of humor. Participants described five primary types of humor as prevalent within AIDS service organizations and noted that humor served a variety of functions, which were either adaptive or maladaptive. Adaptive functions included boosting morale and reducing tension, whereas maladaptive functions ranged from masking emotions to alienating certain groups. Results emphasized the importance of context in the study of humor use and the need for continued investigations of the stress and coping of HIV service providers.
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Riva Mylène
2008-02-01
Full Text Available Abstract Background Over the past two decades, geographical accessibility of urban resources for population living in residential areas has received an increased focus in urban health studies. Operationalising and computing geographical accessibility measures depend on a set of four parameters, namely definition of residential areas, a method of aggregation, a measure of accessibility, and a type of distance. Yet, the choice of these parameters may potentially generate different results leading to significant measurement errors. The aim of this paper is to compare discrepancies in results for geographical accessibility of selected health care services for residential areas (i.e. census tracts computed using different distance types and aggregation methods. Results First, the comparison of distance types demonstrates that Cartesian distances (Euclidean and Manhattan distances are strongly correlated with more accurate network distances (shortest network and shortest network time distances across the metropolitan area (Pearson correlation greater than 0.95. However, important local variations in correlation between Cartesian and network distances were observed notably in suburban areas where Cartesian distances were less precise. Second, the choice of the aggregation method is also important: in comparison to the most accurate aggregation method (population-weighted mean of the accessibility measure for census blocks within census tracts, accessibility measures computed from census tract centroids, though not inaccurate, yield important measurement errors for 5% to 10% of census tracts. Conclusion Although errors associated to the choice of distance types and aggregation method are only important for about 10% of census tracts located mainly in suburban areas, we should not avoid using the best estimation method possible for evaluating geographical accessibility. This is especially so if these measures are to be included as a dimension of the
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Resource Aware Intelligent Network Services (RAINS) Final Technical Report
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Lehman, Tom; Yang, Xi
2018-01-16
The Resource Aware Intelligent Network Services (RAINS) project conducted research and developed technologies in the area of cyberinfrastructure resource modeling and computation. The goal of this work was to provide a foundation to enable intelligent, software defined services which spanned the network AND the resources which connect to the network. A Multi-Resource Service Plane (MRSP) was defined, which allows resource owners/managers to locate and place themselves from a topology and service availability perspective within the dynamic networked cyberinfrastructure ecosystem. The MRSP enables the presentation of integrated topology views and computation results which can include resources across the spectrum of compute, storage, and networks. The RAINS project developed MSRP includes the following key components: i) Multi-Resource Service (MRS) Ontology/Multi-Resource Markup Language (MRML), ii) Resource Computation Engine (RCE), iii) Modular Driver Framework (to allow integration of a variety of external resources). The MRS/MRML is a general and extensible modeling framework that allows for resource owners to model, or describe, a wide variety of resource types. All resources are described using three categories of elements: Resources, Services, and Relationships between the elements. This modeling framework defines a common method for the transformation of cyberinfrastructure resources into data in the form of MRML models. In order to realize this infrastructure datification, the RAINS project developed a model based computation system, i.e. “RAINS Computation Engine (RCE)”. The RCE has the ability to ingest, process, integrate, and compute based on automatically generated MRML models. The RCE interacts with the resources thru system drivers which are specific to the type of external network or resource controller. The RAINS project developed a modular and pluggable driver system which facilities a variety of resource controllers to automatically generate
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Pollack, Keshia M; McKay, Tasseli; Cumminskey, Chris; Clinton-Sherrod, A Monique; Lindquist, Christine H; Lasater, Beth M; Walters, Jennifer L Hardison; Krotki, Karol; Grisso, Jeane Ann
2010-08-01
To describe intimate partner violence (IPV) services available through employee assistance programs (EAPs) and determine women's satisfaction with these services. A mixed-methods study consisting of semistructured telephone interviews with 28 EAPs about IPV-related services and a national web-based survey of 1765 women regarding their interactions with EAPs when seeking IPV-related assistance. Data were collected in the fall of 2008. EAPs provide fairly extensive services to individuals experiencing IPV. Satisfaction with EAP services for IPV was significantly associated with annual income and the type of help received from the EAP, but not with type of IPV experienced. EAP representatives described challenges with accurately identifying IPV victims and women expressed concerns with confidentiality. Future efforts to enhance the ability of EAPs to respond effectively to IPV should address confidentially and strengthen how IPV-related assistance is delivered.
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Electronic Computer Originated Mail Service
Seto, Takao
Electronic mail originated by computer is exactly a new communication media which is a product of combining traditional mailing with electrical communication. Experimental service of this type of mailing started in June 10, 1985 at Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications. Its location in various communication media, its comparison with facsimile type electronic mailing, and status quo of electronic mailing in foreign countries are described. Then, this mailing is briefed centering around the system organization and the services. Additional services to be executed in near future are also mentioned.
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Births and deaths including fetal deaths
U.S. Department of Health & Human Services — Access to a variety of United States birth and death files including fetal deaths: Birth Files, 1968-2009; 1995-2005; Fetal death file, 1982-2005; Mortality files,...
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Approaching Service Innovation Patterns
Andrea NAGY
2013-01-01
The present paper aims at analyzing the types of innovation in the field of services. First, the concept of innovation is defined and second, field literature is reviewed from the perspective of service innovation. The main types of innovation are identified based on several attempts at defining innovation, the most notable being Schumpeter’s. Thus, it is possible to approach concepts such as product and process innovation, incremental and radical innovation. Another aim has been to regard se...
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Huelsman, K. S.; Epstein, H. E.
2017-12-01
The concept of Ecosystem Services (ES) has become more interdisciplinary and influential in policy decision-making, but there are two major shortcomings in recent ES conversations: the resource inputs required by highly managed systems in order to provide material goods are not widely considered, and the distinction between ecosystem function and service is not always made. Supporting and regulating ES were examined for three land-use types with variable human management within the same mesoclimate: farmland, native prairie, and non-native early successional field. In situ soil moisture readings and soil nitrogen (N) transformation incubations, biodiversity surveys, vegetation harvesting, and soil sampling in each land-use type were used to determine the following ES: habitat, productivity, soil fertility, nutrient cycling, and water retention. If the provision of a particular ES required human inputs or interference, its overall value was reduced by the environmental cost of management. Non-native early successional field is not valued for the provision of any particular ES, as native prairie and farmland are, but it provides supporting and regulating ES without the requirement of human intervention, making it valuable in different ways. Likewise, any ecosystem functions with negative ecological side effects were considered ecosystem disservices and reduced the overall value of ES provided by the system. For example, the function of net nitrogen mineralization, generally defined as a service, is a disservice under N-saturated conditions, as additional N could be lost via leaching or gaseous forms. This research is valuable in the context of the current trend of increasing farmland abandonment and land use conversions. By considering the cost of human management for the provision of certain ES, as well as potential disservices associated with function, the overall net benefits of these three land-use types can be compared to improve land-use decision-making.
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International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Adkins, S.K.; Alford, D.R.; Barnette, A.B.
1979-01-01
The Management Services Section provides coordinated professional administrative services to the Fusion Energy Division (FED), allowing the work of technical professionals to be more fully concentrated in their areas of specialty. Services are provided in general administration, personnel, financial management, communications (including text and graphics generation), management information, library, safety, quality assurance, and nonprogrammatic engineering services. Highlights of the past year included adoption of the Procurement Module in the FED Management Information System (MIS) for use by the entire Laboratory, completion of the Personnel Module of the MIS, greatly increased personnel recruiting activity, and increased industrial subcontracting activity
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Montero, Isabel; Martín-Baena, David; Escribà-Agüir, Vicenta; Ruiz-Pérez, Isabel; Vives-Cases, Carmen; Talavera, Marta
2013-01-01
The purpose of this study is to estimate the prevalence of lifetime intimate partner violence (IPV) in older women and to analyze its effect on women's health and Healthcare Services utilization. Women aged 55 years and over (1,676) randomly sampled from Primary Healthcare Services around Spain were included. Lifetime IPV prevalence, types, and duration were calculated. Descriptive and multivariate procedures using logistic and multiple lineal regression models were used. Of the women studied, 29.4% experienced IPV with an average duration of 21 years. Regardless of the type of IPV experienced, abused women showed significantly poorer health and higher healthcare services utilization compared to women who had never been abused. The high prevalence detected long standing duration, negative health impact, and high healthcare services utilization, calling attention to a need for increased efforts aimed at addressing IPV in older women.
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Full-service concept for energy efficient renovation of single-family houses
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Vanhoutteghem, Lies; Tommerup, Henrik M.; Svendsen, Svend
2011-01-01
the solutions. Such one-stop-shops in the form of full-service providers of energy efficient renovation of single-family house are missing in the Nordic countries, although this service is vital to open up the market. As part of the Nordic research project `SuccesFamilies´ with the purpose to change...... houses. A one-stop-shop in the form of a full-service concept could be seen as a possibility to make it easy for the homeowner to comply with possible future requirements to realize far-reaching energy savings in connection with extensive renovations, provided that the building sector offers...... includes an ideal full-service concept and technical renovation solutions targeted to different types of single-family houses....
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Elizabeth Margaret Stovold
2017-06-01
Full Text Available A Review of: Hanneke, R., & O’Brien, K. K. (2016. Comparison of three web-scale discovery services for health sciences research. Journal of the Medical Library Association, 104(2, 109-117. http://dx.doi.org/10.3163/1536-5050.104.2.004 Abstract Objective – To compare the results of health sciences search queries in three web-scale discovery (WSD services for relevance, duplicate detection, and retrieval of MEDLINE content. Design – Comparative evaluation and bibliometric study. Setting – Six university libraries in the United States of America. Subjects – Three commercial WSD services: Primo, Summon, and EBSCO Discovery Service (EDS. Methods – The authors collected data at six universities, including their own. They tested each of the three WSDs at two data collection sites. However, since one of the sites was using a legacy version of Summon that was due to be upgraded, data collected for Summon at this site were considered obsolete and excluded from the analysis. The authors generated three questions for each of six major health disciplines, then designed simple keyword searches to mimic typical student search behaviours. They captured the first 20 results from each query run at each test site, to represent the first “page” of results, giving a total of 2,086 total search results. These were independently assessed for relevance to the topic. Authors resolved disagreements by discussion, and calculated a kappa inter-observer score. They retained duplicate records within the results so that the duplicate detection by the WSDs could be compared. They assessed MEDLINE coverage by the WSDs in several ways. Using precise strategies to generate a relevant set of articles, they conducted one search from each of the six disciplines in PubMed so that they could compare retrieval of MEDLINE content. These results were cross-checked against the first 20 results from the corresponding query in the WSDs. To aid investigation of overall
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New GES DISC Services Shortening the Path in Science Data Discovery
Li, Angela; Shie, Chung-Lin; Petrenko, Maksym; Hegde, Mahabaleshwa; Teng, William; Liu, Zhong; Bryant, Keith; Shen, Suhung; Hearty, Thomas; Wei, Jennifer;
2017-01-01
The Current GES DISC available services only allow user to select variables from a single dataset at a time and too many variables from a dataset are displayed, choice is hard. At American Geophysical Union (AGU) 2016 Fall Meeting, Goddard Earth Sciences Data Information Services Center (GES DISC) unveiled a new service: Datalist. A Datalist is a collection of predefined or user-defined data variables from one or more archived datasets. Our science support team curated predefined datalist and provided value to the user community. Imagine some novice user wants to study hurricane and typed in hurricane in the search box. The first item in the search result is GES DISC provided Hurricane Datalist. It contains scientists recommended variables from multiple datasets like TRMM, GPM, MERRA, etc. Datalist uses the same architecture as that of our new website, which also provides one-stop shopping for data, metadata, citation, documentation, visualization and other available services.We implemented Datalist with new GES DISC web architecture, one single web page that unified all user interfaces. From that webpage, users can find data by either type in keyword, or browse by category. It also provides user with a sophisticated integrated data and services package, including metadata, citation, documentation, visualization, and data-specific services, all available from one-stop shopping.
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Uchino, Ryo; Nonaka, Yu-Ki; Horigome, Tuneyoshi; Sugiyama, Shin; Furukawa, Kazuhiro
2013-01-01
Lamins are the major components of nuclear envelope architecture, being required for both the structural and informational roles of the nuclei. Mutations of lamins cause a spectrum of diseases in humans, including muscular dystrophy. We report here that the loss of the A-type lamin gene, lamin C in Drosophila resulted in pupal metamorphic lethality caused by tendon defects, matching the characteristics of human A-type lamin revealed by Emery-Dreifuss muscular dystrophy (EDMD). In tendon cells lacking lamin C activity, overall cell morphology was affected and organization of the spectraplakin family cytoskeletal protein Shortstop which is prominently expressed in tendon cells gradually disintegrated, notably around the nucleus and in a manner correlating well with the degradation of musculature. Furthermore, lamin C null mutants were efficiently rescued by restoring lamin C expression to shortstop-expressing cells, which include tendon cells but exclude skeletal muscle cells. Thus the critical function of A-type lamin C proteins in Drosophila musculature is to maintain proper function and morphology of tendon cells. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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MAPI: towards the integrated exploitation of bioinformatics Web Services.
Ramirez, Sergio; Karlsson, Johan; Trelles, Oswaldo
2011-10-27
Bioinformatics is commonly featured as a well assorted list of available web resources. Although diversity of services is positive in general, the proliferation of tools, their dispersion and heterogeneity complicate the integrated exploitation of such data processing capacity. To facilitate the construction of software clients and make integrated use of this variety of tools, we present a modular programmatic application interface (MAPI) that provides the necessary functionality for uniform representation of Web Services metadata descriptors including their management and invocation protocols of the services which they represent. This document describes the main functionality of the framework and how it can be used to facilitate the deployment of new software under a unified structure of bioinformatics Web Services. A notable feature of MAPI is the modular organization of the functionality into different modules associated with specific tasks. This means that only the modules needed for the client have to be installed, and that the module functionality can be extended without the need for re-writing the software client. The potential utility and versatility of the software library has been demonstrated by the implementation of several currently available clients that cover different aspects of integrated data processing, ranging from service discovery to service invocation with advanced features such as workflows composition and asynchronous services calls to multiple types of Web Services including those registered in repositories (e.g. GRID-based, SOAP, BioMOBY, R-bioconductor, and others).
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Kim, Juhee; Greaney, Mary L
2014-07-01
Children with special health care needs (SHCN) may be at greater risk of obesity than children without SHCN. A new classification system categorizes SHCN among children by service type using the following categories: No-SHCN, medication use only, services use only, medication + service use, and functional limitations. Research is needed to examine obesity and obesity-related behaviors among children using the new classification system. To determine the prevalence of inadequate vigorous physical activity (VPA), high screen time and obesity by SHCN category using the new classification system. Multivariate regression models were fitted for inadequate VPA, high screen time, and obesity to determine if there were differences in these outcomes by SHCN category, adjusting for multistage-sampling and survey-design effects using a nationally representative sample of children in the National Survey of Children's Health 2007. 22.9% of the sample was classified as having SHCN: 9% medication use only, 5% medication + service use, 4% service use only, and 5% functional limitations. Children in the medication use only and medication + service use groups were not at increased risk for inadequate VPA, high screen time, or obesity. Children in the service use only and functional limitation groups had increased odds of high screen time and obesity, which disappeared after controlling for confounders. However, the higher odds of inadequate VPA remained significant in the service use only [OR (95% CI) = 2.00 (1.34-3.00)] and the functional limitations groups with 2.21 (1.55-3.15). Physical activity promotion programs are needed for children with SHCN, especially children with functional limitations and those who require service use only and do not use prescribed medication. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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Food Service Refrigerators and Food Service Storage Freezers. Standard No. 7, Revised April 1966.
National Sanitation Foundation, Ann Arbor, MI.
This standard covers the sanitation and performance requirements for new food service refrigerators and food service storage freezers of the type generally used in the food service industry. It covers cabinets operating in the freezers, above or below freezing temperature, designed for the storage or display of varieties of food products. Topics…
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A network resource availability model for IEEE802.11a/b-based WLAN carrying different service types
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Luo Weizhi
2011-01-01
Full Text Available Abstract Operators of integrated wireless systems need to have knowledge of the resource availability in their different access networks to perform efficient admission control and maintain good quality of experience to users. Network availability depends on the access technology and the service types. Resource availability in a WLAN is complex to gather when UDP and TCP services co-exist. Previous study on IEEE802.11a/b derived the achievable throughput under the assumption of inelastic and uniformly distributed traffic. Further study investigated TCP connections and derived a model to calculate the effective transmission rate of packets under the assumption of saturated traffic flows. The assumptions are too stringent; therefore, we developed a model for evaluating WLAN resource availability that tries to narrow the gap to more realistic scenarios. It provides an indication of WLAN resource availability for admitting UDP/TCP requests. This article presents the assumptions, the mathematical formulations, and the effectiveness of our model.
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
P. Rajadurai
2014-09-01
Full Text Available This paper deals with the steady state analysis of batch arrival retrial queueing system with two types of service under modified vacation policy, where each type consists of an optional re-service. An arriving batch may balk the system at some particular times. After the completion of each types of service the customers may re-service of the same type without joining the orbit or may leave the system. If the orbit is empty at the service completion of each types of service, the server takes at most J vacations until at least one customer is received in the orbit when the server returns from a vacation. Busy server may breakdown at any instance and the service channel will fail for a short interval of time. The steady state probability generating function for system/orbit size is obtained by using the supplementary variable method. Some system performance measures and numerical illustrations are discussed.
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International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Celovsky, A.; Lesco, R.; Gale, B.; Sypes, J.
2003-01-01
Ten years ago Atomic Energy of Canada developed a Type B(U)-85 shipping container for the global transport of highly radioactive materials. This paper reviews the development of the container, including a summary of the design requirements, a review of the selected materials and key design elements, and the results of the major qualification tests (drop testing, fire test, leak tightness testing, and shielding integrity tests). As a result of the testing, improvements to the structural, thermal and containment design were made. Such improvements, and reasons thereof, are noted. Also provided is a summary of the additional analysis work required to upgrade the package from a Type B(U) to a Type B(F), i.e. essentially upgrading the container to include fissile radioisotopes to the authorized radioactive contents list. Having a certified shipping container is only one aspect governing the global shipments of radioactive material. By necessity the shipment of radioactive material is a highly regulated environment. This paper also explores the experiences with other key aspects of radioactive shipments, including the service procedures used to maintain the container certification, the associated compliance program for radioactive material shipments, and the shipping logistics involved in the transport. (author)
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Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Behrends, H. [Deutsche Windtechnik Service GmbH und Co. KG, Ostenfeld (Germany)
2008-07-01
Meanwhile, the producer-independent service is more than an alternative. In order to offer a successful service to the offers, many requirements must be fulfilled. A substantial characteristic is the competence, i.e. the capability of all coworkers in the company to justice to the individual requirements. For this, Deutsche Windtechnik Service GmbH and Co. KG (Ostenfeld, Federal Republic of Germany) has specialized in special types of plants. Further requirements are the organisational structure, the service strategy, the existing service network, the data remote monitoring, warranties and guarantee, documentation and communication.
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Nuclear reactor core servicing apparatus
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Andrea, C.
1977-01-01
Disclosed is an improved core servicing apparatus for a nuclear reactor of the type having a reactor vessel, a vessel head having a head penetration therethrough, a removable plug adapted to fit in the head penetration, and a core of the type having an array of elongated assemblies. The improved core servicing apparatus comprises a plurality of support columns suspended from the removable plug and extending downward toward the nuclear core, rigid support means carried by each of the support columns, and a plurality of servicing means for each of the support columns for servicing a plurality of assemblies. Each of the plurality of servicing means for each of the support columns is fixedly supported in a fixed array from the rigid support means. Means are provided for rotating the rigid support means and servicing means between condensed and expanded positions. When in the condensed position, the rigid support means and servicing means lie completely within the coextensive boundaries of the plug, and when in the expanded position, some of the rigid support means and servicing means lie without the coextensive boundaries of the plug
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Toward an Ethical Framework for Climate Services
Wilby, R.; Adams, P.; Eitland, E.; Hewitson, B.; Shumake, J.; Vaughan, C.; Zebiak, S. E.
2015-12-01
Climate services offer information and tools to help stakeholders anticipate and/or manage risks posed by climate change. However, climate services lack a cohesive ethical framework to govern their development and application. This paper describes a prototype, open-ended process to form a set of ethical principles to ensure that climate services are effectively deployed to manage climate risks, realize opportunities, and advance human security.We begin by acknowledging the multiplicity of competing interests and motivations across individuals and institutions. Growing awareness of potential climate impacts has raised interest and investments in climate services and led to the entrance of new providers. User demand for climate services is also rising, as are calls for new types of services. Meanwhile, there is growing pressure from funders to operationalize climate research.Our proposed ethical framework applies reference points founded on diverse experiences in western and developing countries, fundamental and applied climate research, different sectors, gender, and professional practice (academia, private sector, government). We assert that climate service providers should be accountable for both their practices and products by upholding values of integrity, transparency, humility, and collaboration.Principles of practice include: communicating all value judgements; eschewing climate change as a singular threat; engaging in the co-exploration of knowledge; establishing mechanisms for monitoring/evaluating procedures and products; declaring any conflicts of interest. Examples of principles of products include: clear and defensible provenance of information; descriptions of the extent and character of uncertainties using terms that are meaningful to intended users; tools and information that are tailored to the context of the user; and thorough documentation of methods and meta-data.We invite the community to test and refine these points.
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Department of Housing and Urban Development — CDBG activity related to public services, including senior services, legal services, youth services, employment training, health services, homebuyer counseling, food...
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Study of Marketing Components Affecting Health Care Services in Hospitals
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Mohammad Javad Akbarian Bafghi
2016-10-01
Full Text Available Background: Hospitals, in extreme competition, have accepted principles of marketing designed for industrial goods and customers. One of the important factors in health services marketing is the type of services. Organizations, including health centers, require meeting the clients' needs in order to survive and try to promote the way of providing services effectively. The present study aims to identify effective components in providing clinical services in hospitals. Methods: This was a practical and cross-sectional study. Data were collected using a questionnaire completed through random sampling after confirming the validity and reliability. Data were analyzed by SPSS 21 and Lisrel 8.50 using descriptive statistics and factor analysis. Results: The results of this study indicated that nine components had the highest impact on providing health services. Confirmatory factor analysis showed that the quality of providing services in the hospital, offering distinctive services compared with other hospitals, and considering quality of service beyond the patient's expectation had the greatest impact on marketing services in the hospital. Conclusion: Providing quality and distinctive services beyond the patient's expectation enables hospitals to improve their marketing activities and, beside higher level of patient satisfaction, develop their clinical services market share.
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Industrial Demand Management Providing Ancillary Services to the Distribution Grid
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Rahnama, Samira; Green, Torben; Lyhne, Casper
2017-01-01
A prominent feature of the future smart grid is the active participation of the consumer side in ancillary service provision. Grid operators procure ancillary services, including regulating power, voltage control, frequency control, and so on, to ensure safe, reliable, and high-quality electricity...... delivery. Consumers' involvement requires new entities and infrastructure. A so-called aggregator has been introduced as a new player to manage the services that are offered by the consumption units. This paper describes an industrial scale experimental setup for evaluating a particular type of aggregator....... The aggregator aims to provide a distribution grid service from industrial thermal loads through a direct control policy. Our specific case studies are a supermarket refrigeration system and an HVac chiller in conjunction with an ice storage, which are virtually connected to the aggregator. Practical results...
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Lightweight Advertising and Scalable Discovery of Services, Datasets, and Events Using Feedcasts
Wilson, B. D.; Ramachandran, R.; Movva, S.
2010-12-01
Broadcast feeds (Atom or RSS) are a mechanism for advertising the existence of new data objects on the web, with metadata and links to further information. Users then subscribe to the feed to receive updates. This concept has already been used to advertise the new granules of science data as they are produced (datacasting), with browse images and metadata, and to advertise bundles of web services (service casting). Structured metadata is introduced into the XML feed format by embedding new XML tags (in defined namespaces), using typed links, and reusing built-in Atom feed elements. This “infocasting” concept can be extended to include many other science artifacts, including data collections, workflow documents, topical geophysical events (hurricanes, forest fires, etc.), natural hazard warnings, and short articles describing a new science result. The common theme is that each infocast contains machine-readable, structured metadata describing the object and enabling further manipulation. For example, service casts contain type links pointing to the service interface description (e.g., WSDL for SOAP services), service endpoint, and human-readable documentation. Our Infocasting project has three main goals: (1) define and evangelize micro-formats (metadata standards) so that providers can easily advertise their web services, datasets, and topical geophysical events by adding structured information to broadcast feeds; (2) develop authoring tools so that anyone can easily author such service advertisements, data casts, and event descriptions; and (3) provide a one-stop, Google-like search box in the browser that allows discovery of service, data and event casts visible on the web, and services & data registered in the GEOSS repository and other NASA repositories (GCMD & ECHO). To demonstrate the event casting idea, a series of micro-articles—with accompanying event casts containing links to relevant datasets, web services, and science analysis workflows--will be
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Valuing Ecosystem Services and Disservices across Heterogeneous Green Spaces
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Christie Klimas
2016-08-01
Full Text Available This study investigates small-scale variability in ecosystem services and disservices that is important for sustainable planning in urban areas (including suburbs surrounding the urban core. We quantified and valued natural capital (tree and soil carbon stocks ecosystem services (annual tree carbon sequestration and pollutant uptake, and stormwater runoff reduction and disservices (greenhouse gas emissions and soil soluble reactive phosphorus within a 30-hectare heterogeneous green space that included approximately 13% wetland, 13% prairie, 16% forest, and 55% subdivision. We found similar soil organic carbon across green space types, but spatial heterogeneity in other ecosystem services and disservices. The value of forest tree carbon stock was estimated at approximately $10,000 per hectare. Tree carbon sequestration, and pollutant uptake added benefits of $1000+ per hectare per year. Annual per hectare benefits from tree carbon stock and ecosystem services in the subdivision were each 63% of forest values. Total annual greenhouse gas emissions had significant spatial and temporal variation. Soil soluble reactive phosphorus was significantly higher in the wetland than in forest and prairie. Our results have implications for urban planning. Adding or improving ecosystem service provision on small (private or public urban or suburban lots may benefit from careful consideration of small-scale variability.
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The relationship between staff skill mix, costs and outcomes in intermediate care services
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Martin Graham P
2010-07-01
Full Text Available Abstract Background The purpose of this study was to assess the relationship between skill mix, patient outcomes, length of stay and service costs in older peoples' intermediate care services in England. Methods We undertook multivariate analysis of data collected as part of the National Evaluation of Intermediate Care Services. Data were analysed on between 337 and 403 older people admitted to 14 different intermediate care teams. Independent variables were the numbers of different types of staff within a team and the ratio of support staff to professionally qualified staff within teams. Outcome measures include the Barthel index, EQ-5D, length of service provision and costs of care. Results Increased skill mix (raising the number of different types of staff by one is associated with a 17% reduction in service costs (p = 0.011. There is weak evidence (p = 0.090 that a higher ratio of support staff to qualified staff leads to greater improvements in EQ-5D scores of patients. Conclusions This study provides limited evidence on the relationship between multidisciplinary skill mix and outcomes in intermediate care services.
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BenefitClaimWebServiceBean/BenefitClaimWebService
Department of Veterans Affairs — A formal or informal request for a type of monetary or non-monetary benefit. This service provides benefit claims and benefit claim special issues data, allows the...
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ITER plant layout and site services
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Chuyanov, V.A.
2000-01-01
The ITER site has not yet been determined. Nevertheless, to develop a construction plan and a cost estimate, it is necessary to have a detailed layout of the buildings, structures and outdoor equipment integrated with the balance of plant service systems prototypical of large fusion power plants. These services include electrical power for magnet feeds and plasma heating systems, cryogenic and conventional cooling systems, compressed air, gas supplies, demineralized water, steam and drainage. Nuclear grade facilities are provided to handle tritium fuel and activated waste, as well as to prevent radiation exposure of workers and the public. To prevent interference between services of different types and for efficient arrangement of buildings, structures and equipment within the site area, a plan was developed which segregated different classes of services to four quadrants surrounding the tokamak building, placed at the approximate geographical centre of the site. The locations of the buildings on the generic site were selected to meet all design requirements at minimum total project cost. A similar approach was used to determine the locations of services above, at and below grade. The generic site plan can be adapted to the site selected for ITER without significant changes to the buildings or equipment. Some rearrangements may be required by site topography, resulting primarily in changes to the length of services that link the buildings and equipment. (author)
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Current state of seagrass ecosystem services: Research and policy integration
Ruiz-Frau, A.; Gelcich, S.; Hendriks, I.E.; Duarte, Carlos M.; Marbà , N.
2017-01-01
areas; a type of service research bias, provisioning and regulating services have received extensive attention while cultural services remain understudied; a type of discipline bias, the ecological aspects of SGES have been well documented while economic
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Effective buyer-supplier interaction patterns in ongoing service exchange
Valk, van der W.; Wynstra, J.Y.F.; Axelsson, B.
2009-01-01
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to develop theory on effective buyer-seller interaction for different types of business services. A classification of business services which identifies four service types based on how they are used by the buying company is used. Design/methodology/approach –
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Leatherman, Carrie C.; Eckel, Edward J.
2012-01-01
Nearly every commercial database that covers natural sciences and engineering offers some type of current awareness (CA) service that provides regular updates to users on current literature in a selected field of interest. Current awareness services include e-mail alerts, tables of contents, and RSS feeds. This study was designed to find out what…
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Horner-Johnson, Willi; Dobbertin, Konrad; Lee, Jae Chul; Andresen, Elena M
2014-12-01
To examine differences in access to health care and receipt of clinical preventive services by type of disability among working-age adults with disabilities. Secondary analysis of Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) data from 2002 to 2008. We conducted cross-sectional logistic regression analyses comparing people with different types of disabilities on health insurance status and type; presence of a usual source of health care; delayed or forgone care; and receipt of dental checkups and cancer screening. We pooled annualized MEPS data files across years. Our analytic sample consisted of adults (18-64 years) with physical, sensory, or cognitive disabilities and nonmissing data for all variables of interest. Individuals with hearing impairment had better health care access and receipt than people with other disability types. People with multiple types of limitations were especially likely to have health care access problems and unmet health care needs. There are differences in health care access and receipt of preventive care depending on what type of disability people have. More in-depth research is needed to identify specific causes of these disparities and assess interventions to address health care barriers for particular disability groups. © Health Research and Educational Trust.
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Stephanie Hall
2008-03-01
Full Text Available Objective – To assess the effectiveness of a collaborative chat reference service in answering different types of question. Specifically, the study compares the degree of answer completion and the level of user satisfaction for simple factual questions vs. more in‐depth subject‐based reference questions, and for ‘local’ (pertaining to a particular library and non‐local questions.Design – Content analysis of 415 transcripts of reference transactions, which were also compared to corresponding user satisfaction survey results.Setting – An online collaborative reference service offered by a large public library system (33 branch and regional locations. This service is part of the Metropolitan Cooperative Library System: a virtual reference consortium of U.S. libraries (public, academic, special, and corporate that provides 24/7 service.Subjects – Reference librarians from around the U.S. (49 different libraries, and users logging into the service via the public library system’s portal (primarily patrons of the 49 libraries. Method – Content analysis was used to evaluate virtual reference transcripts recorded between January and June, 2004. Reliability was enhanced through triangulation, with researchers comparing the content analysis of each transcript against the results of a voluntary exit survey. Of 1,387 transactions that occurred during the period of study, 420 users completed the survey and these formed the basis of the study, apart from 5 transactions that were omitted because the questions were incomprehensible. Questions were examined and assigned to five categories: “simple, factual questions; subject‐based research questions; resource access questions; circulation‐related questions; and local library information inquiries” (80‐81. Answers were classed as either “completely answered, partially answered or unanswered, referred, and problematic endings” (82. Lastly, user satisfaction was surveyed on three
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Service-oriented infrastructure for scientific data mashups
Baru, C.; Krishnan, S.; Lin, K.; Moreland, J. L.; Nadeau, D. R.
2009-12-01
services based on standards such as WFS, WMS, WCS, and GeoSciML that allow integration of disparate data in a distributed, Web-based environment. Along these lines, we introduce the notion of a Web Volume Service (WVS) for modeling and manipulating 3D data. The Data Interaction Services provide services for rich interactions with the integrated 3D data. To provide efficient interactions with large-scale data in a distributed environment the architecture must include capabilities for caching and reuse of data, use of multi-level indexing, and the ability to orchestrate and coordinate execution of data processing and transformation routines as part of the data access and integration steps. The data mashup infrastructure is based on a service-oriented architecture. A range of alternatives are available for implementing these mashup services in a scalable fashion, using the cloud computing paradigm. We will describe the tradeoffs of each approach and provide an evaluation of which options are best suited to which types of services. We will describe security, privacy, performance, and price/performance issues and considerations in implementing services on dedicated servers versus private as well as public clouds, including systems such as Amazon Web Services.
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Raluca-Marilena Mihalcioiu
2011-05-01
Full Text Available Public Service Motivation concept was developed in North America and focuses on specific motivations of public servants, such as employee satisfaction, organizational commitment, reward preferences, organizational and individual performance. Other types of motivation, as financial consideration, are relevant but have less important influences with regard to this kind of work outcomes. This strengthen the assertion for a diversified motivational strategy, which affect various types of motivation, while not losing sight of the public value that one organization shows and therefore valuing public service motivation as a specific contribution to work outcomes. The concept has been increasingly applied in European public administration. This paper presents Status Quo of international Public Service Motivation research and locates in them empirical evidences from contries that are already working with this concept, like Austria. It also analyses implications for central questions of public management. The main focus of this article is general appropriateness and possible applications for Romanian public management research.
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Design Flaws and Service System Breakdowns: Learning from Systems Thinking
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
David Ing
2014-12-01
Full Text Available In what ways might systems thinking be helpful to designers? In the 21st century, the types of project with which designers have become engaged has expanded to include service systems. Service systems are typically composites of mechanisms, organisms, human beings and ecologies. Systems thinking is a perspective with theories, methods and practices that enables transcending disciplinary boundaries. Application of systems thinking in designing a service system can aid in surfacing potential flaws and/or anticipating future breakdowns in functions, structures and/or processes. Designers and systems thinkers should work together to improve the nature of service systems. As a starter set into these conversations, seven conditions are proposed as a starting context. These conditions are presented neither as rigourously defined nor as exhaustive, but as an entry point into future joint engagement.
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[Factors influencing the satisfaction of demands on services for elderly with visual disability].
Zhang, Lei; Li, Wenfei; Zhu, Jieping; Huang, Tingting; Zhu, Lin; Chen, Gong; Zheng, Xiaoying
2014-09-01
To investigate the status and associated factors of demand satisfaction (DS) of services for older adults with visual disability (OAVD). Based on the 2nd National Sample Survey on Disability in 2006, a total number of 24 017 OAVD cases were included. Associated relationships among demographic, health-related, social, economic factors and services of DS, including health demand (Type I), basic livelihood demand (Type II), and environmental support demand (Type III) were analyzed. The proportions of DS of Type I, II, III services for OAVD were 35.1% , 9.3% and 4.3% respectively. Eight factors as:having pension insurance (OR = 1.64), living in urban areas (OR = 1.54), per capita household income at ≥5 000 or over Yuan (OR = 1.46)were favorable ones on OAVD DS while at age ≥80 or above (OR = 0.90), being male (OR = 0.93)were adverse factors of Type I. Four factors as:being male (OR = 1.43), living in urban areas (OR = 1.15), subjects defined as grade II (OR = 1.36) and grade I (OR = 1.70) etc., were favorable factors on OAVD DS. Five factors as: range of age groups at 15-59 (OR = 0.57) or at ≥60 (OR = 0.45), per capita household income at 1 000-1 999 Yuan (OR = 0.77), 2 000-4 999 Yuan (OR = 0.58) and ≥5 000 Yuan (OR = 0.39) were adverse factors of Type II. Factors as: living in urban areas (OR = 1.23), defined as grade II (OR = 1.38) and grade I (OR = 1.34), having pension insurance (OR = 1.62) and per capita household income at ≥5 000 Yuan (OR = 1.42) etc., were favorable factors of Type III. The DS degree of older adults with visual disability was generally very low while factors as: per capita household income, situation on social insurance, age, degree of disability, age when disability was identified, areas of residence, gender, grade of disability, marriage status, levels of education etc., were significantly associated with the service on DS.
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Cooking Schools Improve Nutrient Intake Patterns of People with Type 2 Diabetes
Archuleta, Martha; VanLeeuwen, Dawn; Halderson, Karen; Jackson, K'Dawn; Bock, Margaret Ann; Eastman, Wanda; Powell, Jennifer; Titone, Michelle; Marr, Carol; Wells, Linda
2012-01-01
Objective: To determine whether cooking classes offered by the Cooperative Extension Service improved nutrient intake patterns in people with type 2 diabetes. Design: Quasi-experimental using pretest, posttest comparisons. Setting: Community locations including schools, churches, and senior centers. Participants: One hundred seventeen people with…
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User Identification Framework in Social Network Services Environment
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Brijesh BAKARIYA
2014-01-01
Full Text Available Social Network Service is a one of the service where people may communicate with one an-other; and may also exchange messages even of any type of audio or video communication. Social Network Service as name suggests a type of network. Such type of web application plays a dominant role in internet technology. In such type of online community, people may share their common interest. Facebook LinkedIn, orkut and many more are the Social Network Service and it is good medium of making link with people having unique or common interest and goals. But the problem of privacy protection is a big issue in today’s world. As social networking sites allows anonymous users to share information of other stuffs. Due to which cybercrime is also increasing to a rapid extent. In this article we preprocessed the web log data of Social Network Services and assemble that data on the basis of image file format like jpg, jpeg, gif, png, bmp etc. and also propose a framework for victim’s identification.
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MaROS: Information Management Service
Allard, Daniel A.; Gladden, Roy E.; Wright, Jesse J.; Hy, Franklin H.; Rabideau, Gregg R.; Wallick, Michael N.
2011-01-01
This software is provided by the Mars Relay Operations Service (MaROS) task to a variety of Mars projects for the purpose of coordinating communications sessions between landed spacecraft assets and orbiting spacecraft assets at Mars. The Information Management Service centralizes a set of functions previously distributed across multiple spacecraft operations teams, and as such, greatly improves visibility into the end-to-end strategic coordination process. Most of the process revolves around the scheduling of communications sessions between the spacecraft during periods of time when a landed asset on Mars is geometrically visible by an orbiting spacecraft. These relay sessions are used to transfer data both to and from the landed asset via the orbiting asset on behalf of Earth-based spacecraft operators. This software component is an application process running as a Java virtual machine. The component provides all service interfaces via a Representational State Transfer (REST) protocol over https to external clients. There are two general interaction modes with the service: upload and download of data. For data upload, the service must execute logic specific to the upload data type and trigger any applicable calculations including pass delivery latencies and overflight conflicts. For data download, the software must retrieve and correlate requested information and deliver to the requesting client. The provision of this service enables several key advancements over legacy processes and systems. For one, this service represents the first time that end-to-end relay information is correlated into a single shared repository. The software also provides the first multimission latency calculator; previous latency calculations had been performed on a mission-by-mission basis.
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Yang, Jihui [Lakeshore, CA; Shi, Xun [Troy, MI; Bai, Shengqiang [Shanghai, CN; Zhang, Wenqing [Shanghai, CN; Chen, Lidong [Shanghai, CN; Yang, Jiong [Shanghai, CN
2012-01-17
A thermoelectric material includes a multiple transition metal-doped type I clathrate crystal structure having the formula A.sub.8TM.sub.y.sub.1.sup.1TM.sub.y.sub.2.sup.2 . . . TM.sub.y.sub.n.sup.nM.sub.zX.sub.46-y.sub.1.sub.-y.sub.2.sub.- . . . -y.sub.n.sub.-z. In the formula, A is selected from the group consisting of barium, strontium, and europium; X is selected from the group consisting of silicon, germanium, and tin; M is selected from the group consisting of aluminum, gallium, and indium; TM.sup.1, TM.sup.2, and TM.sup.n are independently selected from the group consisting of 3d, 4d, and 5d transition metals; and y.sub.1, y.sub.2, y.sub.n and Z are actual compositions of TM.sup.1, TM.sup.2, TM.sup.n, and M, respectively. The actual compositions are based upon nominal compositions derived from the following equation: z=8q.sub.A-|.DELTA.q.sub.1|y.sub.1-|.DELTA.q.sub.2|y.sub.2- . . . -|.DELTA.q.sub.n|y.sub.n, wherein q.sub.A is a charge state of A, and wherein .DELTA.q.sub.1, .DELTA.q.sub.2, .DELTA.q.sub.n are, respectively, the nominal charge state of the first, second, and n-th TM.
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International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Wei Gaofeng; Dong Shihai
2010-01-01
Based on the Sturm-Liouville theorem and shape invariance formalism, we study by applying a Pekeris-type approximation to the pseudo-centrifugal term the pseudospin symmetry of a Dirac nucleon subjected to scalar and vector Manning-Rosen potentials including the spin-orbit coupling term. A quartic energy equation and spinor wave functions with arbitrary spin-orbit coupling quantum number k are presented. The bound states are calculated numerically. The relativistic Manning-Rosen potential could not trap a Dirac nucleon in the limit case β→∞.
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Residual Fatigue Properties of Asphalt Pavement after Long-Term Field Service
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Peide Cui
2018-05-01
Full Text Available Asphalt pavement is widely used for expressways due to its advantages of flexibility, low cost, and easy maintenance. However, pavement failures, including cracking, raveling, and potholes, will appear after long-term service. This research evaluated the residual fatigue properties of asphalt pavement after long-term field service. Fatigue behavior of specimens with different pavement failure types, traffic load, service time, and layers were collected and characterized. Results indicate that after long-term field service, surface layer has a longer fatigue life under small stress levels, but shorter fatigue life under large stress levels. Longer service time results in greater sensitivity to loading stress, while heavier traffic results in shorter fatigue life. Surface and underneath layers present very close fatigue trend lines in some areas, indicating that the fatigue behavior of asphalt mixture in surface and underneath layers are aged to the same extent after eight to ten years of field service.
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Singer, Judy; Adams, Jon
2014-05-22
Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is increasingly included within mainstream integrative healthcare (IHC) services. Health service managers are key stakeholders central to ensuring effective integrative health care services. Yet, little research has specifically investigated the role or perspective of health service managers with regards to integrative health care services under their management. In response, this paper reports findings from an exploratory study focusing exclusively on the perspectives of health service managers of integrative health care services in Australia regarding the role of CAM within their service and the health service managers rational for incorporating CAM into clinical care. Health service managers from seven services were recruited using purposive and snowball sampling. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with the health service managers. The services addressed trauma and chronic conditions and comprised: five community-based programs including drug and alcohol rehabilitation, refugee mental health and women's health; and two hospital-based specialist services. The CAM practices included in the services investigated included acupuncture, naturopathy, Western herbal medicine and massage. Findings reveal that the health service managers in this study understand CAM to enhance the holistic capacity of their service by: filling therapeutic gaps in existing healthcare practices; by treating the whole person; and by increasing healthcare choices. Health service managers also identified CAM as addressing therapeutic gaps through the provision of a mind-body approach in psychological trauma and in chronic disease management treatment. Health service managers describe the addition of CAM in their service as enabling patients who would otherwise not be able to afford CAM to gain access to these treatments thereby increasing healthcare choices. Some health service managers expressly align the notion of treating the whole person
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Measurements for testing of fluoroscopic screens, including the photofluorographic units
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Balfanz, R.
1986-01-01
Image quality control measurements for fluoroscopic screens and photofluorographs have shown that both types of equipment have a long operating life, so that constancy and technical performance tests are absolutely necessary. It is recommended to conclude in-service maintenance contracts with the manufacturers. (DG) [de
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Bio-jETI: a framework for semantics-based service composition
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Margaria Tiziana
2009-10-01
Full Text Available Abstract Background The development of bioinformatics databases, algorithms, and tools throughout the last years has lead to a highly distributed world of bioinformatics services. Without adequate management and development support, in silico researchers are hardly able to exploit the potential of building complex, specialized analysis processes from these services. The Semantic Web aims at thoroughly equipping individual data and services with machine-processable meta-information, while workflow systems support the construction of service compositions. However, even in this combination, in silico researchers currently would have to deal manually with the service interfaces, the adequacy of the semantic annotations, type incompatibilities, and the consistency of service compositions. Results In this paper, we demonstrate by means of two examples how Semantic Web technology together with an adequate domain modelling frees in silico researchers from dealing with interfaces, types, and inconsistencies. In Bio-jETI, bioinformatics services can be graphically combined to complex services without worrying about details of their interfaces or about type mismatches of the composition. These issues are taken care of at the semantic level by Bio-jETI's model checking and synthesis features. Whenever possible, they automatically resolve type mismatches in the considered service setting. Otherwise, they graphically indicate impossible/incorrect service combinations. In the latter case, the workflow developer may either modify his service composition using semantically similar services, or ask for help in developing the missing mediator that correctly bridges the detected type gap. Newly developed mediators should then be adequately annotated semantically, and added to the service library for later reuse in similar situations. Conclusion We show the power of semantic annotations in an adequately modelled and semantically enabled domain setting. Using model
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Application of a Multimedia Service and Resource Management Architecture for Fault Diagnosis.
Castro, Alfonso; Sedano, Andrés A; García, Fco Javier; Villoslada, Eduardo; Villagrá, Víctor A
2017-12-28
Nowadays, the complexity of global video products has substantially increased. They are composed of several associated services whose functionalities need to adapt across heterogeneous networks with different technologies and administrative domains. Each of these domains has different operational procedures; therefore, the comprehensive management of multi-domain services presents serious challenges. This paper discusses an approach to service management linking fault diagnosis system and Business Processes for Telefónica's global video service. The main contribution of this paper is the proposal of an extended service management architecture based on Multi Agent Systems able to integrate the fault diagnosis with other different service management functionalities. This architecture includes a distributed set of agents able to coordinate their actions under the umbrella of a Shared Knowledge Plane, inferring and sharing their knowledge with semantic techniques and three types of automatic reasoning: heterogeneous, ontology-based and Bayesian reasoning. This proposal has been deployed and validated in a real scenario in the video service offered by Telefónica Latam.
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Opportunities for Pharmacists and Student Pharmacists to Provide Clinical Preventive Services
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Natalie A. DiPietro Mager
2017-01-01
Full Text Available Pharmacists and student pharmacists can play an important role in providing clinical preventive services as specified by the United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF. The USPSTF guidelines provide evidence-based recommendations about clinical preventive services for the general population. The purpose of this paper is to provide information to pharmacists and student pharmacists developing and implementing preventive health care services. Examples of successful pharmacy-based programs are also provided. Pharmacists and student pharmacists can provide preventive health care interventions by conducting screenings, providing education, and making referrals. Conflict of Interest We declare no conflicts of interest or financial interests that the authors or members of their immediate families have in any product or service discussed in the manuscript, including grants (pending or received, employment, gifts, stock holdings or options, honoraria, consultancies, expert testimony, patents and royalties Type: Idea Paper
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Nykiforuk, Candace I J; Campbell, Elizabeth J; Macridis, Soultana; McKennitt, Daniel; Atkey, Kayla; Raine, Kim D
2018-01-15
Healthy public policy is an important tool for creating environments that support human health and wellbeing. At the local level, municipal policies, such as zoning bylaws, provide an opportunity for governments to regulate building location and the type of services offered. Across North America, there has been a recent proliferation of municipal bylaws banning fast food drive-through services. Research on the utilization of this policy strategy, including bylaw adopters and adopter characteristics, is limited within the Canadian context. The aim of this study was to identify and characterize Canadian municipalities based on level of policy innovation and nature of their adopted bylaw banning fast food drive-through services. A multiple case history methodology was utilized to identify and analyse eligible municipal bylaws, and included development of a chronological timeline and map of adopter municipalities within Canada. Grey literature and policy databases were searched for potential adopters of municipal fast food drive-through service bylaws. Adopters were confirmed through evidence of current municipal bylaws. Geographic diffusion and diffusion of innovations theories provided a contextual framework for analysis of bylaw documents. Analysis included assignment of adopter-types, extent and purpose of bans, and policy learning activities of each adopter municipality. From 2002 to 2016, 27 municipalities were identified as adopters: six innovators and twenty-one early adopters. Mapping revealed parallel geographic diffusion patterns in western and eastern Canada. Twenty-two municipalities adopted a partial ban and five adopted a full ban. Rationales for the drive-through bans included health promotion, environmental concerns from idling, community character and aesthetics, traffic concerns, and walkability. Policy learning, including research and consultation with other municipalities, was performed by nine early adopters. This study detailed the adoption of
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Empirical PPGIS/PGIS mapping of ecosystem services
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Brown, Gregory G; Fagerholm, Nora
2015-01-01
demonstrate high potential for the identification of ecosystem services, especially cultural services, there has been no review to evaluate the methods to identify best practice. Through examination of peer-reviewed, empirical PPGIS/PGIS studies, we describe the types of ecosystem services mapped, the spatial...... of experimental design and long-term case studies where the influence of mapped ecosystem services on land use decisions can be assessed....... mapping methods, the sampling approaches and range of participants, the types of spatial analyses performed, and the methodological trade-offs associated with each PPGIS/PGIS mapping approach. We found that multiple methods were implemented in nearly 30 case studies worldwide with the mapping of cultural...
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EPA guidance on building trust in mental health services.
Gaebel, W; Muijen, M; Baumann, A E; Bhugra, D; Wasserman, D; van der Gaag, R J; Heun, R; Zielasek, J
2014-02-01
To advance mental health care use by developing recommendations to increase trust from the general public and patients, those who have been in contact with services, those who have never been in contact and those who care for their families in the mental health care system. We performed a systematic literature search and the retrieved documents were evaluated by two independent reviewers. Evidence tables were generated and recommendations were developed in an expert and stakeholder consensus process. We developed five recommendations which may increase trust in mental health care services and advance mental health care service utilization. Trust is a mutual, complex, multidimensional and dynamic interrelationship of a multitude of factors. Its components may vary between individuals and over time. They may include, among others, age, place of residence, ethnicity, culture, experiences as a service user, and type of disorder. For mental health care services, issues of knowledge about mental health services, confidentiality, continuity of treatment, dignity, safety and avoidance of stigma and coercion are central elements to increase trust. Evidence-based recommendations to increase mutual trust of service users and psychiatrists have been developed and may help to increase mental health care service utilization. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.
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Competitive intelligence in services organizations: a systematic literature review
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Danielle Faust Cruz
2015-02-01
Full Text Available It is growing the importance of services sector in the global economy. Facing a global and dynamic market, characterized by fierce competition, Competitive Intelligence - CI can help services organizations in decision making process and in the conception of competitive advantages against competitors. This paper aims to outline the state of art concerning the use of competitive intelligence in the services sector organizations, through research and analysis of articles found in major databases. This is a theoretical study consisting of a systematic literature review including bibliometric and content analysis. Relevant publications were retrieved in the following data bases related to the subject: Web of Knowledge, Scopus, Ebsco, ScienceDirect, and Engineering Village. The results allow considering the importance of competitive intelligence for survival and competitiveness of services organizations. Finally, it was verified the existence of a gap related to prescriptive studies, focusing on investigations about the subject, being this type of study relevant to the area to reach maturity
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2012-03-16
... groups and women are given the opportunity to participate in the provision of spectrum-based services... members of minority groups and women.'' One of the principal means by which the Commission fulfills these... definitions for auctions of these licenses. We seek comment on whether we should define an entrepreneur as an...
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International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Kelly, D.L.
1994-09-01
The need for developing a user's guide for shipping Type B quantities of radioactive and fissile material, including plutonium, in a US Department of Transportation Specification 6M (DOT-6M) packaging was identified by the US Department of Energy (DOE)-Headquarters, Transportation Management Division (EM-261) because the DOT-6M packaging is widely used by DOE site contractors and the DOE receives many questions about approved packaging configuration. Currently, EM-261 has the authority to approve new DOT-6M packaging configurations for use by the DOE Operations Offices. This user's guide identifies the DOE-approved DOT-6M packaging configurations and explains how to have new configurations approved by the DOE. The packaging configurations described in this guide are approved by the DOE, and satisfy the applicable DOT requirements and the identified DOE restrictions. These packaging configurations are acceptable for transport of Type B quantities of radioactive and fissile material, including plutonium
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Brierley, S; Eiser, C; Johnson, B; Young, V; Heller, S
2012-05-01
Young adults with Type 1 diabetes experience difficulties achieving glucose targets. Clinic attendance can be poor, although health and self-care tend to be better among those who attend regularly. Our aims were to describe staff views about challenges working with this age-group (16-21 years). Semistructured interviews were conducted with 14 staff from Sheffield Teaching Hospitals diabetes care team. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed and analysed using thematic analysis. Three main themes emerged. Unique challenges working with young adults included staff emotional burden, the low priority given to self-care by young adults and the complexity of the diabetes regimen. Working in a multidisciplinary team was complicated by differences in consultation styles, poor team cohesion and communication. An ideal service should include psychological support for the professional team, identification of key workers, and development of individualized care plans. Staff differed in their views about how to achieve optimal management for young adults, but emphasized the need for greater patient-centred care and a range of interventions appropriate for individual levels of need. They also wanted to increase their own skills and confidence working with this age-group. While these results reflect the views of staff working in only one diabetes centre, they are likely to reflect the views of professionals delivering care to individuals of this age; replication is needed to determine their generalizability. © 2012 The Authors. Diabetic Medicine © 2012 Diabetes UK.
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Norman, O. Gene
1995-01-01
Relates the marketing concept to library reference services. Highlights include a review of the literature and an overview of marketing, including research, the marketing mix, strategic plan, marketing plan, and marketing audit. Marketing principles are applied to reference services through the marketing mix elements of product, price, place, and…
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Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Setoguchi, T.; Manchu, Y.; Katsumata, M. [Toshiba Corp., Tokyo (Japan)
2000-04-01
Toshiba provides a range of information technology (IT) solutions called SmartEC Solution, which includes business-to-business electronic commerce systems and services based on international standards and industrial know-how, especially our electronic data interchange (EDI) know-how as a manufacturer. These IT solutions are supplied as services covering strategy planning, system integration, and application service provider based on five types of business-to-business electronic commerce. (author)
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CUSTOMER SERVICES AND PRODUCT QUALITY
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
NEAMŢU Liviu
2013-04-01
Full Text Available Objective level of product is a combination of material elements. They are supplemented by satisfying highly heterogeneous and complex motivations, representing highly diverse subjective functions associated to product until individualization for each type of consumption. Thus it observes highly surprising developments of subjective function associated with a product and which determines in the consumer's opinion the quality level of the product. The present study examines the role of associated services covering the subjective function of the product in view of the fact that the utility or subjective function is dependent on elements such as style, fashion and fads. Consumers will no longer accept products with average quality of related services. For a company that wants to stay in the market and achieve profitability, the only solution is moving towards a complete product package type goods-services. Associated services are thus an indicator of quality and the best customer loyalty insurance policy, there is a close relationship between the quality of services provided by a firm, customer satisfaction and company profitability.
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Bitter, N.A.; Roeg, D.P.K.; Van Nieuwenhuizen, Ch.; Van Weeghel, J.
2016-01-01
Background Housing services aim to support people with mental illness in their daily life and recovery. As the level of recovery differs between service users, the quality of life and care needs also might vary. However, the type and amount of care and support that service users receive do not
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Adoption of Lean Thinking and Service Improvement for Care Home Service
Chuang-Chun Chiou
2014-01-01
Ageing population is a global trend; therefore the need of care service has been increasing dramatically. There are three basic forms of service delivered to the elderly: institution, community, and home. Particularly, the institutional service can be seen as an extension of medical service. The nursing home or so-called care home which is equipped with professional staff and facilities can provide a variety of service including rehabilitation service, short-term care, and long term care. Sim...
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Identifying mental health services in clinical genetic settings.
Cappelli, M; Esplen, M J; Wilson, B J; Dorval, M; Bottorff, J L; Ly, M; Carroll, J C; Allanson, J; Humphreys, E; Rayson, D
2009-10-01
The purpose of this study was to examine the mental health needs of individuals at risk for adult onset hereditary disorder (AOHD) from the perspective of their genetic service providers, as it is unknown to what extent psychosocial services are required and being met. A mail-out survey was sent to 281 providers on the membership lists of the Canadian Association of Genetic Counsellors and the Canadian College of Medical Geneticists. The survey assessed psychosocial issues that were most commonly observed by geneticists, genetic counsellors (GCs), and nurses as well as availability and types of psychosocial services offered. Of the 129 respondents, half of genetic service providers reported observing signs of depression and anxiety, while 44% noted patients' concerns regarding relationships with family and friends. In terms of providing counselling to patients, as the level of psychological risk increased, confidence in dealing with these issues decreased. In addition, significantly more GCs reported that further training in psychosocial issues would be most beneficial to them if resources were available. As a feature of patient care, it is recommended that gene-based predictive testing include an integrative model of psychosocial services as well as training for genetic service providers in specific areas of AOHD mental health.
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42 CFR 84.161 - Man test for gases and vapors; Type B and Type BE respirators; test requirements.
2010-10-01
... 42 Public Health 1 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Man test for gases and vapors; Type B and Type BE respirators; test requirements. 84.161 Section 84.161 Public Health PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH RESEARCH AND RELATED ACTIVITIES APPROVAL OF RESPIRATORY PROTECTIVE DEVICES Supplied-Air...
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42 CFR 84.160 - Man test for gases and vapors; Type A and Type AE respirators; test requirements.
2010-10-01
... 42 Public Health 1 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Man test for gases and vapors; Type A and Type AE respirators; test requirements. 84.160 Section 84.160 Public Health PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH RESEARCH AND RELATED ACTIVITIES APPROVAL OF RESPIRATORY PROTECTIVE DEVICES Supplied-Air...
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Weinke, Elisabeth; Hölbling, Daniel; Albrecht, Florian; Friedl, Barbara
2017-04-01
Geo-hazards and their effects are distributed geographically over wide regions. The effective mapping and monitoring is essential for hazard assessment and mitigation. It is often best achieved using satellite imagery and new object-based image analysis approaches to identify and delineate geo-hazard objects (landslides, floods, forest fires, storm damages, etc.). At the moment, several local/national databases and platforms provide and publish data of different types of geo-hazards as well as web-based risk maps and decision support systems. Also, the European commission implemented the Copernicus Emergency Management Service (EMS) in 2015 that publishes information about natural and man-made disasters and risks. Currently, no platform for landslides or geo-hazards as such exists that enables the integration of the user in the mapping and monitoring process. In this study we introduce the concept of a spatial data infrastructure for object delineation, web-processing and service provision of landslide information with the focus on user interaction in all processes. A first prototype for the processing and mapping of landslides in Austria and Italy has been developed within the project Land@Slide, funded by the Austrian Research Promotion Agency FFG in the Austrian Space Applications Program ASAP. The spatial data infrastructure and its services for the mapping, processing and analysis of landslides can be extended to other regions and to all types of geo-hazards for analysis and delineation based on Earth Observation (EO) data. The architecture of the first prototypical spatial data infrastructure includes four main areas of technical components. The data tier consists of a file storage system and the spatial data catalogue for the management of EO-data, other geospatial data on geo-hazards, as well as descriptions and protocols for the data processing and analysis. An interface to extend the data integration from external sources (e.g. Sentinel-2 data) is planned
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Routing Service Quality—Local Driver Behavior Versus Routing Services
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Ceikute, Vaida; Jensen, Christian S.
2013-01-01
of the quality of one kind of location-based service, namely routing services. Specifically, the paper presents a framework that enables the comparison of the routes provided by routing services with the actual driving behaviors of local drivers. Comparisons include route length, travel time, and also route...... popularity, which are enabled by common driving behaviors found in available trajectory data. The ability to evaluate the quality of routing services enables service providers to improve the quality of their services and enables users to identify the services that best serve their needs. The paper covers......Mobile location-based services is a very successful class of services that are being used frequently by users with GPS-enabled mobile devices such as smartphones. This paper presents a study of how to exploit GPS trajectory data, which is available in increasing volumes, for the assessment...
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Steam generator tube fitness-for-service guidelines
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Gorman, J.A.; Harris, J.E.; Lowenstein, D.B.
1995-07-01
The objectives of this project were to characterize defect mechanisms which could affect the integrity of steam generator tubes, to review and critique state-of-the-art Canadian and international steam generator tube fitness-for-service criteria and guidelines, and to obtain recommendations for criteria that could be used to assess fitness-for service guidelines for steam generator tubes containing defects in Canadian power plant service. Degradation mechanisms, that could affect CANDU steam generator tubes in Canada, have been characterized. The design standards and safety criteria that apply to steam generator tubing in nuclear power plant service in Canada and in Belgium, France, Japan, Spain, Sweden, and the USA have been reviewed and described. The fitness-for-service guidelines used for a variety of specific defect types in Canada and internationally have been evaluated and described in detail in order to highlight the considerations involved in developing such defect specific guidelines. Existing procedures for defect assessment and disposition have been identified, including inspection and examination practices. The approaches used in Canada and in Belgium, France, Japan, Spain, Sweden, and the USA for fitness-for-service guidelines were compared and contrasted for a variety of defect mechanisms. The strengths and weaknesses of the various approaches have been assessed. The report presents recommendations on approaches that may be adopted in the development of fitness-for-service guidelines for use in the dispositioning of steam generator tubing defects in Canada. (author). 175 refs., 2 tabs., 28 figs
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Beefing up operations in service firms.
Chase, R B; Hayes, R H
1991-01-01
Many articles exhort service firm managers to empower workers and first-line supervisors, exploit technology, focus on the customer, and, above all, provide outstanding service. This article proposes a framework to help you evaluate your company's competitive standing in each of these areas. It discusses four types of companies on a continuum, from the company that is simply "available for service" to the firm that delivers world class service. The authors focus on operations, the function that controls the service encounter, and apply the manufacturing strategy paradigm to services as a means of implementing change.
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SOFTWARE ARCHITECTURE DESIGN OF GIS WEB SERVICE AGGREGATION BASED ON SERVICE GROUP
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
J.-C. Liu
2012-08-01
Full Text Available Based on the analysis of research status of domestic and international GIS web service aggregation and development tendency of public platform of GIS web service, the paper designed software architecture of GIS web service aggregation based on GIS web service group. Firstly, using heterogeneous GIS services model, the software architecture converted a variety of heterogeneous services to a unified interface of GIS services, and divided different types of GIS services into different service groups referring to description of GIS services. Secondly, a service aggregation process model was designed. This model completed the task of specific service aggregation instance, by automatically selecting member GIS Web services in the same service group. Dynamic capabilities and automatic adaptation of GIS Web services aggregation process were achieved. Thirdly, this paper designed a service evaluation model of GIS web service aggregation based on service group from three aspects, i.e. GIS Web Service itself, networking conditions and service consumer. This model implemented effective quality evaluation and performance monitoring of GIS web service aggregation. It could be used to guide the execution, monitor and service selection of aggregation process. Therefore, robustness of aggregated GIS web service was improved. Finally, the software architecture has been widely used in public platform of GIS web service and a number of geo-spatial framework constructions for digital city in Sichuan Province, and aggregated various GIS web services such as World Map(National Public Platform of Geo-spatial Service, ArcGIS, SuperMap, MapGIS, NewMap etc. Applications of items showed that this software architecture was practicability.
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Service Provisioning Framework for Digital Smart Home Services
Kazanavicius , Egidijus; Imbrasas , Darius; Razukas , Mantas
2011-01-01
Part 3: Digital Goods and Products; International audience; “Development and Management Framework of Smart Home Services (SNAPAS)” is an innovative system, which seeks to fill the market niche of Smart Home services and fully complies with the priorities of scientific development approved by the European Parliament and Council. Framework is characterized by an open component-based pluggable architecture, which provides new forms of interactive services in home environments, including the thir...
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In-service inspection guidelines for composite aerospace structures
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Heida, Jaap H.; Platenkamp, Derk J.
2012-01-01
The in-service inspection of composite aerospace structures is reviewed, using the results of a evaluation of promising, mobile non-destructive inspection (NDI) methods. The evaluation made use of carbon fibre reinforced specimens representative for primary composite aerospace structures, including relevant damage types such as impact damage, delaminations and disbonds. A range of NDI methods were evaluated such as visual inspection, vibration analysis, phased array ultrasonic inspection, shearography and thermography inspection. Important aspects of the evaluation were the capability for defect detection and characterization, portability of equipment, field of view, couplant requirements, speed of inspection, level of training required and the cost of equipment. The paper reviews the damage tolerance design approach for composites, and concludes with guidelines for the in-service inspection of composite aerospace structures.
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Appleby, N J; Dunt, D; Southern, D M; Young, D
1999-08-01
To identify practical examples of barriers and possible solutions to improve general practice integration with other health service providers. Twelve focus groups, including one conducted by teleconference, were held across Australia with GPs and non GP primary health service providers between May and September, 1996. Focus groups were embedded within concept mapping sessions, which were used to conceptually explore the meaning of integration in general practice. Data coding, organising and analysis were based on the techniques documented by Huberman and Miles. Barriers to integration were perceived to be principally due to the role and territory disputes between the different levels of government and their services, the manner in which the GP's role is currently defined, and the system of GP remuneration. Suggestions on ways to improve integration involved two types of strategies. The first involves initiatives implemented 'top down' through major government reform to service structures, including the expansion of the role of divisions of general practice, and structural changes to the GP remuneration systems. The second type of strategy suggested involves initiatives implemented from the 'bottom up' involving services such as hospitals (e.g. additional GP liaison positions) and the use of information technology to link services and share appropriate patient data. The findings support the need for further research and evaluation of initiatives aimed at achieving general practice integration at a systems level. There is little evidence to suggest which types of initiatives improve integration. However, general practice has been placed in the centre of the health care debate and is likely to remain central to the success of such initiatives. Clarification of the future role and authority of general practice will therefore be required if such integrative strategies are to be successful at a wider health system level.
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Xiaochun Qin
2015-01-01
Full Text Available A lot of research works have been made concerning highway service area or solar technology and acquired great achievements. However, unfortunately, few works have been made combining the two topics together of highway service areas and solar energy saving to make a systemic research on solar technology application for highway service area. In this paper, taking West Lushan highway low-carbon service area in Jiangxi Province of China as the case study, the advantages, technical principles, and application methods of solar energy technology for highway service area including solar photoelectric technology and solar water heating technology were discussed based on the analysis of characteristics of highway low-carbon service area; the system types, operation mode, and installing tilt angle of the two kinds of solar systems suitable for highway service areas were confirmed. It was proved that the reduction of the cost by electricity savings of solar system was huge. Taking the investment of the solar systems into account, the payback period of solar photoelectric systems and solar water heating systems was calculated. The economic effect of the solar systems in West Lushan highway service area during the effective operation periods was also calculated and proved very considerable.
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Florentina Ratih Wulandari
2012-08-01
Full Text Available The development of information technology and public administration paradigms that emphasize services for the benefit of society has affected the strategic efforts of e-Gov in Indonesia. For that, there is a need to create qualified, competitive, effective and efficient of the public services. Indonesia’s E-Gov Policy has been applying principles of good governance and information technology to serve and interact with the community. Some local governments, including South Jakarta Municipality has been implementing e-Gov to optimize public service. e-Gov in South Jakarta Municipality is reflected on the implementation of a management information technology to improve services to the community by creating a web site, namely http://selatan.jakarta.go.id/. The information presented in South Jakarta Municipality website includes tourism, local regulations, and other information of Municipality of South Jakarta.
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Climate Regulation Services of Natural and Managed Ecosystems of the Americas
Anderson-Teixeira, K. J.; Snyder, P. K.; Twine, T. E.; Costa, M. H.; Cuadra, S.; DeLucia, E. H.
2011-12-01
Terrestrial ecosystems regulate climate through both biogeochemical mechanisms (greenhouse gas regulation) and biophysical mechanisms (regulation of water and energy). Land management therefore provides some of the most effective strategies for climate change mitigation. However, most policies aimed at climate protection through land management, including UNFCCC mechanisms and bioenergy sustainability standards, account only for biogeochemical climate services. By ignoring biophysical climate regulation services that in some cases offset the biogeochemical regulation services, these policies run the risk of failing to advance the best climate solutions. Quantifying the combined value of biogeochemical and biophysical climate regulation services remains an important challenge. Here, we use a combination of data synthesis and modeling to quantify how biogeochemical and biophysical effects combine to shape the climate regulation value (CRV) of 18 natural and managed ecosystem types across the Western Hemisphere. Natural ecosystems generally had higher CRVs than agroecosystems, largely driven by differences in biogeochemical services. Biophysical contributions ranged from minimal to dominant. They were highly variable in space and across ecosystem types, and their relative importance varied strongly with the spatio-temporal scale of analysis. Our findings pertain to current efforts to protect climate through land management. Specifically, they reinforce the importance of protecting tropical forests and recent findings that the climatic effects of bioenergy production may be somewhat more positive than previously estimated. Given that biophysical effects in some cases dominate, ensuring effective climate protection through land management requires consideration of combined biogeochemical and biophysical climate regulation services. While quantification of ecosystem climate services is necessarily complex, our CRV index serves as one potential approach to measure the
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[Ecological regulation services of Hainan Island ecosystem and their valuation].
Ouyang, Zhiyun; Zhao, Tongqian; Zhao, Jingzhu; Xiao, Han; Wang, Xiaoke
2004-08-01
Ecosystem services imply the natural environmental conditions on which human life relies for existence, and their effectiveness formed and sustained by ecosystem and its ecological processes. In newly research reports, they were divided into four groups, i. e., provisioning services, regulation services, cultural services, and supporting services. To assess and valuate ecosystem services is the foundation of regional environmental reserve and development. Taking Hainan Island as an example and based on the structure and processes of natural ecosystem, this paper discussed the proper methods for regulation services assessment. The ecosystems were classified into 13 types including valley rain forest, mountainous rain forest, tropical monsoon forest, mountainous coppice forest, mountainous evergreen forest, tropical coniferous forest, shrubs, plantation, timber forest, windbreak forest, mangrove, savanna, and cropland, and then, the regulation services and their economic values of Hainan Island ecosystem were assessed and evaluated by terms of water-holding, soil conservancy, nutrient cycle, C fixation, and windbreak function. The economic value of the regulation services of Hainan Island ecosystem was estimated as 2035.88 x 10(8)-2153.39 x 10(8) RMB yuan, 8 times higher to its provisioning services (wood and agricultural products) which were estimated as only 254.06 x 10(8) RMB yuan. The result implied that ecosystem regulation services played an even more important role in the sustainable development of society and economy in Hainan Island.
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Cloud services, networking, and management
da Fonseca, Nelson L S
2015-01-01
Cloud Services, Networking and Management provides a comprehensive overview of the cloud infrastructure and services, as well as their underlying management mechanisms, including data center virtualization and networking, cloud security and reliability, big data analytics, scientific and commercial applications. Special features of the book include: State-of-the-art content. Self-contained chapters for readers with specific interests. Includes commercial applications on Cloud (video services and games).
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Luiz Alberto Blois
2014-12-01
Full Text Available This work consists in analyzing the economic feasibility of the investment to implement a Radiotherapy sector for radiological of cancer treatment by type linear accelerators equipments, based on the case of a public hospital in São Paulo. From technical and financial details of the project and the survey reference values for health care to their procedures, the statistical outcome of treatment on patients' life expectancy and average income indicators of the state's population, were estimated to income (private and social and expenses of this health service and other elements that make up the flow of the investment project box. From these estimates we evaluated public and private investment return, ie, if it fits only on the public sector or if private sector could also implement this projects geared exclusively to free admittance.
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Development of a Measure of Housing and Housing Services.
Clark, Colleen; Young, M Scott; Teague, Gregory; Rynearson-Moody, Sarah
2016-01-01
The Housing Program Measure (HPM) was designed to document critical elements of a range of housing program types and associated services. Qualitative methods, including literature review and open-ended interviews, were used to determine pertinent HPM domains and to develop the pool of items. The measure was pre-tested, and reliability and validity analyses were applied to revise and strengthen the measure. The resulting measure furthers homelessness research by providing a tool that can be used to define housing and housing services interventions across diverse projects and disciplines, to facilitate program management by matching housing resources to the needs of homeless individuals, and to support model development by measuring progress to goals.
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Using Service-Learning in Urban Areas in Semarang Regency to Address Local Knowledge System
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Rully Adi Nugroho
2017-08-01
Full Text Available Service-learning has gained substantial recognition as an effective type of pedagogy and has enhanced civic education across the disciplines, however remains a lack of understanding of this type of learning in Indonesia. The goals of the study were (1 to explore the forms of local knowledge systems practiced in Semarang Regency and how they are used in resources conservation using service-learning method, (2 to foster student engagement with the community, and (3 to promote student awareness of community resources that are directly relevant to local knowledge system issues. The success of the service-learning projects in meeting these goals was assessed via qualitative analysis of student reflective papers and classroom presentations. The results indicated there were local knowledges that were still successfully in use, but often only very locally. Furthermore, the results also indicated that the service-learning projects promoted students’ valuable academic skills, including communication, team-building, and critical thinking, built their self-esteem, their awareness of community needs and resources, and demonstrated the relevance of course content to real life.
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Costs of providing tuberculosis diagnosis and treatment services in Viet Nam.
Minh, H V; Mai, V Q; Nhung, N V; Hoi, L V; Giang, K B; Chung, L H; Kien, V D; Duyen, N T; Ngoc, N B; Anh, T T; Phuong, T B; Ngan, T T; Khanh, P H
2017-09-01
To estimate the cost of providing tuberculosis (TB) diagnosis and treatment packages at different levels of health facilities in Viet Nam. This was a retrospective costing study from the providers' perspective using a standard costing approach. We included typical services for TB diagnosis and treatment based on standard protocols. The least expensive TB service was the 6-month isoniazid preventive therapy regimen for latent tuberculous infection provided by district health centres (US$7.20-14.30, accounting for 0.3-0.7% of Viet Nam's per capita gross domestic product [GDP] of US$2052.30 in 2014). The cost of diagnosing and treating a patient with drug-susceptible TB (the most common type of TB) ranged between US$51.20 and US$180.70, and represented 2.5-8.8% of Viet Nam's per capita GDP in 2014. The most expensive TB service was the diagnosis and treatment of a multidrug-resistant TB case (US$1568.20-2391.20), accounting for 76.4-116.5% of Viet Nam's per capita GDP in 2014). The cost of TB diagnosis and treatment services in Viet Nam varied according to level of health facility, type of TB, different costing options, and different staff cost scenarios.
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Audit of an inpatient liaison psychiatry consultation service.
Lyne, John; Hill, Michelle; Burke, Patricia; Ryan, Martina
2009-01-01
The purpose of this paper is to examine an audit that was performed of all patients referred to a liaison psychiatry inpatient consultation service which sought to establish a baseline for demographics, type of referral, and management of referrals, with a view to introducing improved evidence-based treatments. It also aims to examine timeliness of response to referrals benchmarked against published standards. All inpatient referrals to a liaison psychiatry service were recorded over a six-month period, including demographics, diagnosis, management and timeliness of response to referrals. The data were retrospectively analysed and compared against international standards. A total of 172 referrals were received in the six months. Commonest referral reasons included assessments regarding depressive disorders (23.8 per cent), delirium/other cognitive disorders (19.2 per cent), alcohol-related disorders (18.6 per cent), anxiety disorders (14.5 per cent), and risk management (12.2 per cent). Evidence-based practices were not utilised effectively for a number of different types of presentations. A total of 40.1 per cent of referrals were seen on the same day, 75.4 per cent by the end of the next day, and 93.4 per cent by the end of the following day. Use of a hospital protocol for management of delirium may improve outcomes for these patients. Evidence-based techniques, such as brief intervention therapies, may be beneficial for referrals involving alcohol dependence. Referrals were seen reasonably quickly, but there is room for improvement when compared with published standards. This paper provides valuable information for those involved in management of liaison psychiatry consultation services, providing ideas for development and implementation of evidence based practices.
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Consumer preferences for telemedicine devices and services in South Korea.
Ahn, Joongha; Shin, Jungwoo; Lee, Jongsu; Shin, Kwangsoo; Park, Hayoung
2014-02-01
The scope of healthcare has been expanding from caring for sick people to keeping people from becoming sick, and telemedicine will play a significant role in this new healthcare paradigm. This study investigated consumer preferences and willingness to pay for attributes of telemedicine services in South Korea. A market simulation was conducted to examine the market shares of alternative services and their relationships to the perceived usefulness of service types and preferred device types. Using a conjoint survey, we collected data on consumer preferences for six telemedicine service attributes. Data analysis used the Bayesian mixed logit model. The market simulation estimated the probabilities of a specific service alternative being chosen using estimated model coefficients. Wearable devices were the most preferred, followed by smart-home and smartphone devices. Consumers perceived managing blood glucose to be the most useful telemedicine service, followed by monitoring oxygen saturation and blood pressure. The market simulation indicated that consumer preferences for device types were associated with the types of chronic diseases for which management through telemedicine services is perceived to be useful. As the focus of healthcare moves from treating patients to keeping individuals healthy, a key factor for the successful deployment of telemedicine services is understanding consumer perceptions and attitudes. The results of this study revealed the dynamics of consumer preferences with regard to service attributes.
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A multipurpose radiation service center
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Hofmann, E.-G.
1977-01-01
In Germany, AEG-Telefunken has been working as a supplier of irradiation equipment for more than ten years. There is a close cooperation with Radiation Dynamics Inc., Westbury, N.Y. Radiation sources are available for most industrial applications. As a special service AEG is establishing a multipurpose radiation service center in Hamburg-Wedel, Germany. This center will be used by a host of companies to investigate the effects of radiation on a broad range of materials, to develop special processing equipment, to process customer supplied products and to perform R and D work and contracts. Initially this service center will be equipped with one research type High-Power X-ray Unit (200 kV/32 mA) and one industrial type Dynamitron accelerator (1500 kV/37.5 kW). (author)
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Academic-Service Partnerships in Nursing: An Integrative Review
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Judy A. Beal
2012-01-01
Full Text Available This integrative review summarizes currently available evidence on academic-service partnerships in the profession of nursing. More than 300 articles, published primarily in refereed journals, were accessed. Articles (110 were included in this review as they presented detailed and substantive information about any aspect of a nursing academic-service partnership. The majority were anecdotal in nature. Topics clustered around the following categories: pre-requisites for successful partnerships, benefits of partnerships, types of partnerships, and workforce development with its themes of academic-practice progression and educational re-design. Many examples of partnerships between academic and service settings were thoroughly described and best practices suggested, most often, however, without formal evaluation of outcomes. Nursing leaders in both settings have a long tradition of partnering with very little replicable evidence to support their efforts. It is critical that future initiatives evaluate the effectiveness of these partnerships, not only to ensure quality of patient outcomes but also to maximize efforts at building capacity for tomorrow's workforce.
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Academic-service partnerships in nursing: an integrative review.
Beal, Judy A
2012-01-01
This integrative review summarizes currently available evidence on academic-service partnerships in the profession of nursing. More than 300 articles, published primarily in refereed journals, were accessed. Articles (110) were included in this review as they presented detailed and substantive information about any aspect of a nursing academic-service partnership. The majority were anecdotal in nature. Topics clustered around the following categories: pre-requisites for successful partnerships, benefits of partnerships, types of partnerships, and workforce development with its themes of academic-practice progression and educational re-design. Many examples of partnerships between academic and service settings were thoroughly described and best practices suggested, most often, however, without formal evaluation of outcomes. Nursing leaders in both settings have a long tradition of partnering with very little replicable evidence to support their efforts. It is critical that future initiatives evaluate the effectiveness of these partnerships, not only to ensure quality of patient outcomes but also to maximize efforts at building capacity for tomorrow's workforce.
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Wye Lesley
2009-03-01
Full Text Available Abstract Background The aim of this study was to review evaluations and audits of primary care complementary therapy services to determine the impact of these services on improving health outcomes and reducing NHS costs. Our intention is to help service users, service providers, clinicians and NHS commissioners make informed decisions about the potential of NHS based complementary therapy services. Methods We searched for published and unpublished studies of NHS based primary care complementary therapy services located in England and Wales from November 2003 to April 2008. We identified the type of information included in each document and extracted comparable data on health outcomes and NHS costs (e.g. prescriptions and GP consultations. Results Twenty-one documents for 14 services met our inclusion criteria. Overall, the quality of the studies was poor, so few conclusions can be made. One controlled and eleven uncontrolled studies using SF36 or MYMOP indicated that primary care complementary therapy services had moderate to strong impact on health status scores. Data on the impact of primary care complementary therapy services on NHS costs were scarcer and inconclusive. One controlled study of a medical osteopathy service found that service users did not decrease their use of NHS resources. Conclusion To improve the quality of evaluations, we urge those evaluating complementary therapy services to use standardised health outcome tools, calculate confidence intervals and collect NHS cost data from GP medical records. Further discussion is needed on ways to standardise the collection and reporting of NHS cost data in primary care complementary therapy services evaluations.
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Integration of services for older people: back to funding
Hébert, Réjean
2012-01-01
Purpose To demonstrate that funding is an essential component of integrated care, even in a universal publicly funded health care system. Context The PRISMA coordination-type model is actually being generalized in the Province of Qu?bec (Canada) concurrently with the creation of Health and Social Services Centers (HSSC), a merging of hospitals, community centers and nursing homes in a local area. Case description PRISMA originally included six components: coordination tables, single entry poi...
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Data Dictionary Services in XNAT and the Human Connectome Project
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Rick eHerrick
2014-07-01
Full Text Available The XNAT informatics platform is an open source data management tool used by biomedical imaging researchers around the world. An important feature of XNAT is its highly extensible architecture: users of XNAT can add new data types to the system to capture the imaging and phenotypic data generated in their studies. Until recently, XNAT has had limited capacity to broadcast the meaning of these data extensions to users, other XNAT installations, and other software.We have implemented a data dictionary service for XNAT, which is currently being used on ConnectomeDB, the Human Connectome Project (HCP public data sharing website. The data dictionary service provides a framework to define key relationships between data elements and structures across the XNAT installation. This includes not just core data representing medical imaging data or subject or patient evaluations, but also taxonomical structures, security relationships, subject groups, and research protocols. The data dictionary allows users to define metadata for data structures and their properties, such as value types (e.g. textual, integers, floats and valid value templates, ranges, or field lists. The service provides compatibility and integration with other research data management services by enabling easy migration of XNAT data to standards-based formats such as RDF, JSON, and XML. It also facilitates the conversion of XNAT’s native data schema into standard neuroimaging ontology structures and provenances.
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Co-creation of Innovations in ICT based service encounters
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Sørensen, Jannick Kirk; Henten, Anders
2014-01-01
Innovations in services often emanate from service encounters (i.e. the touch points between the service producers and the customers). Two different types of service encounters are dealt with: face-to-face and ICT-based service encounters. The aim of the chapter is to examine the specific...
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Who Uses Earth Observations? User Types in Group on Earth Observations
Fontaine, K. S.
2011-12-01
How can we communicate concepts in the physical sciences unless we know our audience? The Group on Earth Observations (GEO) User Interface Committee (UIC) has a responsibility within GEO to support and advocate for the user community in the development of Global Earth Observations System of Systems (GEOSS) and related work. As part of its efforts, the UIC has been working on developing a taxonomy that can be used to characterize the broad spectrum of users of GEOSS and its data, services, and applications. The user type taxonomy is designed to be broad and flexible but aims at describing the needs of the users GEOSS is going to serve. These user types represent a continuum of users of Earth observations from research through to decision support activities, and it includes organizations that use GEOSS as a tool to provide data and services for customers and consumers of the information. The classification scheme includes factors about skills and capacity for using Earth observations, sophistication level, spatial resolution, latency, and frequency of data. As part of the effort to develop a set of User Types, the GEO UIC foresees that those inside and outside GEO can use the typologies to understand how to engage users at a more effective level. This talk presents the GEOSS User Type taxonomy, explaining the development and highlights of key feedback. The talk will highlight possible ways to use the User Type taxonomy to communicate concepts and promote the use of Earth observations to a wide variety of users.
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Tourism Enterprises as Buyers of Knowledge-Intensive Business Services
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Krzysztof Borodako
2015-01-01
Full Text Available This article is an attempt to assess the business relations between the tourism sector and suppliers of various types of business services. It focuses on knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS. The reasons why tourism businesses purchase outsourced services are also discussed. An Internet survey was conducted and the results were used to calculate and discuss a number of indices. Cross-tabulation statistics are used to assess the interrelation between types of tourist firms, their localization and size, and the types and number of services they use. The largest numbers of KIBS used by the Polish tourism sector are from the accounting, IT, and advertising sectors, whereas the smallest relate to research and experimental development in the social sciences and humanities. This article fills a gap in the knowledge about usage of KIBS services by the tourism sector at the national level.
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At whose service? Subsidizing services and the skill premium
van Groezen, Bas; Meijdam, L.
2009-01-01
In this paper we investigate the effects of subsidizing low-skilled, labour-intensive services hired by high-skilled individuals in the presence of labour income taxation. Whether such a subsidy can be Pareto-improving depends crucially on the degree of substitutability of both types of labour in
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At Whose Service? Subsidizing Services and the Skill Premium
van Groezen, B.J.A.M.; Meijdam, A.C.
2010-01-01
In this paper we investigate the effects of subsidizing low-skilled, labourintensive services hired by high-skilled individuals in the presence of labour income taxation. Whether such a subsidy can be Paretoimproving depends crucially on the degree of substitutability of both types of labour in the
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Gordijn, Jaap; de Kinderen, Sybren; Wieringa, Roelf J.
2008-01-01
Today's economy is a service economy, and an increasing number of services is electronic, i.e. can be ordered and provisioned online. Examples include Internet access, email and Voice over IP. Just as any other kind of services, e-services often are offered in bundles, and many consumer needs
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
M. L.S. Mataboge
2016-10-01
Full Text Available Globally challenges regarding healthcare provision are sometimes related to a failure to estimate client numbers in peri-urban areas due to rapid population growth. About one-sixth of the world's population live in informal settlements which are mostly characterised by poor healthcare service provision. Poor access to primary healthcare may expose residents of informal settlement more to the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV and to acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS than their rural and urban counterparts due to a lack of access to information on prevention, early diagnosis and treatment. The objective of this study was to explore and describe the experiences of both the reproductive health services' clients and the healthcare providers with regard to the provision of reproductive health services including the prevention of HIV and AIDS in a primary healthcare setting in Tshwane. A qualitative, exploratory and contextual design using a phenomenological approach to enquire about the participants' experiences was implemented. Purposive sampling resulted in the selection of 23 clients who used the reproductive healthcare services and ten healthcare providers who were interviewed during individual and focus group interviews respectively. Tesch's method for qualitative data analysis was used. Ethical principles guided the study, and certain strategies were followed to ensure trustworthiness. The findings revealed that females who lived in informal settlements were aware of the inability of the PHC setting to provide adequate reproductive healthcare to meet their needs. The HCPs acknowledged that healthcare provision was negatively affected by policies. It was found that the community members could be taught how to coach teenagers and support each other in order to bridge staff shortages and increase health outcomes including HIV/AIDS prevention.
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
M.L.S. Mataboge
2016-12-01
Full Text Available Globally challenges regarding healthcare provision are sometimes related to a failure to estimate client numbers in peri-urban areas due to rapid population growth. About one-sixth of the world's population live in informal settlements which are mostly characterised by poor healthcare service provision. Poor access to primary healthcare may expose residents of informal settlement more to the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV and to acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS than their rural and urban counterparts due to a lack of access to information on prevention, early diagnosis and treatment. The objective of this study was to explore and describe the experiences of both the reproductive health services' clients and the healthcare providers with regard to the provision of reproductive health services including the prevention of HIV and AIDS in a primary healthcare setting in Tshwane. A qualitative, exploratory and contextual design using a phenomenological approach to enquire about the participants' experiences was implemented. Purposive sampling resulted in the selection of 23 clients who used the reproductive healthcare services and ten healthcare providers who were interviewed during individual and focus group interviews respectively. Tesch's method for qualitative data analysis was used. Ethical principles guided the study, and certain strategies were followed to ensure trustworthiness. The findings revealed that females who lived in informal settlements were aware of the inability of the PHC setting to provide adequate reproductive healthcare to meet their needs. The HCPs acknowledged that healthcare provision was negatively affected by policies. It was found that the community members could be taught how to coach teenagers and support each other in order to bridge staff shortages and increase health outcomes including HIV/AIDS prevention.
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Sharpton, James L.
This curriculum guide provides cleaning services instructional materials for a ninth- and tenth-grade Coordinated Vocational Education and Training: Home and Community Services program. It includes 2 sections and 11 instructional units. Each unit of instruction consists of eight basic components: performance objectives, teacher activities,…
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Dynamic Vehicle Scheduling for Working Service Network with Dual Demands
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Bing Li
2017-01-01
Full Text Available This study aims to develop some models to aid in making decisions on the combined fleet size and vehicle assignment in working service network where the demands include two types (minimum demands and maximum demands, and vehicles themselves can act like a facility to provide services when they are stationary at one location. This type of problem is named as the dynamic working vehicle scheduling with dual demands (DWVS-DD and formulated as a mixed integer programming (MIP. Instead of a large integer program, the problem is decomposed into small local problems that are guided by preset control parameters. The approach for preset control parameters is given. By introducing them into the MIP formulation, the model is reformulated as a piecewise form. Further, a piecewise method by updating preset control parameters is proposed for solving the reformulated model. Numerical experiments show that the proposed method produces better solution within reasonable computing time.
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Library performance and service competition developing strategic responses
White, Larry Nash
2008-01-01
A practice-driven and proven resource for library administrators of all types of libraries. The work describes how the library can identify the service environment factors impacting customers; strategic needs; identify library competitors; strategic abilities and service environment impacts; and use the combined results to develop proactive competitive responses that drive the service environment instead of reacting to the service environment. These strategic competitive responses would allow the library to increase the value of its service impact and effectiveness while increasing customer appreciation and the libraries advantage in the competitive service environment. Written by a highly knowledgeable practitioner from the library field Experience of the author (library and for-profit management experience) provides a hybrid/blended view of library competition and management responses from both the library and for-profit management worlds Written to applicable to all types of libraries.
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The Role of Herbivory in Structuring Tropical Seagrass Ecosystem Service Delivery
Scott, Abigail L.; York, Paul H.; Duncan, Clare; Macreadie, Peter I.; Connolly, Rod M.; Ellis, Megan T.; Jarvis, Jessie C.; Jinks, Kristin I.; Marsh, Helene; Rasheed, Michael A.
2018-01-01
Seagrass meadows support key ecosystem services, via provision of food directly for herbivores, and indirectly to their predators. The importance of herbivores in seagrass meadows has been well-documented, but the links between food webs and ecosystem services in seagrass meadows have not previously been made explicit. Herbivores interact with ecosystem services – including carbon sequestration, cultural values, and coastal protection. Interactions can be positive or negative and depend on a range of factors including the herbivore identity and the grazing type and intensity. There can be unintended consequences from management actions based on a poor understanding of trade-offs that occur with complex seagrass-herbivore interactions. Tropical seagrass meadows support a diversity of grazers spanning the meso-, macro-, and megaherbivore scales. We present a conceptual model to describe how multiple ecosystem services are influenced by herbivore pressure in tropical seagrass meadows. Our model suggests that a balanced ecosystem, incorporating both seagrass and herbivore diversity, is likely to sustain the broadest range of ecosystem services. Our framework suggests the pathway to achieve desired ecosystem services outcomes requires knowledge on four key areas: (1) how size classes of herbivores interact to structure seagrass; (2) desired community and management values; (3) seagrass responses to top–down and bottom–up controls; (4) the pathway from intermediate to final ecosystem services and human benefits. We suggest research should be directed to these areas. Herbivory is a major structuring influence in tropical seagrass systems and needs to be considered for effective management of these critical habitats and their services. PMID:29487606
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Economic modelling of energy services: Rectifying misspecified energy demand functions
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Hunt, Lester C.; Ryan, David L.
2015-01-01
Although it is well known that energy demand is derived, since energy is required not for its own sake but for the energy services it produces – such as heating, lighting, and motive power – energy demand models, both theoretical and empirical, often fail to take account of this feature. In this paper, we highlight the misspecification that results from ignoring this aspect, and its empirical implications – biased estimates of price elasticities and other measures – and provide a relatively simple and empirically practicable way to rectify it, which has a strong theoretical grounding. To do so, we develop an explicit model of consumer behaviour in which utility derives from consumption of energy services rather than from the energy sources that are used to produce them. As we discuss, this approach opens up the possibility of examining many aspects of energy demand in a theoretically sound way that have not previously been considered on a widespread basis, although some existing empirical work could be interpreted as being consistent with this type of specification. While this formulation yields demand equations for energy services rather than for energy or particular energy sources, these are shown to be readily converted, without added complexity, into the standard type of energy demand equation(s) that is (are) typically estimated. The additional terms that the resulting energy demand equations include, compared to those that are typically estimated, highlight the misspecification that is implicit when typical energy demand equations are estimated. A simple solution for dealing with an apparent drawback of this formulation for empirical purposes, namely that information is required on typically unobserved energy efficiency, indicates how energy efficiency can be captured in the model, such as by including exogenous trends and/or including its possible dependence on past energy prices. The approach is illustrated using an empirical example that involves
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Fee-based services in sci-tech libraries
Mount, Ellis
2013-01-01
This timely and important book explores how fee-based services have developed in various types of sci-tech libraries. The authoritative contributors focus on the current changing financial aspects of the sci-tech library operation and clarify for the reader how these changes have brought about conditions in which traditional methods of funding are no longer adequate. What new options are open and how they are best being applied in today's sci-tech libraries is fully and clearly explained and illustrated. Topics explored include cost allocation and cost recovery, fees for computer searching, an
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Business models for full service energy renovation of single-family houses in Nordic countries
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Mahapatra, Krushna; Gustavsson, Leif; Haavik, Trond
2013-01-01
the similarities are on how the service is provided. Even though there is strong business potential for one-stop-shop energy renovation concept, still it has been somewhat difficult to start or run such a business. Various options to overcome the hindrances to promote energy efficient renovation of detached houses...... markets are dominated by handicraft-based individual solutions. In this paper we have analyzed the opportunities for implementation of one-stop-shop business models where an overall contractor offers full-service renovation packages including consulting, independent energy audit, renovation work, follow......-up (independent quality control and commissioning) and financing. A comparative assessment of emerging business models in the Nordic countries shows that different types of actors can provide such a service. Financing is included in some models. There are differences in how customers are contacted, while...
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Wagener, Johannes; Spjuth, Ola; Willighagen, Egon L; Wikberg, Jarl E S
2009-09-04
Life sciences make heavily use of the web for both data provision and analysis. However, the increasing amount of available data and the diversity of analysis tools call for machine accessible interfaces in order to be effective. HTTP-based Web service technologies, like the Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) and REpresentational State Transfer (REST) services, are today the most common technologies for this in bioinformatics. However, these methods have severe drawbacks, including lack of discoverability, and the inability for services to send status notifications. Several complementary workarounds have been proposed, but the results are ad-hoc solutions of varying quality that can be difficult to use. We present a novel approach based on the open standard Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP), consisting of an extension (IO Data) to comprise discovery, asynchronous invocation, and definition of data types in the service. That XMPP cloud services are capable of asynchronous communication implies that clients do not have to poll repetitively for status, but the service sends the results back to the client upon completion. Implementations for Bioclipse and Taverna are presented, as are various XMPP cloud services in bio- and cheminformatics. XMPP with its extensions is a powerful protocol for cloud services that demonstrate several advantages over traditional HTTP-based Web services: 1) services are discoverable without the need of an external registry, 2) asynchronous invocation eliminates the need for ad-hoc solutions like polling, and 3) input and output types defined in the service allows for generation of clients on the fly without the need of an external semantics description. The many advantages over existing technologies make XMPP a highly interesting candidate for next generation online services in bioinformatics.
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Commercializing ALURTRONs electron beam irradiation services
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Siti Aiasah Hashim; Mohd Sidek Othman; Shari Jahar; Sarada Idris; Naurah Mohd Isa; Muhamad Zahidee Taat
2010-01-01
ALURTRON has been the nation's sole electron irradiation service provider for research sectors. The main irradiation is done by utilising the EPS 3000 Cockcroft-Walton type 3.0 MeV, 90 k Watts electron beam machine (EBM). With more than 15 years experience in the operation and maintenance of the EPS, the challenge is now to commercialize the service at a larger and profitable scale. Medical products sterilization at commercial level has been ruled out since the energy is insufficient to penetrate dense and non-homogenous items. Recently, the demand for irradiation of wire and heat shrinkable tubes is showing bigger commercial potential. Therefore, prudent planning considerations need to be taken to ensure profitable return to the agency. Calculations were made to estimate ALURTRON service capacity, based on the existing EBM and its auxiliary systems. Details of the calculation including all the variables are presented. Results indicated that Alurtron should be able to process a minimum of 1000 km of small wires per month, running at 150 m/ min, working in two shifts, 5 days a week. The projected revenue is dependent on the charges imposed on the basis of total length delivered. (author)
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Community care and social services.
Renwick, D.
1996-01-01
The aim of community care is to enable people with various types of disability to live in their own homes, rather than in institutions. This involves the provision of support and services at home by various agencies. After a critical report in 1986 identified problems with coordination and flexibility of community care services, the white paper Caring for People (1989) stated the government's aim to provide a "needs led," responsive range of services, promoting maximum independence of those w...
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Certification of support services
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Hroch, A.; Osusky, V.
2006-01-01
In this paper the process of certification of support services in the Slovenske elektrarne, a. s. is described. The nuclear power plants are also included into support services. Provisions and economic aspects of support services are discussed
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2010-05-20
... workers were sufficiently under the control of the subject firm to be considered leased workers. Based on... On-Site Leased Workers From Kelly Services, Summerton, SC; Amended Certification Regarding Eligibility To Apply for Worker Adjustment Assistance In accordance with Section 223 of the Trade Act of 1974...
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Forestry-service entrepreneurs as producers of services
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Koistinen, A.
1999-01-01
The concept of forestry-service enterprise used in the joint study (1997-7999) by the TTS-Institute and the Finnish Forest Research Institute (Metla) refers to enterprises and co-operatives (including forest workers operating as entrepreneurs) offering services in the fields of silviculture, basic forest improvement, planning and wood-harvesting sector. Companies practicing large-scale wood-conversion and traditional forestry-machine and road haulage contractors are not included in this approach. It can be estimated that there is a total of 450 such entrepreneurs in the country Those engaged in only a minor degree in providing forestry services are not included in the figure. The nation-wide research material was collected in the form of a mail questionnaire addressed to forestry-service entrepreneurs (n=320) in the spring of 1998. Almost all forestry-service entrepreneurs provide timber felling as a service. More than half of them do planting, cleaning of young stands, tending of young stands, and forest haulage of timber. Forestry planning is done by nearly a quarter. With the focus of operations as calculated from the enterprises turnover serving as the basis, it became apparent that the majority of entrepreneurship takes place in the form of logging. The means of transport is mostly an agricultural tractor. Most of entrepreneurs have switched to entrepreneurship only recently. Nearly a third have college level education in forestry, 39 % have switched over from their previous occupation of forest worker. Most entrepreneurs are full-time, private practitioners. Their median turnover in 1997 was FIM 180 000. Non-industrial private forest owners form the clientele for 82 % of the entrepreneurs, while local forest management associations are sources of employment for 68 % of the entrepreneurs. As to the average breakdown of the sources of their turnover 31 % is earned from jobs done for local forest management associations, 31 % comes from local forest management
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Trute, B; Hiebert-Murphy, D; Wright, A
2008-05-01
Potential service outcome measures were tested for their utility in the assessment of the quality of 'family centred' service coordination in the provincial network of children's disability services in Manitoba, Canada. This study is based on in-home survey data provided by 103 mothers at 6 and 18 months following assignment of a 'dedicated' service coordinator. Service outcome indicators included measures of parent self-esteem, parenting stress, family functioning and the need for family support resources. Hierarchical regression analyses showed no relationship between level of quality of family-centred service coordination and standardized psychosocial measures of parent and family functioning. However, family centredness of service coordination was found to predict significant reduction in level of family need for psychosocial support resources after 18 months of contact with a service coordinator. Outcome measures that are focused on specific and tangible results of service coordination appear to be of higher utility in service quality assessment than are more global, standardized measures of parent and family functioning.
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Quality of delivered care for people with type 2 diabetes: a new patient-centred model.
Tabrizi, Jafar S
2009-12-28
The quality of care from the perspective of people with Type 2 diabetes using a new model (CQMH) including three dimensions of quality in health care (Technical, Service and Customer Quality) was assessed. A cross-sectional survey with a sample of 577 people with Type 2 diabetes was conducted. Measures were self-reported adherence to national guidelines for technical quality, the Netherlands Institute for Health Services Research questionnaire for service quality and the short form of the Patient Activation Measure for Customer Quality. There was a significant gap in technical quality between what diabetes care the patients reported receiving and what was recommended in the guideline, particularly for management and lifestyle aspects. For service quality, the lowest scores were for choice of care provider and accessibility of care. The mean Customer Quality score was 64.5 (meaning higher score indicating better quality). A positive relationship was demonstrated between higher technical, service and customer quality scores, and better diabetes control status as well as maintaining continuity of care. The average Quality Index was 70.0 of a 0-100 scale. Customer Quality appears to be a useful third dimension in conceptualising quality in health care, particularly in the context of chronic disease, where good self-management can improve the outcomes of care. A high proportion of Queensland adults with Type 2 diabetes reported receiving suboptimal care in the majority aspects of provided care services as reflected in the overall Quality Index score indicating substantial room for quality improvement.
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Untung Kuzairi
2018-04-01
Full Text Available One of heatlh policies implemented by the hospital is the minimum service standards (MSS. MSS is a benchmark of hospital service quality in providing services to the public. Talking about health service quality problem, it was found out as the field fact that the achievement of MSS indicator in General Hospital of Dr. H. Koesnadi Bondowoso, Indonesia in 2016 still did not fulfill target of standard hospital service (type B and minimum service standard (MSS of hospital. This fact shows that the quality of health services in general hospital of dr. H. Koesnadi Bondowoso is still low. So, this research aims to describe the policy implementation of minimum service standard and to analyze the obstacles in the implementation of MSS policy at general hospital of dr. H. Koesnadi Bondowoso. So, this research would discuss the policy implementation of minimum service standards by using Edward III concept as a tool to analyze it. This research employed qualitative research with phenomenological approach. The results showed that the implementation of MSS policy of dr. H. Koesnadi Bondowoso general hospital still did not run well. This was due to several factors such as communication, bureaucratic structure, sources, dispositions (attitude and leadership in sectoral ego control. Sectoral ego can be shaped from educational background of specialist doctors who still adhered seniority and lack of individual role of implementor in building interpersonal communication and conflict management.
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The cost-effectiveness of gestational diabetes screening including prevention of type 2 diabetes
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Marseille, Elliot; Lohse, Nicolai; Jiwani, Aliya
2013-01-01
Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is associated with elevated risks of perinatal complications and type 2 diabetes mellitus, and screening and intervention can reduce these risks. We quantified the cost, health impact and cost-effectiveness of GDM screening and intervention in India and Israel,...
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Distribution and utilization of curative primary healthcare services in Lahej, Yemen.
Bawazir, A A; Bin Hawail, T S; Al-Sakkaf, K A Z; Basaleem, H O; Muhraz, A F; Al-Shehri, A M
2013-09-01
No evidence-based data exist on the availability, accessibility and utilization of healthcare services in Lahej Governorate, Yemen. The aim of this study was to assess the distribution and utilization of curative services in primary healthcare units and centres in Lahej. Cross-sectional study (clustering sample). This study was conducted in three of the 15 districts in Lahej between December 2009 and August 2010. Household members were interviewed using a questionnaire to determine sociodemographic characteristics and types of healthcare services available in the area. The distribution of health centres, health units and hospitals did not match the size of the populations or areas of the districts included in this study. Geographical accessibility was the main obstacle to utilization. Factors associated with the utilization of curative services were significantly related to the time required to reach the nearest facility, seeking curative services during illness and awareness of the availability of health facilities (P < 0.01). There is an urgent need to look critically and scientifically at the distribution of healthcare services in the region in order to ensure accessibility and quality of services. Copyright © 2013 The Royal Society for Public Health. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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Forecasting economic aspects of future wireless services
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Falch, Morten; Henten, Anders; Saugstrup, Dan
services be shaped like the Internet today with a large number of independent information providers offering their services directly to the customers? This deliverable will analyse economic models for delivery of ‘3G and beyond’ wireless Internet services, and assess the types of services that will drive...... the market and the business models to be applied. The analysis will take current market trends as point of departure with focus on vanguard markets with respect to 3G services....
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Service water electrochemical monitoring development at Ontario Hydro
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Brennenstuhl, A.M.
1994-01-01
Ontario Hydro (OH) is currently investigating the feasibility of using electrochemical techniques for the corrosion monitoring of service water systems. To date all evaluations have been carried out in a field simulator. The studies include examining the effects of; system startup after periods of stagnation, sodium hypochlorite injection, and zebra mussel settlement on metallic surfaces. Carbon steel and Type 304L stainless steel have been evaluated. Electrochemical potential noise (EPN), electrochemical current noise (ECN) potential and coupling current were semi-continuously monitored over a period of up to one year. Data obtained from the electrochemical noise monitoring has given OH valuable insights into the mechanisms of degradation in service water systems. The high sensitivity of the electrochemical noise technique, particularly to localized corrosion has proved to be the major attraction of the system
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2010-01-05
... NSTAR, Austin, Texas. The notice was published in the Federal Register on November 17, 2009 (74 FR 59253... Resources, SQA Services and NSTAR; Austin, TX; Amended Certification Regarding Eligibility To Apply for... NSTAR, Austin, Texas, who became totally or partially separated from employment on or after June 25...
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Knudsen, Hannah K; Studts, Jamie L; Boyd, Sara; Roman, Paul M
2010-07-01
Few studies have examined associations between the availability of smoking cessation services in addiction treatment organizations and specific cultural, staffing, and resource barriers. Telephone interviews were conducted with administrators of 897 addiction treatment organizations in the United States. These data revealed that few programs had adopted the full bundle of five recommended tobacco-related intake procedures, and that less than half of programs offered any smoking cessation services. Barriers to adoption of the intake bundle and availability of services included organizational culture and low levels of staff skills. Adoption of cessation services was associated with center type, location in a hospital setting, levels of care, and organizational size. Although a substantial proportion of organizations offer smoking cessation services, expansion of these services and greater adoption of tobacco-related intake procedures are needed to address the needs of nicotine-dependent individuals in addiction treatment.
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Quality policy at nuclear medicine services
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Gil Martinez, Eduardo Manuel; Jimenez, Tomas
2007-01-01
In the present text we comment about a Quality Policy model to establish in a Nuclear Medicine Service. The need for a strict control in every process that take place in a Nuclear Medicine Service, requires of an exact planification in terms of Quality Policy, specific to the real needs of every Service. Quality Policy must be a live Policy, with capability of changes and must be known for every workers in a Nuclear Medicine Service. Although the 'model' showed in this text is concret for a specific Service type, it must be extrapolated to any Nuclear Medicine Service with the necessary changes (au)
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Using ZFIN: Data Types, Organization, and Retrieval.
Van Slyke, Ceri E; Bradford, Yvonne M; Howe, Douglas G; Fashena, David S; Ramachandran, Sridhar; Ruzicka, Leyla
2018-01-01
The Zebrafish Model Organism Database (ZFIN; zfin.org) was established in 1994 as the primary genetic and genomic resource for the zebrafish research community. Some of the earliest records in ZFIN were for people and laboratories. Since that time, services and data types provided by ZFIN have grown considerably. Today, ZFIN provides the official nomenclature for zebrafish genes, mutants, and transgenics and curates many data types including gene expression, phenotypes, Gene Ontology, models of human disease, orthology, knockdown reagents, transgenic constructs, and antibodies. Ontologies are used throughout ZFIN to structure these expertly curated data. An integrated genome browser provides genomic context for genes, transgenics, mutants, and knockdown reagents. ZFIN also supports a community wiki where the research community can post new antibody records and research protocols. Data in ZFIN are accessible via web pages, download files, and the ZebrafishMine (zebrafishmine.org), an installation of the InterMine data warehousing software. Searching for data at ZFIN utilizes both parameterized search forms and a single box search for searching or browsing data quickly. This chapter aims to describe the primary ZFIN data and services, and provide insight into how to use and interpret ZFIN searches, data, and web pages.
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Energy Efficiency Services Sector: Workforce Education and Training Needs
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Goldman, Charles A.; Peters, Jane S.; Albers, Nathaniel; Stuart, Elizabeth; Fuller, Merrian C.
2010-03-19
This report provides a baseline assessment of the current state of energy efficiency-related education and training programs and analyzes training and education needs to support expected growth in the energy efficiency services workforce. In the last year, there has been a significant increase in funding for 'green job' training and workforce development (including energy efficiency), through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). Key segments of the energy efficiency services sector (EESS) have experienced significant growth during the past several years, and this growth is projected to continue and accelerate over the next decade. In a companion study (Goldman et al. 2009), our research team estimated that the EESS will increase two- to four-fold by 2020, to 220,000 person-years of employment (PYE) (low-growth scenario) or up to 380,000 PYE (high-growth scenario), which may represent as many as 1.3 million individuals. In assessing energy efficiency workforce education and training needs, we focus on energy-efficiency services-related jobs that are required to improve the efficiency of residential and nonresidential buildings. Figure ES-1 shows the market value chain for the EESS, sub-sectors included in this study, as well as the types of market players and specific occupations. Our assessment does not include the manufacturing, wholesale, and retail distribution subsectors, or energy efficiency-focused operations and maintenance performed by facility managers.
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Forging New Service Paths: Institutional Approaches to Providing Research Data Management Services
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Regina Raboin
2012-01-01
Full Text Available Objective: This paper describes three different institutional experiences in developing research data management programs and services, challenges/opportunities and lessons learned.Overview: This paper is based on the Librarian Panel Discussion during the 4th Annual University of Massachusetts and New England Region e-Science Symposium. Librarians representing large public and private research universities presented an overview of service models developed at their respective organizations to bring support for data management and eScience to their communities. The approaches described include two library-based, integrated service models and one collaboratively-staffed, center-based service model.Results: Three institutions describe their experiences in creating the organizational capacity for research data management support services. Although each institutional approach is unique, common challenges include garnering administrative support, managing the integration of services with new or existing staff structures, and continuing to meet researchers needs as they evolve.Conclusions: There is no one way to provide research data management services, but any staff position, committee, or formalized center reflects an overarching organizational commitment to data management support.
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Schaffner, Donald W; Jensen, Dane; Gerba, Charles P; Shumaker, David; Arbogast, James W
2018-02-01
Concern has been raised regarding the public health risks from refillable bulk-soap dispensers because they provide an environment for potentially pathogenic bacteria to grow. This study surveyed the microbial quality of open refillable bulk soap in four different food establishment types in three states. Two hundred ninety-six samples of bulk soap were collected from food service establishments in Arizona, New Jersey, and Ohio. Samples were tested for total heterotrophic viable bacteria, Pseudomonas, coliforms and Escherichia coli, and Salmonella. Bacteria were screened for antibiotic resistance. The pH, solids content, and water activity of all soap samples were measured. Samples were assayed for the presence of the common antibacterial agents triclosan and parachlorometaxylenol. More than 85% of the soap samples tested contained no detectable microorganisms, but when a sample contained any detectable microorganisms, it was most likely contaminated at a very high level (∼7 log CFU/mL). Microorganisms detected in contaminated soap included Klebsiella oxytoca, Serratia liquefaciens, Shigella sonnei, Enterobacter gergoviae, Serratia odorifera, and Enterobacter cloacae. Twenty-three samples contained antibiotic-resistant organisms, some of which were resistant to two or more antibiotics. Every sample containing less than 4% solids had some detectable level of bacteria, whereas no samples with greater than 14% solids had detectable bacteria. This finding suggests the use of dilution and/or low-cost formulations as a cause of bacterial growth. There was a statistically significant difference ( P = 0.0035) between the fraction of bacteria-positive samples with no detected antimicrobial agent (17%) and those containing an antimicrobial agent (7%). Fast food operations and grocery stores were more likely to have detectable bacteria in bulk-soap samples compared with convenience stores ( P food service establishments.
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A Type System for Dynamic Web Documents
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Schwartzbach, Michael Ignatieff; Sandholm, Anders
2000-01-01
Many interactive Web services use the CGI interface for communication with clients. They will dynamically create HTML documents that are presented to the client who then resumes the interaction by submitting data through incorporated form fields. This protocol is difficult to statically type-chec...... system is based on a flow analysis of which we prove soundness. We present an efficient runtime implementation that respects the semantics of only well-typed programs. This work is fully implemented as part of the system for defining interactive Web services.......Many interactive Web services use the CGI interface for communication with clients. They will dynamically create HTML documents that are presented to the client who then resumes the interaction by submitting data through incorporated form fields. This protocol is difficult to statically type...
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Transformation to cloud services sourcing : Required it governance capabilities
Joha, A.; Janssen, M.F.W.H.A.
2012-01-01
The sourcing of cloud services is a relatively new type of service delivery model in which an organization gets access to IT services via a cloud service provider that is delivering services over the web to many users on a pay per use or period basis. Even though the importance of IT governance is
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The service of public services performance management
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Lystbæk, Christian Tang
perspectives on the potential impact of public service performance measurement offer a range of contradictory propositions. Its alleged benefits include public assurance, better functioning of supply markets for public services, and direct improvements of public services. But the literature also demonstrates...... the existence of significant concern about the actual impact, the costs and unintended consequences associated with performance measurement. Performance measurement and management have been part of the political agenda within the public sphere since their adoption in the post-Second World War period...... of political masters and their mistresses rather than public service. Another area of concern is the cost of performance measurement. Hood & Peters (2004:278) note that performance measurement is likely to “distract middle- and upper-level officials, create massive paperwork, and produce major unintended...
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The service of public services performance measurement
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Lystbæk, Christian Tang
2014-01-01
that performance measurement serves as “rituals of verification” which promotes the interests of political masters and their mistresses rather than public service. Another area of concern is the cost of performance measurement. Hood & Peters (2004:278) note that performance measurement is likely to “distract...... measurement suggests a range of contested and contradictory propositions. Its alleged benefits include public assurance, better functioning of supply markets for public services, and direct improvements of public services. But the literature also demonstrates the existence of significant concern about...... the actual impact, the costs and unintended consequences associated with performance measurement. This paper identifies the main rationales and rationalities in the scholarly discourse on public services performance measurement. It concludes with some suggestions on how to deal with the many rationales...
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2010-09-03
...] Telecommunications Relay Services and Speech-to-Speech Services for Individuals With Hearing and Speech Disabilities...; speech-to-speech (STS); pay-per-call (900) calls; types of calls; and equal access to interexchange... of a report, due April 16, 2011, addressing whether it is necessary for the waivers to remain in...
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On the relation between cost and service models for general inventory systems
Houtum, van G.J.J.A.N.; Zijm, W.H.M.
2000-01-01
In this paper, we present a systematic overview of possible relations between cost and service models for fairly general single- and multi-stage inventory systems. In particular, we relate various types of penalty costs in pure cost models to equivalent types of service measures in service models.
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Audit of an inpatient liaison psychiatry consultation service.
LENUS (Irish Health Repository)
Lyne, John
2012-02-01
PURPOSE: The purpose of this paper is to examine an audit that was performed of all patients referred to a liaison psychiatry inpatient consultation service which sought to establish a baseline for demographics, type of referral, and management of referrals, with a view to introducing improved evidence-based treatments. It also aims to examine timeliness of response to referrals benchmarked against published standards. DESIGN\\/METHODOLOGY\\/APPROACH: All inpatient referrals to a liaison psychiatry service were recorded over a six-month period, including demographics, diagnosis, management and timeliness of response to referrals. The data were retrospectively analysed and compared against international standards. FINDINGS: A total of 172 referrals were received in the six months. Commonest referral reasons included assessments regarding depressive disorders (23.8 per cent), delirium\\/other cognitive disorders (19.2 per cent), alcohol-related disorders (18.6 per cent), anxiety disorders (14.5 per cent), and risk management (12.2 per cent). Evidence-based practices were not utilised effectively for a number of different types of presentations. A total of 40.1 per cent of referrals were seen on the same day, 75.4 per cent by the end of the next day, and 93.4 per cent by the end of the following day. PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS: Use of a hospital protocol for management of delirium may improve outcomes for these patients. Evidence-based techniques, such as brief intervention therapies, may be beneficial for referrals involving alcohol dependence. Referrals were seen reasonably quickly, but there is room for improvement when compared with published standards. ORIGINALITY\\/VALUE: This paper provides valuable information for those involved in management of liaison psychiatry consultation services, providing ideas for development and implementation of evidence based practices.
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A Study on the Development of Curriculum Track for Civil Service Librarian
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Younghee Noh
2013-06-01
Full Text Available The goal of this study is to improve the competitiveness of professional librarians in society. To this end, we analyzed domestic and international LIS curriculum, determined demand from field librarians through a survey, carried out job analysis by library types, and developed an operating model for LIS curriculum by synthesizing all of these results. Finally, we suggested a course of study for civil service librarians based on this model. As a result, the six required courses for civil service librarians are: Introduction to Library and Information Science, Information Organization, Information Services (Reference and Information Services, Library Management, Information Retrieval, and Field Work. The four core courses for the civil service concentration are: Collection Development, Information Sources by Subjects, Public Library Management, and Digital Libraries. Suggested electives best suited to this career path include Using Web Resources, Information Literacy, Information Services in Culturally Diverse Communities, Library Marketing, Libraries and Cultural Programs, Reading Guidance, Library History, Small Library Management, Studies in Library Buildings, Library Cooperation, Managing Digital Collections, and Information and Communication in a Digital Age.
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Knowledge Service Engineering Handbook
Kantola, Jussi
2012-01-01
Covering the emerging field of knowledge service engineering, this groundbreaking handbook outlines how to acquire and utilize knowledge in the 21st century. Drawn on the expertise of the founding faculty member of the world's first university knowledge engineering service department, this book describes what knowledge services engineering means and how it is different from service engineering and service production. Presenting multiple cultural aspects including US, Finnish, and Korean, this handbook provides engineering, systemic, industry, and consumer use viewpoints to knowledge service sy
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Evaluating technology service options.
Blumberg, D F
1997-05-01
Four service and support options are available to healthcare organizations for maintaining their growth arsenals of medical and information technology. These options include maintaining and servicing all equipment using a facility-based biomedical engineering and MIS service department; using a combination of facility-based service and subcontracted service; expanding facility-based biomedical and MIS service departments to provide service to other healthcare organizations to achieve economies of scale; and outsourcing all maintenance, repair, and technical support services. Independent service companies and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) are offering healthcare organizations a wider array of service and support capabilities than ever before. However, some health systems have successfully developed their own independent service organizations to take care of their own--and other healthcare organizations'--service and support needs.
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Measuring service line competitive position. A systematic methodology for hospitals.
Studnicki, J
1991-01-01
To mount a broad effort aimed at improving their competitive position for some service or group of services, hospitals have begun to pursue product line management techniques. A few hospitals have even reorganized completely under the product line framework. The benefits include focusing accountability for operations and results, facilitating coordination between departments and functions, stimulating market segmentation, and promoting rigorous examination of new and existing programs. As part of its strategic planning process, a suburban Baltimore hospital developed a product line management methodology with six basic steps: (1) define the service lines (which they did by grouping all existing diagnosis-related groups into 35 service lines), (2) determine the contribution of each service line to total inpatient volume, (3) determine trends in service line volumes (by comparing data over time), (4) derive a useful comparison group (competing hospitals or groups of hospitals with comparable size, scope of services, payer mix, and financial status), (5) review multiple time frames, and (6) summarize the long- and short-term performance of the hospital's service lines to focus further analysis. This type of systematic and disciplined analysis can become part of a permanent strategic intelligence program. When hospitals have such a program in place, their market research, planning, budgeting, and operations will be tied together in a true management decision support system.
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Talking about Customer Service.
Talley, Mary; Axelroth, Joan
2001-01-01
Discusses customer service in information centers and how to define it. Topics include the effects of competition, that give customers more choices; defining customers, and defining services; communications; physical environment; change, in customers and in technology; measuring customer service; and evaluating policies and procedures. (LRW)
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Therapy service use among individuals with fragile X syndrome: findings from a US parent survey.
Martin, G E; Ausderau, K K; Raspa, M; Bishop, E; Mallya, U; Bailey, D B
2013-09-01
Fragile X syndrome (FXS) is known to be associated with a range of developmental challenges, yet the occurrence and intensity of therapy services along with associated factors have not been determined. In a US national survey, caregivers provided information regarding the therapy services received by their sons (n = 1013) and daughters (n = 283) with FXS (from birth to 63 years; mean = 15.6 years, SD = 10.6). Caregivers reported (1) type, (2) amount, (3) location, and (4) overall satisfaction with services. Associations with other child variables and family income were also examined. Key findings included that 72% of males and 47% of females were currently receiving at least one type of therapy service; the most common services for both males and females were speech-language therapy (ST) and occupational therapy (OT). Overall, males were more likely to receive therapy services as well as a greater number of services than females. Autism status was significantly associated with both males and females receiving ST and males receiving OT and behaviour management therapy. Therapies were provided in a variety of locations, and parents were generally satisfied with the amount and quality of therapy services. Age-related declines were evident in the use of services for both males and females, with very few individuals receiving any therapy services after 20 years of age. This study provides a baseline description of the current state of therapy services for children with FXS, laying a foundation for future research and recommendations for service provision and policy. © 2012 The Authors. Journal of Intellectual Disability Research © 2012 John Wiley & Sons Ltd, MENCAP & IASSID.
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A Theory of Service Dependency
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Mats Neovius
2016-06-01
Full Text Available Service composition has become commonplace nowadays, in large part due to the increased complexity of software and supporting networks. Composition can be of many types, for instance sequential, prioritising, non-deterministic. However, a fundamental feature of the services to be composed consists in their dependencies with respect to each other. In this paper we propose a theory of service dependency, modelled around a dependency operator in the Action Systems formalism. We analyze its properties, composition behaviour, and refinement conditions with accompanying examples.
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International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Perks, Christopher A.; Faugoin, Stephane; Serise, Bertrand; Prugnaud, Brice; Million, Marc
2008-01-01
Full text: In our offices at Fontenay-aux-Roses we provide personal dosimetry for over 100,000 participants. During 2005/6 we transformed our operations from film dosemeters to those using Optically Stimulated Luminescence (InLight (Trade Mark)). The opportunity was taken to fully overhaul our operational procedures and we are currently completely reworking our 'back-office' software support. The change from film to InLight dosimetry has involved: 1) The installation of new readers at our offices in Fontenay-aux Roses; 2) The installation of a physical badge archiving system; 3) Complete revision of the operational flow to optimise the benefits of the new service; 4) Maintenance of our approval to operate a personal dosimetry service in France; 5) Considerable liaison between our office in Fontenay-aux-Roses and our Glenwood, USA, parent company to enable complete integration of the processes; and 6) Maintaining the service throughout the changeover and keeping client satisfaction high. Having changed the physical environment we are now completely renewing the back office software and systems in support of the dosimetry service. This ranges in scope from entering new clients, client support, all aspects of the dosimetry operations and chain of custody of the dosemeters and participants records and reports. This system is being rolled out in sections and it is envisaged that it will be fully implemented at the start of 2008. A key feature is that continuing improvement and the possibility of future developments of our services is in-built into the philosophy of the new back-office system. The nature of the new system, its benefits to our own operations and, in particular, clients will be discussed. (author)
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2010-10-01
... 42 Public Health 1 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Man test for gases and vapors; Type C respirators, continuous-flow class and Type CE supplied-air respirators; test requirements. 84.162 Section 84.162 Public Health PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH RESEARCH AND RELATED ACTIVITIES APPROVAL...
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2015-05-01
mobile phones, tablets, laptops, workstations). • Resource Pooling – Computing resources are pooled to serve multiple consumers using a...service provision via a cloud backend , able to scale in and out on demand, accessed over a secure network by the types of devices typically available at
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Steurbaut, Kristof; Van Hoecke, Sofie; Colpaert, Kirsten; Lamont, Kristof; Taveirne, Kristof; Depuydt, Pieter; Benoit, Dominique; Decruyenaere, Johan; De Turck, Filip
2010-01-01
The increasing complexity of procedures in the intensive care unit (ICU) requires complex software services, to reduce improper use of antibiotics and inappropriate therapies, and to offer earlier and more accurate detection of infections and antibiotic resistance. We investigated whether web-based software can facilitate the computerization of complex medical processes in the ICU. The COSARA application contains the following modules: Infection overview, Thorax, Microbiology, Antibiotic therapy overview, Admission cause with comorbidity and admission diagnosis, Infection linking and registration, and Feedback. After the implementation and test phase, the COSARA software was installed on a physician's office PC and then on the bedside PCs of the patients. Initial evaluation indicated that the services had been integrated easily into the daily clinical workflow of the medical staff. The use of a service oriented architecture with web service technology for the development of advanced decision support in the ICU offers several advantages over classical software design approaches.
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Wagener, Johannes; Spjuth, Ola; Willighagen, Egon L; Wikberg, Jarl ES
2009-01-01
Background Life sciences make heavily use of the web for both data provision and analysis. However, the increasing amount of available data and the diversity of analysis tools call for machine accessible interfaces in order to be effective. HTTP-based Web service technologies, like the Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) and REpresentational State Transfer (REST) services, are today the most common technologies for this in bioinformatics. However, these methods have severe drawbacks, including lack of discoverability, and the inability for services to send status notifications. Several complementary workarounds have been proposed, but the results are ad-hoc solutions of varying quality that can be difficult to use. Results We present a novel approach based on the open standard Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP), consisting of an extension (IO Data) to comprise discovery, asynchronous invocation, and definition of data types in the service. That XMPP cloud services are capable of asynchronous communication implies that clients do not have to poll repetitively for status, but the service sends the results back to the client upon completion. Implementations for Bioclipse and Taverna are presented, as are various XMPP cloud services in bio- and cheminformatics. Conclusion XMPP with its extensions is a powerful protocol for cloud services that demonstrate several advantages over traditional HTTP-based Web services: 1) services are discoverable without the need of an external registry, 2) asynchronous invocation eliminates the need for ad-hoc solutions like polling, and 3) input and output types defined in the service allows for generation of clients on the fly without the need of an external semantics description. The many advantages over existing technologies make XMPP a highly interesting candidate for next generation online services in bioinformatics. PMID:19732427
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Willighagen Egon L
2009-09-01
Full Text Available Abstract Background Life sciences make heavily use of the web for both data provision and analysis. However, the increasing amount of available data and the diversity of analysis tools call for machine accessible interfaces in order to be effective. HTTP-based Web service technologies, like the Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP and REpresentational State Transfer (REST services, are today the most common technologies for this in bioinformatics. However, these methods have severe drawbacks, including lack of discoverability, and the inability for services to send status notifications. Several complementary workarounds have been proposed, but the results are ad-hoc solutions of varying quality that can be difficult to use. Results We present a novel approach based on the open standard Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP, consisting of an extension (IO Data to comprise discovery, asynchronous invocation, and definition of data types in the service. That XMPP cloud services are capable of asynchronous communication implies that clients do not have to poll repetitively for status, but the service sends the results back to the client upon completion. Implementations for Bioclipse and Taverna are presented, as are various XMPP cloud services in bio- and cheminformatics. Conclusion XMPP with its extensions is a powerful protocol for cloud services that demonstrate several advantages over traditional HTTP-based Web services: 1 services are discoverable without the need of an external registry, 2 asynchronous invocation eliminates the need for ad-hoc solutions like polling, and 3 input and output types defined in the service allows for generation of clients on the fly without the need of an external semantics description. The many advantages over existing technologies make XMPP a highly interesting candidate for next generation online services in bioinformatics.
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Plieninger, Tobias; Ferranto, Shasta; Huntsinger, Lynn; Kelly, Maggi; Getz, Christy
2012-09-01
"Working landscapes" is the concept of fostering effective ecosystem stewardship and conservation through active human presence and management and integrating livestock, crop, and timber production with the provision of a broad range of ecosystem services at the landscape scale. Based on a statewide survey of private landowners of "working" forests and rangelands in California, we investigated whether owners who are engaged in commercial livestock or timber production appreciate and manage biodiversity and ecosystem services on their land in different ways than purely residential owners. Both specific uses and management practices, as well as underlying attitudes and motivations toward biodiversity and ecosystem services, were assessed. Correlation analysis showed one bundle of ecosystem goods and services (e.g., livestock, timber, crops, and housing) that is supported by some landowners at the community level. Another closely correlated bundle of biodiversity and ecosystem services includes recreation, hunting/fishing, wildlife habitat, and fire prevention. Producers were more likely to ally with the first bundle and residential owners with the second. The survey further confirmed that cultural ecosystem services and quality-of-life aspects are among the primary amenities that motivate forest and rangeland ownership regardless of ownership type. To live near natural beauty was the most important motive for both landowner groups. Producers were much more active in management for habitat improvement and other environmental goals than residential owners. As the number of production-oriented owners decreases, developing strategies for encouraging environment-positive management by all types of landowners is crucial.
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Rolling Deck to Repository (R2R): Big Data and Standard Services for the Fleet Community
Arko, R. A.; Carbotte, S. M.; Chandler, C. L.; Smith, S. R.; Stocks, K. I.
2014-12-01
The Rolling Deck to Repository (R2R; http://rvdata.us/) program curates underway environmental sensor data from the U.S. academic oceanographic research fleet, ensuring data sets are routinely and consistently documented, preserved in long-term archives, and disseminated to the science community. Currently 25 in-service vessels contribute 7 terabytes of data to R2R each year, acquired from a full suite of geophysical, oceanographic, meteorological, and navigational sensors on over 400 cruises worldwide. To accommodate this large volume and variety of data, R2R has developed highly efficient stewardship procedures. These include scripted "break out" of cruise data packages from each vessel based on standard filename and directory patterns; automated harvest of cruise metadata from the UNOLS Office via Web Services and from OpenXML-based forms submitted by vessel operators; scripted quality assessment routines that calculate statistical summaries and standard ratings for selected data types; adoption of community-standard controlled vocabularies for vessel codes, instrument types, etc, provided by the NERC Vocabulary Server, in lieu of maintaining custom local term lists; and a standard package structure based on the IETF BagIt format for delivering data to long-term archives. Documentation and standard post-field products, including quality-controlled shiptrack navigation data for every cruise, are published in multiple services and formats to satisfy a diverse range of clients. These include Catalog Service for Web (CSW), GeoRSS, and OAI-PMH discovery services via a GeoNetwork portal; OGC Web Map and Feature Services for GIS clients; a citable Digital Object Identifier (DOI) for each dataset; ISO 19115-2 standard geospatial metadata records suitable for submission to long-term archives as well as the POGO global catalog; and Linked Open Data resources with a SPARQL query endpoint for Semantic Web clients. R2R participates in initiatives such as the Ocean Data
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Data dictionary services in XNAT and the Human Connectome Project
Herrick, Rick; McKay, Michael; Olsen, Timothy; Horton, William; Florida, Mark; Moore, Charles J.; Marcus, Daniel S.
2014-01-01
The XNAT informatics platform is an open source data management tool used by biomedical imaging researchers around the world. An important feature of XNAT is its highly extensible architecture: users of XNAT can add new data types to the system to capture the imaging and phenotypic data generated in their studies. Until recently, XNAT has had limited capacity to broadcast the meaning of these data extensions to users, other XNAT installations, and other software. We have implemented a data dictionary service for XNAT, which is currently being used on ConnectomeDB, the Human Connectome Project (HCP) public data sharing website. The data dictionary service provides a framework to define key relationships between data elements and structures across the XNAT installation. This includes not just core data representing medical imaging data or subject or patient evaluations, but also taxonomical structures, security relationships, subject groups, and research protocols. The data dictionary allows users to define metadata for data structures and their properties, such as value types (e.g., textual, integers, floats) and valid value templates, ranges, or field lists. The service provides compatibility and integration with other research data management services by enabling easy migration of XNAT data to standards-based formats such as the Resource Description Framework (RDF), JavaScript Object Notation (JSON), and Extensible Markup Language (XML). It also facilitates the conversion of XNAT's native data schema into standard neuroimaging vocabularies and structures. PMID:25071542
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Classical Process diagrams and Service oriented Architecture
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Milan Mišovič
2013-01-01
Full Text Available SOA (Service Oriented Architecture has played in the last two decades a very useful role in the design philosophy of the target software. The basic units of software for which the mentioned philosophy is valid are called services. Generally it is counted that the advance implementation of services is given by using so–called Web services that are on the platform of the Internet 2.0. Naturally, there has been counted also with the fact that the services will be used in software applications designed by professional programmers. Later, the concept of software services was supported by the enterprise concept of the SOE type (Service oriented Enterprise and by the creation of the SOA paradigm.Many computer scientists, including Thomas Erl – doyen of SOA, do not understand SOA either as an integrated technology or as a development methodology. Proofs of this statement are in the following definitions.SOA is a form of technology architecture that adheres to the principles of service – orientation. When realized through the Web services technology platform, SOA establishes the potential to support and promote these principles throughout the business processes and automation domains of an enterprise (Erl, 2006. Thomas Erl (Erl, 2007 has expressed the idea of SOA implementation using the following definition.SOA establishes an architectural model that aides to enhance the efficiency, agility, and productivity of an enterprise by positioning services as the primary means through which solution logic is represented in support of the realization of strategic goals associated with service-oriented computing. Nevertheless the key principles, on which SOA is constructed (Erl, 2006, are not significantly reflected in any of the previous definitions. Some of the mentioned principles are still included at least in the more free definitions of SOA, for example (Barry, 2003.A service-oriented architecture is essentially a collection of services. These
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Perceptions of Hazing and Bullying among U.S. Military Service Members
2016-10-18
this study. Third, additional demographic criteria such as job type, specific location, and sexual orientation are omitted from these data. These and...perceptions. 31 Fourth, additional demographic criteria not included in the data may indicate perceptual differences based on age or other characteristics...For example, it can be assumed that rank and age are highly correlated, as higher rank service members often have spent more time in the military
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[The treatment received by public health services users in Mexico].
Puentes Rosas, Esteban; Gómez Dantés, Octavio; Garrido Latorre, Francisco
2006-06-01
To document the fact that differences in the treatment received by health services users in Mexico are mainly dependent on the type of provider, regardless of the users' socioeconomic status. The data were obtained by means of a survey of 18 018 users who visited 73 health services in 13 states within Mexico. They were asked to grade the way the institution had performed in seven of the eight domains that define appropriate user treatment (autonomy, confidentiality, communication, respectful manner, condition of basic facilities, access to social assistance networks, and free user choice). The questionnaire included some vignettes to help determine user expectations. A composite ordinal probit model was applied; the perception of quality in connection with each of the appropriate treatment domains was the independent variable, whereas gender, educational level, age, type of provider, and user expectations were used as control variables. The type of provider was the main factor that determined users' perceptions regarding the treatment they received when visiting health services in Mexico. Institutions belonging to the social security system performed the worst, while the services provided under the program targeting the rural population (IMSS Oportunidades) received the highest scores. Overall, the domain that was most highly ranked was respectful manner, whereas the lowest score was given to the ability to choose the provider. Men felt they had been able to communicate better than women, while respectful manner, communication, and social support showed a significant negative association with educational level (P < 0.05). Differences were noted in the way different public health service providers in Mexico treat their users, regardless of the latter's socioeconomic status. Social security system providers showed the greatest deficiencies in this respect. Respectful manner was the domain that received the highest scores in the case of all providers. Organizational
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BioSWR--semantic web services registry for bioinformatics.
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Dmitry Repchevsky
Full Text Available Despite of the variety of available Web services registries specially aimed at Life Sciences, their scope is usually restricted to a limited set of well-defined types of services. While dedicated registries are generally tied to a particular format, general-purpose ones are more adherent to standards and usually rely on Web Service Definition Language (WSDL. Although WSDL is quite flexible to support common Web services types, its lack of semantic expressiveness led to various initiatives to describe Web services via ontology languages. Nevertheless, WSDL 2.0 descriptions gained a standard representation based on Web Ontology Language (OWL. BioSWR is a novel Web services registry that provides standard Resource Description Framework (RDF based Web services descriptions along with the traditional WSDL based ones. The registry provides Web-based interface for Web services registration, querying and annotation, and is also accessible programmatically via Representational State Transfer (REST API or using a SPARQL Protocol and RDF Query Language. BioSWR server is located at http://inb.bsc.es/BioSWR/and its code is available at https://sourceforge.net/projects/bioswr/under the LGPL license.
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BioSWR--semantic web services registry for bioinformatics.
Repchevsky, Dmitry; Gelpi, Josep Ll
2014-01-01
Despite of the variety of available Web services registries specially aimed at Life Sciences, their scope is usually restricted to a limited set of well-defined types of services. While dedicated registries are generally tied to a particular format, general-purpose ones are more adherent to standards and usually rely on Web Service Definition Language (WSDL). Although WSDL is quite flexible to support common Web services types, its lack of semantic expressiveness led to various initiatives to describe Web services via ontology languages. Nevertheless, WSDL 2.0 descriptions gained a standard representation based on Web Ontology Language (OWL). BioSWR is a novel Web services registry that provides standard Resource Description Framework (RDF) based Web services descriptions along with the traditional WSDL based ones. The registry provides Web-based interface for Web services registration, querying and annotation, and is also accessible programmatically via Representational State Transfer (REST) API or using a SPARQL Protocol and RDF Query Language. BioSWR server is located at http://inb.bsc.es/BioSWR/and its code is available at https://sourceforge.net/projects/bioswr/under the LGPL license.
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Service provision in the wake of a new funding model for community pharmacy.
Smith, Alesha J; Scahill, Shane L; Harrison, Jeff; Carroll, Tilley; Medlicott, Natalie J
2018-05-02
Recently, New Zealand has taken a system wide approach providing the biggest reform to New Zealand community pharmacy for 70 years with the aim of providing more clinically orientated patient centred services through a new funding model. The aim of this study was to understand the types of services offered in New Zealand community pharmacies since introduction of the new funding model, what the barriers are to providing these services. A survey of all community pharmacies were undertaken between August, 2014 and February, 2015. Basic descriptive statistics were completed and group comparisons were made using the chi squared test with significance set at p funding attached. Costs and staff availability are the most common barriers to undertake services, more predominantly in patient centred services. This study was the first to provide an evaluation of service provision in response to a new funding model for New Zealand Community Pharmacies. A broad range of services are being undertaken in New Zealand community pharmacies including patient-centred services. A number of barriers to service provision were identified. This study provides a baseline for the current levels of service provision upon which future studies can compare to and evaluate any changes in service provision with differing funding models going forward.
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Food waste volume and origin: Case studies in the Finnish food service sector.
Silvennoinen, Kirsi; Heikkilä, Lotta; Katajajuuri, Juha-Matti; Reinikainen, Anu
2015-12-01
We carried out a project to map the volume and composition of food waste in the Finnish food service sector. The amount, type and origin of avoidable food waste were investigated in 51 food service outlets, including schools, day-care centres, workplace canteens, petrol stations, restaurants and diners. Food service outlet personnel kept diaries and weighed the food produced and wasted during a one-week or one-day period. For weighing and sorting, the food waste was divided into two categories: originally edible (OE) food waste was separated from originally inedible (OIE) waste, such as vegetable peelings, bones and coffee grounds. In addition, food waste (OE) was divided into three categories in accordance with its origins: kitchen waste, service waste and customer leftovers. According to the results, about 20% of all food handled and prepared in the sector was wasted. The findings also suggest that the main drivers of wasted food are buffet services and overproduction. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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Knowledge service decision making in business incubators based on the supernetwork model
Zhao, Liming; Zhang, Haihong; Wu, Wenqing
2017-08-01
As valuable resources for incubating firms, knowledge resources have received gradually increasing attention from all types of business incubators, and business incubators use a variety of knowledge services to stimulate rapid growth in incubating firms. Based on previous research, we generalize the knowledge transfer and knowledge networking services of two main forms of knowledge services and further divide knowledge transfer services into knowledge depth services and knowledge breadth services. Then, we construct the business incubators' knowledge supernetwork model, describe the evolution mechanism among heterogeneous agents and utilize a simulation to explore the performance variance of different business incubators' knowledge services. The simulation results show that knowledge stock increases faster when business incubators are able to provide knowledge services to more incubating firms and that the degree of discrepancy in the knowledge stock increases during the process of knowledge growth. Further, knowledge transfer services lead to greater differences in the knowledge structure, while knowledge networking services lead to smaller differences. Regarding the two types of knowledge transfer services, knowledge depth services are more conducive to knowledge growth than knowledge breadth services, but knowledge depth services lead to greater gaps in knowledge stocks and greater differences in knowledge structures. Overall, it is optimal for business incubators to select a single knowledge service or portfolio strategy based on the amount of time and energy expended on the two types of knowledge services.
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Comparing types of local public health agencies in North Carolina.
Markiewicz, Milissa; Moore, Jill; Foster, Johanna H; Berner, Maureen; Matthews, Gene; Wall, Aimee
2013-01-01
Some states are considering restructuring local public health agencies (LPHAs) in hopes of achieving long-term efficiencies. North Carolina's experience operating different types of LPHAs, such as county health departments, district health departments, public health authorities, and consolidated human services agencies, can provide valuable information to policy makers in other states who are examining how best to organize their local public health system. To identify stakeholders' perceptions of the benefits and challenges associated with different types of LPHAs in North Carolina and to compare LPHA types on selected financial, workforce, and service delivery measures. Focus groups and key informant interviews were conducted to identify stakeholders' perceptions of different LPHA types. To compare LPHA types on finance, workforce, and service delivery measures, descriptive statistical analyses were performed on publicly available quantitative data. North Carolina. Current and former state and local public health practitioners, county commissioners, county managers, assistant managers, state legislators, and others. In addition to identifying stakeholders' perceptions of LPHA types, proportion of total expenditures by funding source, expenditures per capita by funding source, full-time equivalents per 1000 population, and percentage of 127 tracked services offered were calculated. Stakeholders reported benefits and challenges of all LPHA types. LPHA types differ with regard to source of funding, with county health departments and consolidated human services agencies receiving a greater percentage of their funding from county appropriations than districts and authorities, which receive a comparatively larger percentage from other revenues. Types of LPHAs are not entirely distinct from one another, and LPHAs of the same type can vary greatly from one another. However, stakeholders noted differences between LPHA types-particularly with regard to district health
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On the need for data for the verification of service life models for frost damage
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Geiker, Mette Rica; Engelund, Sven
1999-01-01
The purpose of this paper is to draw the attention to the need for the verification of service life models for frost attack on concrete and the collection of relevant data. To illustrate the type of data needed the paper presents models for internal freeze/thaw damage (internal cracking including...
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Marginal ambulatory teaching cost under varying levels of service utilization.
Panton, D M; Mushlin, A I; Gavett, J W
1980-06-01
The ambulatory component of residency training jointly produces two products, namely, training and patient services. In costing educational programs of this type, two approaches are frequently taken. The first considers the total costs of the educational program, including training and patient services. These costs are usually constructed from historical accounting records. The second approach attempts to cost the joint products separately, based upon estimates of future changes in program costs, if the product in question is added to or removed from the program. The second approach relates to typical decisions facing the managers of medical centers and practices used for teaching purposes. This article reports such a study of costs in a primary-care residency training program in a hospital outpatient setting. The costs of the product, i.e., on-the-job training, are evaluated using a replacement-cost concept under different levels of patient services. The results show that the cost of the product, training, is small at full clinical utilization and is sensitive to changes in the volume of services provided.
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Kiran Sukeri
2016-05-01
Full Text Available Objectives: No research data exists on forensic psychiatric service provision in the Eastern Cape, Republic of South Africa. The objective of this research was to assess current forensic psychiatric service provision and utilisation rates at Fort England Hospital. This is important in improving and strengthening the service. A related objective was to develop a model for a provincial prison mental health service. Methodology: This study is a situational analysis of an existing forensic psychiatric service in the Eastern Cape. The design of the study was cross sectional. An audit questionnaire was utilised to collate quantitative data, which was submitted to Fort England Hospital, Grahamstown. A proposed prison mental health service was developed utilising prevalence rates of mental illness among prisoners to calculate bed and staff requirements for an ambulatory and in-patient service. Results: During the study period a total of 403 remand detainees were admitted to the forensic psychiatry division of Fort England Hospital. The average length of stay was 494 days and the bed utilisation rate was determined at 203.54%. We estimate that to provide a provincial prison mental health service to treat psychotic illnesses and major depression the province requires a 52 bedded facility and a total staff complement of approximately 31. Conclusions: Forensic psychiatric services include the assessment, management and treatment of mentally disordered persons in conflict with the law and prisoners requiring psychiatric assessments. The Eastern Cape Province does not have plans or policies to assess and manage mentally ill offenders, resulting in an increased load on available services. We recommend that an inter-departmental task team, which includes Health, Justice and Constitutional Development and Correctional Services, should be established in the province, to develop a strategy to assist in the development of an effective and efficient forensic
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Distal technologies and type 1 diabetes management.
Duke, Danny C; Barry, Samantha; Wagner, David V; Speight, Jane; Choudhary, Pratik; Harris, Michael A
2018-02-01
Type 1 diabetes requires intensive self-management to avoid acute and long-term health complications. In the past two decades, substantial advances in technology have enabled more effective and convenient self-management of type 1 diabetes. Although proximal technologies (eg, insulin pumps, continuous glucose monitors, closed-loop and artificial pancreas systems) have been the subject of frequent systematic and narrative reviews, distal technologies have received scant attention. Distal technologies refer to electronic systems designed to provide a service remotely and include heterogeneous systems such as telehealth, mobile health applications, game-based support, social platforms, and patient portals. In this Review, we summarise the empirical literature to provide current information about the effectiveness of available distal technologies to improve type 1 diabetes management. We also discuss privacy, ethics, and regulatory considerations, issues of global adoption, knowledge gaps in distal technology, and recommendations for future directions. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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Agada, John
1996-01-01
Examines the trend in outsourcing information services and suggests it threatens the survival of corporate libraries. Topics include changes in the competitive corporate environment; characteristics of outsourceable services; managing change; redesigning the corporate librarian's role; and implications for redesigning corporate information…
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Paget, Zoe
2015-02-28
Zoe Paget is the customer services manager at YourVets. Her role includes managing the company's call centre, social media marketing, working with the marketing department to develop customer care initiatives and reporting service levels to the company's directors. British Veterinary Association.
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Evaluation of Patient Satisfaction with Tuberculosis Services in Southern Nigeria
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Ugochukwu U. Onyeonoro
2015-01-01
Full Text Available Objective Knowing tuberculosis (TB patients’ satisfaction enables TB program managers to identify gaps in service delivery and institute measures to address them. This study is aimed at evaluating patients’ satisfaction with TB services in southern Nigeria. Materials and Methods A total of 378 patients accessing TB care were studied using a validated Patient Satisfaction (PS-38 questionnaire on various aspects of TB services. Factor analysis was used to identify eight factors related to TB patient satisfaction. Test of association was used to study the relation between patient satisfaction scores and patient and health facility characteristics, while multilinear regression analysis was used to identify predictors of patient satisfaction. Results Highest satisfaction was reported for adherence counseling and access to care. Patient characteristics were associated with overall satisfaction, registration, adherence counseling, access to care, amenities, and staff attitude, while health system factors were associated with staff attitude, amenities, and health education. Predictors of satisfaction with TB services included gender, educational status, if tested for HIV, distance, payment for TB services, and level and type of health-care facility. Conclusion Patient- and health system–related factors were found to influence patient satisfaction and, hence, should be taken into consideration in TB service programing.
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Evaluation of Patient Satisfaction with Tuberculosis Services in Southern Nigeria
Onyeonoro, Ugochukwu U; Chukwu, Joseph N; Nwafor, Charles C; Meka, Anthony O; Omotowo, Babatunde I; Madichie, Nelson O; Ogbudebe, Chidubem; Ikebudu, Joy N; Oshi, Daniel C; Ekeke, Ngozi; Paul, Nsirimobu I; Duru, Chukwuma B
2015-01-01
OBJECTIVE Knowing tuberculosis (TB) patients’ satisfaction enables TB program managers to identify gaps in service delivery and institute measures to address them. This study is aimed at evaluating patients’ satisfaction with TB services in southern Nigeria. MATERIALS AND METHODS A total of 378 patients accessing TB care were studied using a validated Patient Satisfaction (PS-38) questionnaire on various aspects of TB services. Factor analysis was used to identify eight factors related to TB patient satisfaction. Test of association was used to study the relation between patient satisfaction scores and patient and health facility characteristics, while multilinear regression analysis was used to identify predictors of patient satisfaction. RESULTS Highest satisfaction was reported for adherence counseling and access to care. Patient characteristics were associated with overall satisfaction, registration, adherence counseling, access to care, amenities, and staff attitude, while health system factors were associated with staff attitude, amenities, and health education. Predictors of satisfaction with TB services included gender, educational status, if tested for HIV, distance, payment for TB services, and level and type of health-care facility. CONCLUSION Patient- and health system–related factors were found to influence patient satisfaction and, hence, should be taken into consideration in TB service programing. PMID:26508872
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School Mental Health Resources and Adolescent Mental Health Service Use
Green, Jennifer Greif; McLaughlin, Katie A.; Alegría, Margarita; Costello, E. Jane; Gruber, Michael J.; Hoagwood, Kimberly; Leaf, Philip J.; Olin, Serene; Sampson, Nancy A,; Kessler, Ronald C.
2014-01-01
Objective Although schools are identified as critical for detecting youth mental disorders, little is known about whether the number of mental health providers and types of resources they offer influence student mental health service use. Such information could inform the development and allocation of appropriate school-based resources to increase service use. This paper examines associations of school resources with past-year mental health service use among students with 12-month DSM-IV mental disorders. Method Data come from the U.S. National Comorbidity Survey Adolescent Supplement (NCS-A), a national survey of adolescent mental health that included 4,445 adolescent-parent pairs in 227 schools in which principals and mental health coordinators completed surveys about school resources-policies for addressing student emotional problems. Adolescents and parents completed the Composite International Diagnostic Interview and reported mental health service use across multiple sectors. Multilevel multivariate regression was used to examine associations of school mental health resources and individual-level service use. Results Roughly half (45.3%) of adolescents with a 12-month DSM-IV disorder received past-year mental health services. Substantial variation existed in school resources. Increased school engagement in early identification was significantly associated with mental health service use for adolescents with mild/moderate mental and behavior disorders. The ratio of students-to-mental health providers was not associated with overall service use, but was associated with sector of service use. Conclusions School mental health resources, particularly those related to early identification, may facilitate mental health service use and influence sector of service use for youths with DSM disorders. PMID:23622851
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Service-oriented Context-aware Framework
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
László Kovács
2009-06-01
Full Text Available Location- and context-aware services are emerging technologies in mobile and desktop environments, however, most of them are difficult to use and do not seem to be beneficial enough. Our research focuses on designing and creating a service-oriented framework that helps location- and context-aware, client-service type application development and use. Location information is combined with other contexts such as the users' history, preferences and disabilities. The framework also handles the spatial model of the environment (e.g. map of a room or a building as a context. The framework is built on a semantic backend where the ontologies are represented using the OWL description language. The use of ontologies enables the framework to run inference tasks and to easily adapt to new context types. The framework contains a compatibility layer for positioning devices, which hides the technical differences of positioning technologies and enables the combination of location data of various sources.
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Penetrating Internet Information Services (IIS).
African Journals Online (AJOL)
PROF. O. E. OSUAGWU
2013-12-01
Dec 1, 2013 ... Information Services (IIS) packages have been presented. Note that while some of ... encompasses a variety of services including FTP, SMTP ..... for Web-based Distributed Authoring ... denial-of-service vulnerabilities we have.
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Helicopter type and accident severity in Helicopter Emergency Medical Services missions.
Hinkelbein, Jochen; Schwalbe, Mandy; Wetsch, Wolfgang A; Spelten, Oliver; Neuhaus, Christopher
2011-12-01
Whereas accident rates and fatal accident rates for Helicopter Emergency Medical Services (HEMS) were investigated sufficiently, resulting consequences for the occupants remain largely unknown. The present study aimed to classify HEMS accidents in Germany to prognosticate accident severity with regard to the helicopter model used. German HEMS accidents (1 Sept. 1970-31 Dec. 2009) were gathered as previously reported. Accidents were categorized in relation to the most severe injury, i.e., (1) no; (2) slight; (3) severe; and (4) fatal injuries. Only helicopter models with at least five accidents were analyzed to retrieve representative data. Prognostication was estimated by the relative percentage of each injury type compared to the total number of accidents. The model BO105 was most often involved in accidents (38 of 99), followed by BK117 and UH-1D. OfN = 99 accidents analyzed, N = 63 were without any injuries (63.6%), N = 8 resulted in minor injuries of the occupants (8.1%), and N = 9 in major injuries (9.1%). Additionally, N = 19 fatal accidents (19.2%) were registered. EC135 and BK1 17 had the highest incidence of uninjured occupants (100% vs. 88.2%) and the lowest percentage of fatal injuries (0% vs. 5.9%; all P > 0.05). Most fatal accidents occurred with the models UH-1D, Bell 212, and Bell 412. Use of the helicopter models EC135 and BK117 resulted in a high percentage of uninjured occupants. In contrast, the fatality rate was highest for the models Bell UH-I D, Bell 222, and Bell 412. Data from the present study allow for estimating accident risk in HEMS missions and prognosticating resulting fatalities, respectively.
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A Generic Framework for Location-Based Services (LBS Provisioning
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Ioannis Priggouris
2006-01-01
Full Text Available Location Based Services can be considered as one of the most rapidly expanding fields of the mobile communications sector, with an impressively large application range. The proliferation of mobile/wireless Internet and mobile computing, and the constantly increasing use of handheld, mobile devices and position tracking technologies prepared the grounds for the introduction of this new type of services. The combination of position fixing mechanisms with location-dependent, geographical information, can offer truly customized personal communication services through the mobile phone or other type of devices. Prompted by the avalanche of technology advances in the aforementioned areas in this paper we present an integrated platform for delivering Location Based Services (LBS. The platform covers the full life cycle of a LBS starting from the specification of the service, covering issues like the deployment and maintenance of services, the service invocation and the final delivery of the produced results to the invoking user. A prototype implementation of the discussed platform was developed and used to perform a series of trial services, with the purpose of demonstrating the pursued functionality.
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Classification of ERP System Services
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Petr Sodomka
2016-07-01
Full Text Available Today the ERP business information systems are an essential tool for organization management, regardless of size and field of activity. Their successful implementation and use is conditioned predominantly by IS/ICT knowledge and managerial skills required for directing their life cycle correctly. Defining and correct setting of the service level is a key requirement and skill, usually provided by a service provider based on an implementation and service contract, or an advisory organization, in particular when presale services concerning analyses and tender documentation processing are provided. The following paper discusses the characteristics of the individual service types and the particulars of their practical use. Moreover, it presents the selected significant results of the long-term research performed by the authors in the Center for inVestigations into Information Systems.
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Nuclear data services provided by the IAEA
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Schwerer, O.; Oblozinsky, P.
2001-01-01
This paper summarizes the various nuclear data types, libraries and services available free of charge from the IAEA Nuclear Data Section. The databases are collected, maintained and made available within the framework of an international nuclear data center's network. Particular emphasis is given to online services via the Internet. The URL address of the IAEA Nuclear Services is http://www-nds.iaea.or.at. (author)
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DIRAC distributed computing services
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Tsaregorodtsev, A
2014-01-01
DIRAC Project provides a general-purpose framework for building distributed computing systems. It is used now in several HEP and astrophysics experiments as well as for user communities in other scientific domains. There is a large interest from smaller user communities to have a simple tool like DIRAC for accessing grid and other types of distributed computing resources. However, small experiments cannot afford to install and maintain dedicated services. Therefore, several grid infrastructure projects are providing DIRAC services for their respective user communities. These services are used for user tutorials as well as to help porting the applications to the grid for a practical day-to-day work. The services are giving access typically to several grid infrastructures as well as to standalone computing clusters accessible by the target user communities. In the paper we will present the experience of running DIRAC services provided by the France-Grilles NGI and other national grid infrastructure projects.
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Hanmin Jung
2007-05-01
Full Text Available Information dissemination platforms for supporting voluntary collaboration among researchers should assure that controllable and verified information is being disseminated. However, previous related studies on this field narrowed their research scopes into information type and information specification. This paper focuses on the verification and the tracing of information using an information dissemination platform and other Semantic Web-based services. Services on our platform include information dissemination services to support reliable information exchange among researchers and knowledge service to provide unrevealed information. The latter is also divided into the two: knowledgization using ontology and inference using a Semantic Web-based inference engine. This paper discusses how this platform supports instant knowledge addition and inference. We demonstrate our approach by constructing an ontology for national R&D reference information using 37,656 RDF triples from about 2,300 KISTI (Korea Institute of Science and Technology Information outcomes. Three knowledge services including 'Communities of Practice', 'Researcher Tracing,' and 'Research Map' were implemented on our platform using a Jena framework. Our study shows that information dissemination platforms will make a meaningful contribution to the possibility of realizing a practical Semantic Web-based information dissemination platform.
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A Living Lab as a Service: Creating Value for Micro-enterprises through Collaboration and Innovation
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Anna Ståhlbröst
2013-11-01
Full Text Available The need to innovate is increasingly important for all types and sizes of organizations, but the opportunities for innovation differ substantially between them. For micro-, small,- and medium-sized enterprises, innovation activities are both crucial and demanding because of limited resources, competencies, or vision to innovate their offerings. To support these organizations, the concept of living labs as a service has started to emerge. This concept refers to living labs offering services such as designing the idea-generation processes, planning or carrying out real-world tests of innovations, and pre-market launch assessments. In this article, we will present the findings from a study of micro-enterprises operating in the information technology development sector, including the experienced value of services provided to the companies by a research-based living lab. We share experiences from Botnia, our own living lab in northern Sweden. In this living lab, our aim of creating value for customers is of key importance. Our study shows that using a living lab as a service can generate three different types of value: improved innovations, the role the living lab can play, and the support the living lab offers.
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Refinement Types for TypeScript
Vekris, Panagiotis; Cosman, Benjamin; Jhala, Ranjit
2016-01-01
We present Refined TypeScript (RSC), a lightweight refinement type system for TypeScript, that enables static verification of higher-order, imperative programs. We develop a formal core of RSC that delineates the interaction between refinement types and mutability. Next, we extend the core to account for the imperative and dynamic features of TypeScript. Finally, we evaluate RSC on a set of real world benchmarks, including parts of the Octane benchmarks, D3, Transducers, and the TypeScript co...
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Krotofil, Joanna; McPherson, Peter; Killaspy, Helen
2018-04-02
Specialist supported accommodation services have become a key component of most community-based mental healthcare systems. While mental health policies highlight the importance of service user involvement in service development and care planning, there are no comprehensive literature reviews synthesising services users' perspectives on, or experiences of, supported accommodation services. This systematic review was undertaken to fill this gap. We searched electronic databases (January 2015, updated June 2017), conducted hand searches and used forward-backward snowballing to identify 13,678 papers. We inspected the full-text of 110 papers and included 50 of these in the final review. Data extraction and quality assessments were conducted. We used narrative synthesis to develop a conceptual model of service users' experiences that included structural, process, relational and contextual factors, such as the characteristics of the service, relationships with staff and other service users, the intensity and nature of support, the physical environment, and social and community integration. The review highlights the complex interplay of individual, service-level and community factors in shaping the lived experience of service users and their impact on personal identity and recovery. Our approach addressed some of the widely reported limitations of the quantitative research in this field, providing a conceptual model relevant to service user experiences across supported accommodation service types, population groups and countries. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
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Productivity in services: a systematic review
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Noel Torres Júnior
2013-03-01
Full Text Available Through the method of Systematic Review of Literature (SRL, this study conducted an analysis of productivity in services. For this purpose, fourteen journals of Operations Management and Scielo database were consulted. The studies were analyzed with respect to six criteria for classification: i type of study, ii investigated business sector, iii affiliation of authors, iv prevailing methodological approach, v themes, e vi methods used in comparative analyzes of performance. It was found that the greatest amount of work used the modeling approach to assess the productivity, particularly by linear programming methodology - Data Analysis Envelopment (DEA. It was observed that the vast majority of authors are academic, there are few publications of researchers from companies or that have both types of researchers. The study identified four recurring themes in the articles. Then, some studies have focused on the establishment of productivity indicators and their analysis over time, comparing the performance of different firms or industries. Other studies have identified the characteristics and difficulties of measuring productivity in services in relation to manufacturing companies. Different studies have proposed indicators to measure productivity in services. Finally, in light of the main textbooks on operation's management and service literature, this study identified key strategies and methods for improving productivity in services. It was found that the theme productivity in services is a promising research topic.
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Measuring the food service environment: development and implementation of assessment tools.
Minaker, Leia M; Raine, Kim D; Cash, Sean B
2009-01-01
The food environment is increasingly being implicated in the obesity epidemic, though few reported measures of it exist. In order to assess the impact of the food environment on food intake, valid measures must be developed and tested. The current study describes the development of a food service environment assessment tool and its implementation in a community setting. A descriptive study with mixed qualitative and quantitative methods at a large, North American university campus was undertaken. Measures were developed on the basis of a conceptual model of nutrition environments. Measures of community nutrition environment were the number, type and hours of operation of each food service outlet on campus. Measures of consumer nutrition environment were food availability, food affordability, food promotion and nutrition information availability. Seventy-five food service outlets within the geographic boundaries were assessed. Assessment tools could be implemented in a reasonable amount of time and showed good face and content validity. The food environments were described and measures were grouped so that food service outlet types could be compared in terms of purchasing convenience, cost/value, healthy food promotion and health. Food service outlet types that scored higher in purchasing convenience and cost/value tended to score lower in healthy food promotion and health. This study adds evidence that food service outlet types that are convenient to consumers and supply high value (in terms of calories per dollar) tend to be less health-promoting. Results from this study also suggest the possibility of characterizing the food environment according to the type of food service outlet observed.
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Loustau, Marie-Therese; Verhoog, Roelof; Precigout, Claude
1996-09-24
A method of bonding a metal connection to an electrode including a core having a fiber or foam-type structure for an electrochemical cell, in which method at least one metal strip is pressed against one edge of the core and is welded thereto under compression, wherein, at least in line with the region in which said strip is welded to the core, which is referred to as the "main core", a retaining core of a type analogous to that of the main core is disposed prior to the welding.
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Chanda, Rupa
2002-01-01
In light of the increasing globalization of the health sector, this article examines ways in which health services can be traded, using the mode-wise characterization of trade defined in the General Agreement on Trade in Services. The trade modes include cross- border delivery of health services via physical and electronic means, and cross-border movement of consumers, professionals, and capital. An examination of the positive and negative implications of trade in health services for equity, efficiency, quality, and access to health care indicates that health services trade has brought mixed benefits and that there is a clear role for policy measures to mitigate the adverse consequences and facilitate the gains. Some policy measures and priority areas for action are outlined, including steps to address the "brain drain"; increasing investment in the health sector and prioritizing this investment better; and promoting linkages between private and public health care services to ensure equity. Data collection, measures, and studies on health services trade all need to be improved, to assess better the magnitude and potential implications of this trade. In this context, the potential costs and benefits of trade in health services are shaped by the underlying structural conditions and existing regulatory, policy, and infrastructure in the health sector. Thus, appropriate policies and safeguard measures are required to take advantage of globalization in health services. PMID:11953795
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The handbook of service innovation
Selen, Willem; Roos, Göran; Green, Roy
2015-01-01
Bringing together some of the world’s leading thinkers, academics and professionals to provide practitioners, students and academicians with comprehensive insights into implementing effective service innovation. This book presents service innovation holistically and systemically across various service areas, including health, education, tourism, hospitality, telecommunications, and retail. It addresses contemporary issues through conceptual and applied contributions across industry, academia, and government, providing insights for improved practice and policy making. Featuring cutting-edge research contributions, practical examples, implementations and a select number of case studies across several growth service industries, this book also includes examples of failed service innovation attempts in order to demonstrate a balanced view of the topic and to make clear the pitfalls to be avoided. Culminating in a suggested step-by-step guide to enable service organization’s managers to understand and implemen...
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Examining internationalization of the professional services firm
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Skaates, Maria Anne
2003-01-01
of architectural services to Germany in the 1990s, the types of knowledge the case firms needed to acquire and use to obtain German architectural projects, and the project acquisition process, including especially the role that previous project work plays in project acquisitions abroad. The results of the research......) and Bourdieu's social and cultural capital theory could be combined to explain the dynamics of the project acquisition process, including the role of previous project work. The study resulted in seven general hypothetical propositions and four managerially-relevant general models which should be externally...... sociologist Pierre Bourdieu's social and cultural capital framework and various contributions from reference theory and the boundary spanner and knowledge management literatures. The study's research questions focus on understanding relations between the actors involved in the Danish internationalization...
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Tsimihodimos, Vasilis; Kostapanos, Michael S.; Moulis, Alexandros; Nikas, Nikos; Elisaf, Moses S.
2015-01-01
Objectives: To investigate the effect of benchmarking on the quality of type 2 diabetes (T2DM) care in Greece. Methods: The OPTIMISE (Optimal Type 2 Diabetes Management Including Benchmarking and Standard Treatment) study [ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT00681850] was an international multicenter, prospective cohort study. It included physicians randomized 3:1 to either receive benchmarking for glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c), systolic blood pressure (SBP) and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) treatment targets (benchmarking group) or not (control group). The proportions of patients achieving the targets of the above-mentioned parameters were compared between groups after 12 months of treatment. Also, the proportions of patients achieving those targets at 12 months were compared with baseline in the benchmarking group. Results: In the Greek region, the OPTIMISE study included 797 adults with T2DM (570 in the benchmarking group). At month 12 the proportion of patients within the predefined targets for SBP and LDL-C was greater in the benchmarking compared with the control group (50.6 versus 35.8%, and 45.3 versus 36.1%, respectively). However, these differences were not statistically significant. No difference between groups was noted in the percentage of patients achieving the predefined target for HbA1c. At month 12 the increase in the percentage of patients achieving all three targets was greater in the benchmarking (5.9–15.0%) than in the control group (2.7–8.1%). In the benchmarking group more patients were on target regarding SBP (50.6% versus 29.8%), LDL-C (45.3% versus 31.3%) and HbA1c (63.8% versus 51.2%) at 12 months compared with baseline (p Benchmarking may comprise a promising tool for improving the quality of T2DM care. Nevertheless, target achievement rates of each, and of all three, quality indicators were suboptimal, indicating there are still unmet needs in the management of T2DM. PMID:26445642
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Radiation Technician Scientist service
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Prieto Miranda, Enrique; Barrera Gonzalez, Gisela; Guerra Torres, Mercedes; Mora Lopez, Leonor; Altanes Valentin, Sonia; Rapado Paneque, Manuel; Plasencia Gutierrez, Manuel
2003-01-01
The irradiation service is part of the specialized technician scientist services of the Center of Technological Applications and Nuclear Development it belonging to the Radiobiological Department it provides a self shielded laboratory irradiator, PX y 30 type with Cobalt 60 sources, it destined for searches studies, so much basic as applying, in several branches of the science, like the radiobiology, the radiation chemistry, the solid state physics, the medicine, the agriculture and the Pharmaceutical- Medical Industry and besides offering the irradiation service properly with the which have been gotten significant economical outputs. The radiation processing is controlled by means of the dosimetric systems of Freckle, ceric cerous sulfate, Perspex (red, clear and Amber) and dose indicators
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25 CFR 170.137 - What types of activities can a recreation, tourism, and trails program include?
2010-04-01
... 25 Indians 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false What types of activities can a recreation, tourism, and... Eligibility Recreation, Tourism and Trails § 170.137 What types of activities can a recreation, tourism, and... may perform under a recreation, tourism, and trails program: (1) Transportation planning for tourism...
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Service Learning in Introductory Astronomy
Orleski, Michael
2013-01-01
Service learning is a method of instruction where the students in a course use the course's content in a service project. The service is included as a portion of the students' course grades. During the fall semester 2010, service learning was incorporated into the Introduction to Astronomy course at Misericordia University. The class had eight…
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Establishment of an eco-compensation fund based on eco-services consumption.
Liu, Moucheng; Yang, Lun; Min, Qingwen
2018-04-01
Eco-compensation is a type of institutional arrangement that uses economic measures to adjust the relationships among stakeholders in order to conserve and/or sustainably use ecosystem services. The externality of the value of ecosystem services is one of the theoretical bases for eco-compensation. Different types of ecosystem services are consumed by people from different regions. Some are consumed by people living where the services originate, while some are carried by rivers, wind, vehicles or other natural or manmade means to other areas. Thus, the flow and consumption of ecosystem services should be seen as the basis for establishing eco-compensation funds. This paper uses satellite images of the Zhang-Cheng area near Beijing in 2013 to discuss how to establish an eco-compensation fund for stakeholders in this area. Firstly, six important types of ecosystem services in the Zhang-Cheng area were identified based on ecological function zoning, and the value of these ecosystem services was calculated based on ecological pricing methods. Secondly, the field intensity model from physics was used to analyze where Zhang-Cheng area ecosystem services flowed and calculate how much of these services were used by other areas. Thirdly, based on this analysis and calculation, the paper proposes the rates that different stakeholders should invest in the eco-compensation fund, based on their consumption of eco-services. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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Accessibility to health services by persons with disabilities.
Castro, Shamyr Sulyvan; Lefèvre, Fernando; Lefèvre, Ana Maria Cavalcanti; Cesar, Chester Luiz Galvão
2011-02-01
To analyze the difficulties in accessibility to health services experienced by persons with disabilities. A qualitative study was performed with individuals who reported having a certain type of disability (paralysis or amputation of limbs; low vision, unilateral or total blindness; low hearing, unilateral or total deafness). A total of 25 individuals (14 women) were interviewed in the city of São Paulo, Southeastern Brazil, between June and August 2007, responding to questions about transportation and accessibility to health services. Collective Subject Discourse was the methodology used to analyze results and analyses were performed with the Qualiquantisoft software. The analysis of discourses on transportation to health services revealed a diversity in terms of the user going to the service alone or accompanied; using a private car, public transportation or ambulance or walking; and requiring different times to arrive at the service. With regard to the difficulties in accessibility to health services, there were reports of delayed service, problems with parking, and lack of ramps, elevators, wheelchairs, doctors and adapted toilets. Individuals with a certain type of disability used various means of transportation, requiring someone to accompany them in some cases. Problems with accessibility to health services were reported by persons with disabilities, contradicting the principle of equity, a precept of the Brazilian Unified Health System.
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32 CFR 1602.17 - Military service.
2010-07-01
... 32 National Defense 6 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Military service. 1602.17 Section 1602.17 National Defense Other Regulations Relating to National Defense SELECTIVE SERVICE SYSTEM DEFINITIONS § 1602.17 Military service. The term military service includes service in the Army, the Navy, the Air Force...
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Assessing biodiversity on the farm scale as basis for ecosystem service payments.
von Haaren, Christina; Kempa, Daniela; Vogel, Katrin; Rüter, Stefan
2012-12-30
Ecosystem services payments must be based on a standardised transparent assessment of the goods and services provided. This is especially relevant in the context of EU agri-environmental programs, but also for organic-food companies that foster environmental services on their contractor farms. Addressing the farm scale is important because land users/owners are major recipients of payments and they could be more involved in data generation and conservation management. A standardised system for measuring on-farm biodiversity does not yet exist that concentrates on performance indicators and includes farmers in generating information. A method is required that produces ordinal or metric scaled assessment results as well as management measures. Another requirement is the ease of application, which includes the ease of gathering input data and understandability. In order to respond to this need, we developed a method which is designed for automated application in an open source farm assessment system named MANUELA. The method produces an ordinal scale assessment of biodiversity that includes biotopes, species, biotope connectivity and the influence of land use. In addition, specific measures for biotope types are proposed. The open source geographical information system OpenJump is used for the implementation of MANUELA. The results of the trial applications and robustness tests show that the assessment can be implemented, for the most part, using existing information as well as data available from farmers or advisors. The results are more sensitive for showing on-farm achievements and changes than existing biotope-type classifications. Such a differentiated classification is needed as a basis for ecosystem service payments and for designing effective measures. The robustness of the results with respect to biotope connectivity is comparable to that of complex models, but it should be further improved. Interviews with the test farmers substantiate that the assessment
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Value-based distributed generator placements for service quality improvements
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Teng, Jen-Hao; Chen, Chi-Fa [Department of Electrical Engineering, I-Shou University, No. 1, Section 1, Syuecheng Road, Dashu Township, Kaohsiung Country 840 (Taiwan); Liu, Yi-Hwa [Department of Electrical Engineering, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taipei (Taiwan); Chen, Chia-Yen [Department of Computer Science, The University of Auckland (New Zealand)
2007-03-15
Distributed generator (DG) resources are small, self-contained electric generating plants that can provide power to homes, businesses or industrial facilities in distribution feeders. They can be used to reduce power loss and improve service reliability. However, the values of DGs are largely dependent on their types, sizes and locations as they were installed in distribution feeders. A value-based method is proposed in this paper to enhance the reliability and obtain the benefits for DG placement. The benefits of DG placement described in this paper include power cost saving, power loss reduction, and reliability enhancement. The costs of DG placement include the investment, maintenance and operating costs. The proposed value-based method tries to find the best tradeoff between the costs and benefits of DG placement and then find the optimal types of DG and their corresponding locations and sizes in distribution feeders. The derived formulations are solved by a genetic algorithm based method. Test results show that with proper types, sizes and installation site selection, DG placement can be used to improve system reliability, reduce customer interruption costs and save power cost; as well as enabling electric utilities to obtain the maximal economical benefits. (author)
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Economic Evaluation of a Public Service Potential of a Municipality - Urban Development in Romania
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Florin Marian BUHOCIU
2011-11-01
Full Text Available In Romania there are 13 cities urban growth poles, including the city of Galati. Our research presents the structure of public services as well as a recital of the trade becoming more sectors / public areas and is developing a major commercial component. It is therefore necessary to evaluate both the overall public services, public or private and commercial of the NACE codes. Were identified 15 key activities that provide 90% of all available services for them and presenting the turnover and number of employees. Malfunctions roots in key areas identified were evaluated on the structure and layout in the area of public services. In this way you can calculate specific indicators of public services of such a city, being able to compare their levels with corresponding levels of the same indicators of urban growth pole unite and can also take the best decisions for development near the levels of both types of municipalities in Romania.
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DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Brewka, Lukasz Jerzy; Gavler, Anders; Wessing, Henrik
2012-01-01
of the network where quality of service signaling is bridged. This article proposes strategies for generalized multi-protocol label switching control over next emerging passive optical network standard, i.e., the 10-gigabit-capable passive optical network. Node management and resource allocation approaches...... are discussed, and possible issues are raised. The analysis shows that consideration of a 10-gigabit-capable passive optical network as a generalized multi-protocol label switching controlled domain is valid and may advance end-to-end quality of service provisioning for passive optical network based customers.......End-to-end quality of service provisioning is still a challenging task despite many years of research and development in this area. Considering a generalized multi-protocol label switching based core/metro network and resource reservation protocol capable home gateways, it is the access part...
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25 CFR 20.308 - What does earned income include?
2010-04-01
... self-employment, total profit from a business enterprise (i.e., gross receipts less expenses incurred in producing the goods or services). Business expenses do not include depreciation, personal business and entertainment expenses, personal transportation, capital equipment purchases, or principal...
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Williams, Jeni
2007-10-01
Strategies for improving the consumer service skills of finance staff include: Hire employees who have a customer service background. Work with your human resources department to provide customer service training. Monitor new hires extensively. Offer front-end employees scripted language for situations they may face on the job. Measure the quality of customer service provided. Provide incentives for performance.
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Industry Service - Technology Centre
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Hollensen, Svend; Grünbaum, Niels Nolsøe
2011-01-01
The chapter describes and explains the development of an Industry Service Technology (IS-T) portal solution at Danfoss for testing of products, including booking system for standardised 'service packages' in order to reduce waiting time....
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Application of social media to library service delivery: Perception of ...
African Journals Online (AJOL)
The study revealed that few of the social media identified are rarely relevant to library service delivery. Reference services, current awareness services, and library news postings were the types of library services that social media are applied. Results also indicated that there were benefits derived from using social media in ...
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Including product features in process redesign
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Hvam, Lars; Hauksdóttir, Dagný; Mortensen, Niels Henrik
2017-01-01
do not take into account how the product features are applied throughout the process, which makes it difficult to obtain a comprehensive understanding of the activities in the processes and to generate significant improvements. The suggested approach models the product family using the so......This article suggests a visual modelling method for integrating models of product features with business process models for redesigning the business processes involving specifications of customer-tailored products and services. The current methods for redesigning these types of business processes......-called product variant master and the business process modelling notation for modelling the process flow. The product model is combined with the process map by identifying features used in each step of the process flow. Additionally, based on the information absorbed from the integrated model, the value stream...
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Zink, V; Štípková, M; Lassen, J
2011-10-01
The aim of this study was to estimate genetic parameters for fertility traits and linear type traits in the Czech Holstein dairy cattle population. Phenotypic data regarding 12 linear type traits, measured in first lactation, and 3 fertility traits, measured in each of first and second lactation, were collected from 2005 to 2009 in the progeny testing program of the Czech-Moravian Breeders Corporation. The number of animals for each linear type trait was 59,467, except for locomotion, where 53,436 animals were recorded. The 3-generation pedigree file included 164,125 animals. (Co)variance components were estimated using AI-REML in a series of bivariate analyses, which were implemented via the DMU package. Fertility traits included days from calving to first service (CF1), days open (DO1), and days from first to last service (FL1) in first lactation, and days from calving to first service (CF2), days open (DO2), and days from first to last service (FL2) in second lactation. The number of animals with fertility data varied between traits and ranged from 18,915 to 58,686. All heritability estimates for reproduction traits were low, ranging from 0.02 to 0.04. Heritability estimates for linear type traits ranged from 0.03 for locomotion to 0.39 for stature. Estimated genetic correlations between fertility traits and linear type traits were generally neutral or positive, whereas genetic correlations between body condition score and CF1, DO1, FL1, CF2 and DO2 were mostly negative, with the greatest correlation between BCS and CF2 (-0.51). Genetic correlations with locomotion were greatest for CF1 and CF2 (-0.34 for both). Results of this study show that cows that are genetically extreme for angularity, stature, and body depth tend to perform poorly for fertility traits. At the same time, cows that are genetically predisposed for low body condition score or high locomotion score are generally inferior in fertility. Copyright © 2011 American Dairy Science Association
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U.S. Department of Health & Human Services — The POS file consists of two data files, one for CLIA labs and one for 18 other provider types. The file names are CLIA and OTHER. If downloading the file, note it...
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Service Quality: A Concept not Fully Explored.
Hernon, Peter; Nitecki, Danuta A.
2001-01-01
Examines the concept of service quality in libraries. Highlights include assessment; service quality versus user satisfaction; measuring service quality, including SERVQUAL; planning; experiences at Texas A& M University in cooperation with ARL (Association of Research Libraries) that resulted in LibQUAL+; and conceptual issues. (Contains 54…
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Security solution against denial of service attacks in BESIP system
Rezac, Filip; Voznak, Miroslav; Safarik, Jakub; Partila, Pavol; Tomala, Karel
2013-05-01
This article deals about embedded SIP communication server with an easy integration into the computer network based on open source solutions and its effective defense against the most frequent attack in the present - Denial of Service. The article contains brief introduction into the Bright Embedded Solution for IP Telephony - BESIP and describes the most common types of DoS attacks, which are applied on SIP elements of the VoIP infrastructure including the results of defensive mechanism that has been designed.
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The impact of using kiosk on enterprise systems in service industry
Chen, Jengchung V.; Yen, David; Dunk, Kimberly; Widjaja, Andree E.
2015-11-01
The hospitality industry services many types of travellers. Each of them needs to be analysed differently in order to accurately determine their respective service quality attributes and customer delight. The effective and efficient enterprise information systems (EISs) play a significant role in traveller's experience and in the competitive advantages that hotels can gain. For this study, self-service kiosks and guest service agents as part of hotel's EISs are used to investigate the impact each has on the experience of business and leisure travellers. This study provides empirical results that further investigate how to improve the service quality for both types of travellers during the registration process. This process is the first physical interaction between the travellers and the hotel. Any problem in registering would generate a long-lasting negative first impression on the travellers, thus diminishing the customer delight. In the light of our findings, this study will contribute to the effective and efficient design of self-service kiosk systems, hotel's EISs, and improved front office management to better accommodate the specific needs of both types of travellers.
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The Customer Service Experience.
Bell, Chip R.
2001-01-01
Discusses ways to embed customer service learning and customer loyalty including making customers think, examining every aspect of customers' service encounters with staff, providing follow-up, making learning fun, and involving customers in your business. (JOW)
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Roussel, Sophie; Felix, Benjamin; Vingadassalon, Noémie; Grout, Joël; Hennekinne, Jacques-Antoine; Guillier, Laurent; Brisabois, Anne; Auvray, Fréderic
2015-01-01
Staphylococcal food poisoning outbreaks (SFPOs) are frequently reported in France. However, most of them remain unconfirmed, highlighting a need for a better characterization of isolated strains. Here we analyzed the genetic diversity of 112 Staphylococcus aureus strains isolated from 76 distinct SFPOs that occurred in France over the last 30 years. We used a recently developed multiple-locus variable-number tandem-repeat analysis (MLVA) protocol and compared this method with pulsed field gel electrophoresis (PFGE), spa-typing and carriage of genes (se genes) coding for 11 staphylococcal enterotoxins (i.e., SEA, SEB, SEC, SED, SEE, SEG, SEH, SEI, SEJ, SEP, SER). The strains known to have an epidemiological association with one another had identical MLVA types, PFGE profiles, spa-types or se gene carriage. MLVA, PFGE and spa-typing divided 103 epidemiologically unrelated strains into 84, 80, and 50 types respectively demonstrating the high genetic diversity of S. aureus strains involved in SFPOs. Each MLVA type shared by more than one strain corresponded to a single spa-type except for one MLVA type represented by four strains that showed two different-but closely related-spa-types. The 87 enterotoxigenic strains were distributed across 68 distinct MLVA types that correlated all with se gene carriage except for four MLVA types. The most frequent se gene detected was sea, followed by seg and sei and the most frequently associated se genes were sea-seh and sea-sed-sej-ser. The discriminatory ability of MLVA was similar to that of PFGE and higher than that of spa-typing. This MLVA protocol was found to be compatible with high throughput analysis, and was also faster and less labor-intensive than PFGE. MLVA holds promise as a suitable method for investigating SFPOs and tracking the source of contamination in food processing facilities in real time. PMID:26441849
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1996-01-01
This booklet is devoted to a consideration of how good customer service in family planning programs can generate demand for products and services, bring customers back, and reduce costs. Customer service is defined as increasing client satisfaction through continuous concern for client preferences, staff accountability to clients, and respect for the rights of clients. Issues discussed include the introduction of a customer service approach and gaining staff commitment. The experience of PROSALUD in Bolivia in recruiting appropriate staff, supervising staff, soliciting client feedback, and marketing services is offered as an example of a successful customer service approach. The key customer service functions are described as 1) establishing a welcoming atmosphere, 2) streamlining client flow, 3) personalizing client services, and 4) organizing and providing clear information to clients. The role of the manager in developing procedures is explored, and the COPE (Client-Oriented Provider-Efficient) process is presented as a good way to begin to make improvements. Techniques in staff training in customer service include brainstorming, role playing, using case studies (examples of which are provided), and engaging in practice sessions. Training also leads to the development of effective customer service attitudes, and the differences between these and organizational/staff-focused attitudes are illustrated in a chart. The use of communication skills (asking open-ended questions, helping clients express their concerns, engaging in active listening, and handling difficult situations) is considered. Good recovery skills are important when things go wrong. Gathering and using client feedback is the next topic considered. This involves identifying, recording, and discussing customer service issues as well as taking action on these issues and evaluating the results. The booklet ends by providing a sample of customer service indicators, considering the maintenance of a
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Akkoç, Hatice
2015-11-01
This paper focuses on a specific aspect of formative assessment, namely questioning. Given that computers have gained widespread use in learning and teaching, specific attention should be made when organizing formative assessment in computer learning environments (CLEs). A course including various workshops was designed to develop knowledge and skills of questioning in CLEs. This study investigates how pre-service mathematics teachers used formative questioning with technological tools such as Geogebra and Graphic Calculus software. Participants are 35 pre-service mathematics teachers. To analyse formative questioning, two types of questions are investigated: mathematical questions and technical questions. Data were collected through lesson plans, teaching notes, interviews and observations. Descriptive statistics of the number of questions in the lesson plans before and after the workshops are presented. Examples of two types of questions are discussed using the theoretical framework. One pre-service teacher was selected and a deeper analysis of the way he used questioning during his three lessons was also investigated. The findings indicated an improvement in using technical questions for formative purposes and that the course provided a guideline in planning and using mathematical and technical questions in CLEs.
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Gurau Calin
2013-07-01
20 minutes, and the respondents being randomly selected from the waiting areas of five UK supermarkets. The collected data has been analysed with the SPSS software, using the Chi Square and Pearson’s two-tailed correlation tests. The results indicate a complex relationship between various categories of factors and the level of customer loyalty, which varies in relation to specific service settings. The findings have been integrated into a synthetic model, developed for four different types of services.
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[Carriage of Staphylococcus aureus among food service workers].
Alarcón-Lavín, María Paula; Oyarzo, Carolina; Escudero, Carlos; Cerda-Leal, Fabiola; Valenzuela, Francisco J
2017-12-01
Background Staphylococcus aureus produces 11 serotypes of endotoxins that may cause food poisoning. Aim To determine the prevalence of type A enterotoxigenic Staphylococcus aureus carriage among food service workers in Chillan, Chile. Material and Methods Pharyngeal swabs were obtained from 100 food service workers and were cultured in Agar plates. After identifying the presence of Staphylococcus aureus, DNA was extracted to identify type A toxin by conventional PCR. Results Thirty eight percent of samples were colonized with Staphylococcus aureus. Among these, 26% were toxin A producers. Conclusions Half of the sampled workers carried Staphylococcus aureus and a quarter of these produced type A enterotoxin.
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Integration of services into workflow applications
Czarnul, Pawel
2015-01-01
Describing state-of-the-art solutions in distributed system architectures, Integration of Services into Workflow Applications presents a concise approach to the integration of loosely coupled services into workflow applications. It discusses key challenges related to the integration of distributed systems and proposes solutions, both in terms of theoretical aspects such as models and workflow scheduling algorithms, and technical solutions such as software tools and APIs.The book provides an in-depth look at workflow scheduling and proposes a way to integrate several different types of services
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34 CFR 300.34 - Related services.
2010-07-01
... history on a child with a disability; (ii) Group and individual counseling with the child and family; (iii... in children, counseling services, including rehabilitation counseling, orientation and mobility... health services and school nurse services, social work services in schools, and parent counseling and...
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BioSWR – Semantic Web Services Registry for Bioinformatics
Repchevsky, Dmitry; Gelpi, Josep Ll.
2014-01-01
Despite of the variety of available Web services registries specially aimed at Life Sciences, their scope is usually restricted to a limited set of well-defined types of services. While dedicated registries are generally tied to a particular format, general-purpose ones are more adherent to standards and usually rely on Web Service Definition Language (WSDL). Although WSDL is quite flexible to support common Web services types, its lack of semantic expressiveness led to various initiatives to describe Web services via ontology languages. Nevertheless, WSDL 2.0 descriptions gained a standard representation based on Web Ontology Language (OWL). BioSWR is a novel Web services registry that provides standard Resource Description Framework (RDF) based Web services descriptions along with the traditional WSDL based ones. The registry provides Web-based interface for Web services registration, querying and annotation, and is also accessible programmatically via Representational State Transfer (REST) API or using a SPARQL Protocol and RDF Query Language. BioSWR server is located at http://inb.bsc.es/BioSWR/and its code is available at https://sourceforge.net/projects/bioswr/under the LGPL license. PMID:25233118
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Investigating service features to sustain engagement in early intervention mental health services.
Becker, Mackenzie; Cunningham, Charles E; Christensen, Bruce K; Furimsky, Ivana; Rimas, Heather; Wilson, Fiona; Jeffs, Lisa; Madsen, Victoria; Bieling, Peter; Chen, Yvonne; Mielko, Stephanie; Zipursky, Robert B
2017-08-23
To understand what service features would sustain patient engagement in early intervention mental health treatment. Mental health patients, family members of individuals with mental illness and mental health professionals completed a survey consisting of 18 choice tasks that involved 14 different service attributes. Preferences were ascertained using importance and utility scores. Latent class analysis revealed segments characterized by distinct preferences. Simulations were carried out to estimate utilization of hypothetical clinical services. Overall, 333 patients and family members and 183 professionals (N = 516) participated. Respondents were distributed between a Professional segment (53%) and a Patient segment (47%) that differed in a number of their preferences including for appointment times, individual vs group sessions and mode of after-hours support. Members of both segments shared preferences for many of the service attributes including having crisis support available 24 h per day, having a choice of different treatment modalities, being offered help for substance use problems and having a focus on improving symptoms rather than functioning. Simulations predicted that 60% of the Patient segment thought patients would remain engaged with a Hospital service, while 69% of the Professional segment thought patients would be most likely to remain engaged with an E-Health service. Patients, family members and professionals shared a number of preferences about what service characteristics will optimize patient engagement in early intervention services but diverged on others. Providing effective crisis support as well as a range of treatment options should be prioritized in the future design of early intervention services. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.
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International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Anon.
1992-01-01
This is a directory of law firms that provide services to the independent energy industry. The directory lists the firm's name, address, telephone and FAX numbers, and the name of a contact person. Included is a description of the specialties or services offered by the firm in the area of independent energy projects; some of these include regulatory, tax, fuel supply, operations and maintenance, environmental, real estate, government contracts and bankruptcy
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Mitchell, Bernadette; Armour, Carol; Lee, Mary; Song, Yun Ju; Stewart, Kay; Peterson, Greg; Hughes, Jeff; Smith, Lorraine; Krass, Ines
2011-06-01
To evaluate the capacity and effectiveness of trained community pharmacists in delivering the Diabetes Medication Assistance Service (DMAS) via (1) number and types of self-management support interventions (SMSIs); (2) number of goals set and attained by patients and (3) patient outcomes (glycaemic control, medication adherence and satisfaction). Pharmacists (n=109) from 90 community pharmacies in Australia were trained and credentialed to deliver the DMAS. The training focused on developing pharmacists' knowledge and skills in supporting patients' diabetes self-management. A total of 387 patients completed the trial. The mean number of SMSIs per patient was 35 (SD ±31) and the majority (87%) had at least one documented goal that was fully or partially attained. There were significant health benefits for patients including improved glycaemic control and a reduced risk of non-adherence to medications. Over 90% of DMAS patients reported improvements in their knowledge about diabetes self-management. The DMAS provides self management support in the community pharmacy for people with T2DM which may result in improved clinical outcomes. Given appropriate training in diabetes care and behavior change strategies, community pharmacists can offer programs which provide self-management support to their patients with T2DM and improve their health outcomes. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.
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Approving of personal dosimeter services
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Bergman, K.; Malmqvist, L.
2001-09-01
The Swedish regulation SSI FS 98:5 requires that radiological workers of category A use dosemeters from an approved personal dosimetry service. The regulation also includes certain specific dosimeter requirements, which are based on those presented in the Technical Recommendations by the European Commission (Report EUR 14852 EN, 1994). All services have been tested for their ability to determine Hp(10) and some of them to determine Hp(0.07) at one radiation quality. The test was performed in the interval 0.2 mSv to 100 mSv at three different dose equivalents unknown to the system owner. The 11 services operating in Sweden at the moment use 5 different types of dosimeters. The five unique systems have been tested regarding the angular and energy dependence of the response of the dosimeters. The dosimeters were irradiated to a personal dose equivalent of about 1 mSv at three photon energies and at four angles (0, 20, 40 and 60 deg. resp. ) both vertically and horizontally rotated. Only 2 of the services determine Hp(0.07) for beta and gamma radiation and were tested for this quantity. The test results for Hp(10) are all except two within the trumpet curve. For the unique systems it is shown that the uncertainty related to angular response at a specified energy is within the required ±40 % except for the lowest X-ray quality at 40 kV. The response is more dependent on photon energy than on the direction of the photon radiation and the choice of radiation quality for the calibration is of great importance for the system performance
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Jahagirdar Deepa
2012-11-01
Full Text Available Abstract Background Patient reported outcome measures (PROMs are self-report measures of health status increasingly promoted for use in healthcare quality improvement. However people with low literacy skills or learning disabilities may find PROMs hard to complete. Our study investigated stakeholder views on the accessibility and use of PROMs to develop suggestions for more inclusive practice. Methods Taking PROMs recommended for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD as an example, we conducted 8 interviews with people with low literacy skills and/or learning disabilities, and 4 focus groups with 20 health professionals and people with COPD. Discussions covered the format and delivery of PROMs using the EQ-5D and St George Respiratory Questionnaire as prompts. Thematic framework analysis focused on three main themes: Accessibility, Ease of Use, and Contextual factors. Results Accessibility included issues concerning the questionnaire format, and suggestions for improvement included larger font sizes and more white space. Ease of Use included discussion about PROMs’ administration. While health professionals suggested PROMs could be completed in waiting rooms, patients preferred settings with more privacy and where they could access help from people they know. Contextual Factors included other challenges and wider issues associated with completing PROMs. While health professionals highlighted difficulties created by the system in managing patients with low literacy/learning disabilities, patient participants stressed that understanding the purpose of PROMs was important to reduce intimidation. Conclusions Adjusting PROMs’ format, giving an explicit choice of where patients can complete them, and clearly conveying PROMs’ purpose and benefit to patients may help to prevent inequality when using PROMs in health services.
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Palestinian mothers' perceptions of child mental health problems and services
THABET, ABDEL AZIZ; EL GAMMAL, HOSSAM; VOSTANIS, PANOS
2006-01-01
The aim of this study was to explore Palestinian mothers' perceptions of child mental health problems and their understanding of their causes; to determine Palestinian mothers' awareness of existing services and sources of help and support; to identify professionals in the community whom Palestinian mothers would consult if their child had mental health problems; and to establish their views on ways of increasing awareness of child mental health issues and services. Checklists exploring the above issues were completed by 249 Palestinian mothers living in refugee camps in the Gaza Strip. Palestinian mothers equally perceived emotional, behavioural and psychotic symptoms as suggestive of mental ill health in childhood. Mothers perceived multiple causes of child mental health problems, including family problems, parental psychiatric illness and social adversity. A substantial proportion (42.6%) had knowledge of local child mental health care services. Overall, mothers preferred Western over traditional types of treatment, and were keen to increase mental health awareness within their society. Despite a different cultural tradition, Palestinian mothers appear open to a range of services and interventions for child mental health problems. As in other non-Western societies, child mental health service provision should be integrated with existing primary health care, schools, and community structures. PMID:16946953
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Climate change, fire management, and ecological services in the southwestern US
Hurteau, Matthew D.; Bradford, John B.; Fulé, Peter Z.; Taylor, Alan H.; Martin, Katherine L.
2014-01-01
The diverse forest types of the southwestern US are inseparable from fire. Across climate zones in California, Nevada, Arizona, and New Mexico, fire suppression has left many forest types out of sync with their historic fire regimes. As a result, high fuel loads place them at risk of severe fire, particularly as fire activity increases due to climate change. A legacy of fire exclusion coupled with a warming climate has led to increasingly large and severe wildfires in many southwest forest types. Climate change projections include an extended fire season length due to earlier snowmelt and a general drying trend due to rising temperatures. This suggests the future will be warmer and drier regardless of changes in precipitation. Hotter, drier conditions are likely to increase forest flammability, at least initially. Changes in climate alone have the potential to alter the distribution of vegetation types within the region, and climate-driven shifts in vegetation distribution are likely to be accelerated when coupled with stand-replacing fire. Regardless of the rate of change, the interaction of climate and fire and their effects on Southwest ecosystems will alter the provisioning of ecosystem services, including carbon storage and biodiversity. Interactions between climate, fire, and vegetation growth provide a source of great uncertainty in projecting future fire activity in the region, as post-fire forest recovery is strongly influenced by climate and subsequent fire frequency. Severe fire can be mitigated with fuels management including prescribed fire, thinning, and wildfire management, but new strategies are needed to ensure the effectiveness of treatments across landscapes. We review the current understanding of the relationship between fire and climate in the Southwest, both historical and projected. We then discuss the potential implications of climate change for fire management and examine the potential effects of climate change and fire on ecosystem
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Facilities for in-service control
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Werner, H.
1980-01-01
Up to now the efficiency of in-service control had been limited and dependent on special qualifications of the super-intending personnel and was thus neither exact nor transferable. In the meantime a great number of testing and measuring facilities for special application have been developed. Even novel types of testing methods do not grant absolutely precise statements. In most cases, however, there is a possibility of planning repairs by trend control and of avoiding failures of operation with aggravating consequences. Technical designers from all subject fields should be made familiar with the continually increasing spectrum of in-service inspection techniques so that a better application of modern and well-tried testing methods can be planned. Systematic in-service inspections complete the Rules of Technology which are safety-oriented with regard to the nonlinear wear between regular dates of control which has been ignored so far and its implied risks. Components which are not liable to control can be checked much better by novel type methods. (orig./RW) [de
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The implementation of a data acquisition and service system based on HDF5
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Chen, Y., E-mail: cheny@ipp.ac.cn [Institute of Plasma Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei, Anhui (China); Wang, F.; Li, S. [Institute of Plasma Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei, Anhui (China); Xiao, B.J. [Institute of Plasma Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei, Anhui (China); School of nuclear science and technology, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui (China); Yang, F. [Institute of Plasma Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei, Anhui (China); Department of Computer Science, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, Anhui (China)
2016-11-15
Highlights: • A new data acquisition and service system has been designed and implemented for a new reversed field pinch (RFP) magnetic confinement device. • The new data acquisition and service system is based on HDF5. • It is an entire system including acquisition, storage and data retrieval. • The system is easy to extend and maintain for its modularization design. - Abstract: A data acquisition and service system based on HDF5 has been designed. It includes four components: data acquisition console, data acquisition subsystem, data archive system and data service. The data acquisition console manages all DAQ information and controls the acquisition process. The data acquisition subsystem supports continuous data acquisition with different sampling rates which can be divided into low, medium and high level. All experimental data will be remotely transferred to the data archive system. It adopts HDF5 as its low-level data storage format. The hierarchical data structure of HDF5 is useful for efficiently managing the experimental data and allows users to define special data types and compression filter which can be useful to deal with special signals. Several data service tools have also been developed so that users can get data service via Client/Server or Brower/Server. The system will be demonstrated on Keda Torus eXperiment (KTX) device, which is a new Reversed Field Pinch (RFP) magnetic confinement device. The details are presented in the paper.
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The implementation of a data acquisition and service system based on HDF5
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Chen, Y.; Wang, F.; Li, S.; Xiao, B.J.; Yang, F.
2016-01-01
Highlights: • A new data acquisition and service system has been designed and implemented for a new reversed field pinch (RFP) magnetic confinement device. • The new data acquisition and service system is based on HDF5. • It is an entire system including acquisition, storage and data retrieval. • The system is easy to extend and maintain for its modularization design. - Abstract: A data acquisition and service system based on HDF5 has been designed. It includes four components: data acquisition console, data acquisition subsystem, data archive system and data service. The data acquisition console manages all DAQ information and controls the acquisition process. The data acquisition subsystem supports continuous data acquisition with different sampling rates which can be divided into low, medium and high level. All experimental data will be remotely transferred to the data archive system. It adopts HDF5 as its low-level data storage format. The hierarchical data structure of HDF5 is useful for efficiently managing the experimental data and allows users to define special data types and compression filter which can be useful to deal with special signals. Several data service tools have also been developed so that users can get data service via Client/Server or Brower/Server. The system will be demonstrated on Keda Torus eXperiment (KTX) device, which is a new Reversed Field Pinch (RFP) magnetic confinement device. The details are presented in the paper.
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White, Amy S; Godard, Renee D; Belling, Carolyn; Kasza, Victoria; Beach, Rebecca L
2010-01-31
Ninety beverages of three types (sugar sodas, diet sodas and water) were obtained from 20 self-service and 10 personnel-dispensed soda fountains, analyzed for microbial contamination, and evaluated with respect to U.S. drinking water regulations. A follow-up study compared the concentration and composition of microbial populations in 27 beverages collected from 9 soda fountain machines in the morning as well as in the afternoon. Ice dispensed from these machines was also examined for microbial contamination. While none of the ice samples exceeded U.S. drinking water standards, coliform bacteria was detected in 48% of the beverages and 20% had a heterotrophic plate count greater than 500cfu/ml. Statistical analyses revealed no difference in levels of microbial contamination between beverage types or between those dispensed from self-service and personnel-dispensed soda fountains. More than 11% of the beverages analyzed contained Escherichia coli and over 17% contained Chryseobacterium meningosepticum. Other opportunistic pathogenic microorganisms isolated from the beverages included species of Klebsiella, Staphylococcus, Stenotrophomonas, Candida, and Serratia. Most of the identified bacteria showed resistance to one or more of the 11 antibiotics tested. These findings suggest that soda fountain machines may harbor persistent communities of potentially pathogenic microorganisms which may contribute to episodic gastric distress in the general population and could pose a more significant health risk to immunocompromised individuals. These findings have important public health implications and signal the need for regulations enforcing hygienic practices associated with these beverage dispensers. Copyright 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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Lee, Jae Dong; Yoon, Tae Sik; Chung, Seung Hyun
2015-01-01
Objectives Remote medical services have been expanding globally, and this is expansion is steadily increasing. It has had many positive effects, including medical access convenience, timeliness of service, and cost reduction. The speed of research and development in remote medical technology has been gradually accelerating. Therefore, it is expected to expand to enable various high-tech information and communications technology (ICT)-based remote medical services. However, the current state lacks an appropriate security framework that can resolve security issues centered on the Internet of things (IoT) environment that will be utilized significantly in telemedicine. Methods This study developed a medical service-oriented frame work for secure remote medical services, possessing flexibility regarding new service and security elements through its service-oriented structure. First, the common architecture of remote medical services is defined. Next medical-oriented secu rity threats and requirements within the IoT environment are identified. Finally, we propose a "service-oriented security frame work for remote medical services" based on previous work and requirements for secure remote medical services in the IoT. Results The proposed framework is a secure framework based on service-oriented cases in the medical environment. A com parative analysis focusing on the security elements (confidentiality, integrity, availability, privacy) was conducted, and the analysis results demonstrate the security of the proposed framework for remote medical services with IoT. Conclusions The proposed framework is service-oriented structure. It can support dynamic security elements in accordance with demands related to new remote medical services which will be diversely generated in the IoT environment. We anticipate that it will enable secure services to be provided that can guarantee confidentiality, integrity, and availability for all, including patients, non-patients, and medical
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Lee, Jae Dong; Yoon, Tae Sik; Chung, Seung Hyun; Cha, Hyo Soung
2015-10-01
Remote medical services have been expanding globally, and this is expansion is steadily increasing. It has had many positive effects, including medical access convenience, timeliness of service, and cost reduction. The speed of research and development in remote medical technology has been gradually accelerating. Therefore, it is expected to expand to enable various high-tech information and communications technology (ICT)-based remote medical services. However, the current state lacks an appropriate security framework that can resolve security issues centered on the Internet of things (IoT) environment that will be utilized significantly in telemedicine. This study developed a medical service-oriented frame work for secure remote medical services, possessing flexibility regarding new service and security elements through its service-oriented structure. First, the common architecture of remote medical services is defined. Next medical-oriented secu rity threats and requirements within the IoT environment are identified. Finally, we propose a "service-oriented security frame work for remote medical services" based on previous work and requirements for secure remote medical services in the IoT. The proposed framework is a secure framework based on service-oriented cases in the medical environment. A com parative analysis focusing on the security elements (confidentiality, integrity, availability, privacy) was conducted, and the analysis results demonstrate the security of the proposed framework for remote medical services with IoT. The proposed framework is service-oriented structure. It can support dynamic security elements in accordance with demands related to new remote medical services which will be diversely generated in the IoT environment. We anticipate that it will enable secure services to be provided that can guarantee confidentiality, integrity, and availability for all, including patients, non-patients, and medical staff.
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Leadership styles of service professionals aiding women of abuse: enhancing service delivery.
Haeseler, Lisa Ann
2013-01-01
Leadership styles of service professionals--including social workers and teachers--in the area of family abuse were investigated. Leadership characteristics of the professionals were measured by their responses to a survey. Results indicated that the interviewed service professionals demonstrated productive leadership traits. Study findings are congruent with leadership styles described in the research. Holistic and collaborative services are required to enhance care for women of abuse, as their needs are multifaceted and complex. Specific leadership styles promote better care for women; leaders need to collaboratively initiate and deliver more interdisciplinary and unified service.
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Pennings, J.M.E.; Wetzels, M.G.M.; Meulenberg, M.T.G.
1999-01-01
The financial services industry is one of the fastest growing service industries. The financial services industry includes financial derivatives markets such as options and futures markets. In order to ensure survival, firms providing financial services show a rapid product innovation. However, for
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Farzandipour, Mehrdad; Meidani, Zahra
2014-06-01
Websites as one of the initial steps towards an e-government adoption do facilitate delivery of online and customer-oriented services. In this study we intended to investigate the role of the websites of medical universities in providing educational and research services following the E-government maturity model in the Iranian universities. This descriptive and cross- sectional study was conducted through content analysis and benchmarking the websites in 2012. The research population included the entire medical university website (37). Delivery of educational and research services through these university websites including information, interaction, transaction, and Integration were investigated using a checklist. The data were then analyzed by means of descriptive statistics and using SPSS software. Level of educational and research services by websites of the medical universities type I and II was evaluated medium as 1.99 and 1.89, respectively. All the universities gained a mean score of 1 out of 3 in terms of integration of educational and research services. Results of the study indicated that Iranian universities have passed information and interaction stages, but they have not made much progress in transaction and integration stages. Failure to adapt to e-government in Iranian medical universities in which limiting factors such as users' e-literacy, access to the internet and ICT infrastructure are not so crucial as in other organizations, suggest that e-government realization goes beyond technical challenges.
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Service Innovation and Customers’ Involvement in Service Industry in Kosovo
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
MSc. Vjosa Mullatahiri
2014-06-01
Full Text Available New developments in the economic arena and rapid technological changes have shifted the economic power from company to customer. As a result, companies changed their approach toward customers’ involvement in new product and/or service development. Usually, innovations are driven by inventions. But not all inventions are successful innovations. Hence, to be successful, inventions should be explored to meet customer needs and demands, and commercialized to make the company profitable (DTI - Occasional Paper No 9, 2007. According to Lowe and Marriott (2006 the innovation is a process of creating and transforming products, services, and organizational processes that are crucial for companies who want to compete in a highly dynamic and competitive market. In this regard, the paper aims to explore the interrelation between market and innovation in services industry, whilst analyzing both customers’ impact in new service development (NSD and Kosovo’s service providers approach in including customers in service development processes. The findings highlight an increased customer power over the NSD processes as a result of their demand and unwillingness to bear the cost of or experiment with new, untested services. Given these developments service providers have started to change their approach of creating and transforming services, namely by involving customers in the service design and development processes, in order to stimulate interest for using and willingness to pay for new service.
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Opportunities of creating multi-agent systems in the service sector
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Shatsky A.A.
2017-03-01
Full Text Available the paper seeks to examine opportunities to create multi-agent systems (MAS in the service sector. Using methods of theoretical analysis and synthesis, the author attempts to apply a multi-agent technology to description of the socio-economic system, such as the service sector. As a result, the author identifies three types of MAS in the service sector based on different types of architecture of intelligent information systems. The research shows that the problem posed by the author requires further study and clarification of results
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McDermott, Máirtín S; Thomson, Heather; West, Robert; Kenyon, Jennifer A M; McEwen, Andy
2012-05-23
The English National Health Service's (NHS) Stop Smoking Services (SSSs) constitute one of the most highly developed behavioural support programmes in the world. However, there is significant variation in success rates across the approximately 150 services, some of which may be due to variation in practice. This study aimed to assess these differences in practice. Two online surveys were administered. All commissioners (people who purchase services for the NHS) and managers (those who run the services) of NHS SSSs in England were invited to participate. Items included details of current practices and services provided, what informed the commissioning of SSSs, what targets were included within service specifications and whether the types of treatment model to be delivered were specified. Both surveys had a response rate of 35%, with 50 commissioners and 58 managers participating. There were no significant differences between the characteristics of the Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) from which commissioners and managers responded to this survey and those PCTs from which there was no response. Managers reported that the treatment model most frequently offered by SSSs was one-to-one (98%). A total of 16% of managers reported that some approved medications were not available as first-line treatments. Just over one third (38%) of commissioners reported consulting national guidelines or best evidence to inform local commissioning. Almost one third (30%) of commissioners reported that they specified the types of stop smoking interventions to be delivered by the providers. A substantial part of commissioning of Stop Smoking Services in England appears to take place without adequate consultation of evidence-based guidelines or specification of the service to be provided. This may account for at least some of the variation in success rates.
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Technology Solutions for School Food Service.
Begalle, Mary
2002-01-01
Considers ways to include schools' food service departments in technology planning. Discusses school food service software applications, considerations and challenges of automating food service operations, and business-to-business Internet solutions. (EV)
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Gibson, Grant; Newton, Lisa; Pritchard, Gary; Finch, Tracy; Brittain, Katie; Robinson, Louise
2016-07-01
In this review we explore the provision of assistive technology products and services currently available for people with dementia within the United Kingdom. A scoping review of assistive technology products and services currently available highlighted 171 products or product types and 331 services. In addition, we assimilated data on the amount and quality of information provided by assistive technology services alongside assistive technology costs. We identify a range of products available across three areas: assistive technology used 'by', 'with' and 'on' people with dementia. Assistive technology provision is dominated by 'telecare' provided by local authorities, with services being subject to major variations in pricing and information provision; few currently used available resources for assistive technology in dementia. We argue that greater attention should be paid to information provision about assistive technology services across an increasingly mixed economy of dementia care providers, including primary care, local authorities, private companies and local/national assistive technology resources. © The Author(s) 2014.
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EMPLOYER CHOICES IN EAP DESIGN AND WORKSITE SERVICES.
McCann, Bernard; Azzone, Vanessa; Merrick, Elizabeth L; Hiatt, Deirdre; Hodgkin, Dominic; Horgan, Constance M
2010-01-01
In today's complex private healthcare market, employers have varied preferences for particular features of behavioral health products such as Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs). Factors which may influence these preferences include: establishment size, type of organization, industry, workplace substance abuse regulations, and structure of health insurance benefits. This study of 103 large employer purchasers from a single managed behavioral healthcare organization investigated the impact of such variables on the EAP features that employers select to provide to workers and their families. Our findings indicate that for this group of employers, preferences for the type and delivery mode of EAP counseling services are fairly universal, while number of sessions provided and choices for EAP-provided worksite activities are much more varied, and may be more reflective of the diverse characteristics, organizational missions and workplace culture found among larger employers in the US.
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B. C. Hydro's new value-added customer service: the building check-up program
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Hepting, C.; Jung, C.; Herman, L.
1996-01-01
A recently initiated program of British Columbia Hydro, called 'building check-up' (BCU), which provides a package of value-added services to commercial and institutional customers, was described. The B. C. Hydro program offers a menu of services, allowing customers to select their own combinations. Type of services included in the menu range from basic billing information to energy audits, hourly energy analysis, bill calibration, energy efficiency screening and reporting. The program was instituted in response to a need to adjust demand-side management programs as the utility industry moves towards deregulation, and subsequent increased competition. The objective of the programs is not only to retain present customers but also to pursue new customers in a more competitive environment. Details of the various service components were provided. A preliminary assessment of the program found favorable customer reception. Future evaluation programs envisage formalized participant feedback, and a determination of the direct and indirect cost-effectiveness of the BCU program. 6 figs
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7 CFR 3565.252 - Housing types.
2010-01-01
... 7 Agriculture 15 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Housing types. 3565.252 Section 3565.252 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) RURAL HOUSING SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE GUARANTEED RURAL RENTAL HOUSING PROGRAM Property Requirements § 3565.252 Housing types. The property may...
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Is there reciprocity in preferential trade agreements on services?
Marchetti, Juan; Roy, Martin; Zoratto, Laura
2012-01-01
Are market access commitments on services in Preferential Trade Agreements (PTAs) reciprocal or simply unilateral? If reciprocal, do concessions granted in services depend on concessions received from the trading partner in other services or in non-services areas as well? In this paper we investigate the presence of reciprocity in bilateral services agreements, by sub-sector, mode of supply and type of agreement (North-North, South-North, South-South). To do so, we use a database of concessio...
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Oh, Sungyoung; Cha, Jieun; Ji, Myungkyu; Kang, Hyekyung; Kim, Seok; Heo, Eunyoung; Han, Jong Soo; Kang, Hyunggoo; Chae, Hoseok; Hwang, Hee; Yoo, Sooyoung
2015-01-01
Objectives To design a cloud computing-based Healthcare Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) Platform (HSP) for delivering healthcare information services with low cost, high clinical value, and high usability. Methods We analyzed the architecture requirements of an HSP, including the interface, business services, cloud SaaS, quality attributes, privacy and security, and multi-lingual capacity. For cloud-based SaaS services, we focused on Clinical Decision Service (CDS) content services, basic functi...
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Bennett, Catherine L; Burke, Sarah E; Burton, Hilary; Farndon, Peter A
2010-05-14
As advances in genetics are becoming increasingly relevant to mainstream healthcare, a major challenge is to ensure that these are integrated appropriately into mainstream medical services. In 2003, the Department of Health for England announced the availability of start-up funding for ten 'Mainstreaming Genetics' pilot services to develop models to achieve this. Multiple methods were used to explore the pilots' experiences of incorporating genetics which might inform the development of new services in the future. A workshop with project staff, an email questionnaire, interviews and a thematic analysis of pilot final reports were carried out. Seven themes relating to the integration of genetics into mainstream medical services were identified: planning services to incorporate genetics; the involvement of genetics departments; the establishment of roles incorporating genetic activities; identifying and involving stakeholders; the challenges of working across specialty boundaries; working with multiple healthcare organisations; and the importance of cultural awareness of genetic conditions. Pilots found that the planning phase often included the need to raise awareness of genetic conditions and services and that early consideration of organisational issues such as clinic location was essential. The formal involvement of genetics departments was crucial to success; benefits included provision of clinical and educational support for staff in new roles. Recruitment and retention for new roles outside usual career pathways sometimes proved difficult. Differences in specialties' working practices and working with multiple healthcare organisations also brought challenges such as the 'genetic approach' of working with families, incompatible record systems and different approaches to health professionals' autonomous practice. 'Practice points' have been collated into a Toolkit which includes resources from the pilots, including job descriptions and clinical tools. These can
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2013-07-17
... Distribution Operations Including On- Site Leased Workers From Action Personnel, CGA Staffing Services, Dynamic... from Action Personnel, CGA Staffing Services, Dynamic Staffing, Kelly Services, and Manpower, Scranton... (Volume 78 FR Pages 28628-28630). At the request of the State Workforce Office, the Department reviewed...
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Cloud Service Platform: Hospital Information eXchange(HIX)
Fang Zhiyuan; Wei Li
2013-01-01
Health Information eXchange (HIX) is a part of Happiness Cloud Service Platform of Happiness Guangdong in Guangdong Province of China based on innovation of cloud-based business model. This article illustrates the hospital health care business services system based on cloud computing. major business functions of HIX includes integrated mobile medical information services, and mobile health information services. Key cloud service platform capabilities include appointment of HIX registration, d...
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Prior, Amie-Louise; Woodward, Debbie; Hoefkens, Toni; Clayton, Debbie; Thirlaway, Katie; Limbert, Caroline
2018-01-01
Access to care for eating disorders can be problematic for numerous reasons including lack of understanding and delays with treatment referrals. Previous research has highlighted the benefits of telephone helplines as an accessible source of support for those who may not wish to access face-to-face support or to fill a gap for those waiting for treatment. This study aimed to gain an insight into the perspectives of those who may use or refer others to a telephone helpline in order to identify the requirements of such a service. Triangulation of service user, carer and health professionals' perspectives resulted in identification of themes relating to the type of support, delivery and practicalities of a helpline. The findings indicated that telephone helplines may offer numerous benefits for individuals with an eating disorder, whether accessed as a first step, alongside treatment or as an extension of this support when in recovery. Additionally helplines may provide an opportunity for carers to access information and discuss their own experiences, while supporting their loved one. Raising awareness of these services is important to encourage those affected by an eating disorder to access and make the most of this type of support. These findings offer an insight into the key requirements for new and existing service development with regard to both the type of support and the method of communication required by individuals with eating disorders.
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Lee, Susan K; Thompson, Sandra C; Amorin-Woods, Deisy
2009-01-01
Consumer participation in primary health care is important in providing quality consumer-focused care, but challenging when working with disadvantaged groups of diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds. Women's Health Services (WHS) works with women from over 60 different nationalities, including many newly arrived migrants and refugees. New arrivals access a wide range of WHS programmes including medical services, counselling, information, community talks and workshops, referral, and outreach, but few ethnic women attended the alcohol and other drug (AOD) services offered by the organisation. To establish an active consumer reference group to assist understanding and reducing the barriers to AOD services for a heterogeneous disadvantaged group that includes individuals from different cultural, language and educational backgrounds. Leaning heavily on experiences from the mental health field, WHS overcame many practical and philosophical considerations which included: agreeing upon the purpose of the group and how it would operate within the structure of the organisation; the level of English language required by participants for the group to function; issues of resourcing the group; and ensuring an appropriate, workable demographic mix in terms of age, language, and migration experiences. The process and the outcome of establishing a consumer reference group (CRG) in a primary healthcare setting has been valuable for consumers' and health service providers within the organisation.
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[Fostering LGBT-friendly healthcare services].
Wei, Han-Ting; Chen, Mu-Hong; Ku, Wen-Wei
2015-02-01
LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) patients suffer from stigma and discrimination when seeking healthcare. A large LGBT healthcare survey revealed that 56% of gay patients and 70% of transgender patients suffered some type of discrimination while seeking healthcare in 2014. The fostering of LGBT-friendly healthcare services is not just an advanced step of gender mainstreaming but also a fulfillment of health equality and equity. Additionally, LGBT-friendly healthcare services are expected to provide new opportunities for healthcare workers. Therefore, proactive government policies, education, research, and clinical practice should all encourage the development of these healthcare services. We look forward to a well-developed LGBT-friendly healthcare system in Taiwan.
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Rice, S; Cranch, H; Littlemore, K; Mortimer, J; Platts, J; Stephens, J W
2017-06-01
We undertook a pilot service-evaluation of prescribed internet-based patient education films for patients with type 2 diabetes. The uptake was 28% and film watching was associated with a relative mean difference in HbA1c of -9.0mmol/mol in the film watchers compared to non-watchers over a three-month period (P=0.0008). Crown Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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Farm service agency employee intentions to use weather and climate data in professional services
Rachel E. Schattman; Gabrielle Roesch-McNally; Sarah Wiener; Meredith T. Niles; David Y. Hollinger
2018-01-01
Agricultural service providers often work closely with producers, and are well positioned to include weather and climate change information in the services they provide. By doing so, they can help producers reduce risks due to climate variability and change. A national survey of United States Department of Agriculture Farm Service Agency (FSA) field staff (n...
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Cultural Ecosystem Services: A Literature Review and Prospects for Future Research
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Andra Ioana. Milcu
2013-09-01
Full Text Available Cultural ecosystem services constitute a growing field of research that is characterized by an increasing number of publications from various academic disciplines. We conducted a semiquantitative review of publications explicitly dealing with cultural ecosystem services. Our aims were: (1 to provide an overview of the current state of research, (2 to classify the diversity of research approaches by identifying clusters of publications that address cultural ecosystem services in similar ways, and (3 to highlight some important challenges for the future of cultural ecosystem services research. We reviewed 107 publications and extracted 20 attributes describing their type and content, including methods, scales, drivers of change, and trade-offs between services. Using a cluster analysis on a subset of attributes we identified five groups of publications: Group 1, conceptual focus, deals with theoretical issues; Group 2, descriptive reviews, consists mostly of desktop studies; Group 3, localized outcomes, deals with case studies coming from different disciplines; Group 4, social and participatory, deals mainly with assessing preferences and perceptions; and Group 5, economic assessments, provides economic valuations. Emerging themes in cultural ecosystem services research relate to improving methods for cultural ecosystem services valuation, studying cultural ecosystem services in the context of ecosystem service bundles, and more clearly articulating policy implications. Based on our findings, we conclude that: (1 cultural ecosystem services are well placed as a tool to bridge gaps between different academic disciplines and research communities, (2 capitalizing on the societal relevance of cultural ecosystem services could help address real-world problems, and (3 cultural ecosystem services have the potential to foster new conceptual links between alternative logics relating to a variety of social and ecological issues.
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Barnett, Mitchell J; Frank, Jessica; Wehring, Heidi; Newland, Brand; VonMuenster, Shannon; Kumbera, Patty; Halterman, Tom; Perry, Paul J
2009-01-01
Although community pharmacists have historically been paid primarily for drug distribution and dispensing services, medication therapy management (MTM) services evolved in the 1990s as a means for pharmacists and other providers to assist physicians and patients in managing clinical, service, and cost outcomes of drug therapy. The Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 (MMA 2003) and the subsequent implementation of Medicare Part D in January 2006 for the more than 20 million Medicare beneficiaries enrolled in the Part D benefit formalized MTM services for a subset of high-cost patients. Although Medicare Part D has provided a new opportunity for defining the value of pharmacist-provided MTM services in the health care system, few publications exist which quantify changes in the provision of pharmacist-provided MTM services over time. To (a) describe the changes over a 7-year period in the primary types of MTM services provided by community pharmacies that have contracted with drug plan sponsors through an MTM administrative services company, and (b) quantify potential MTM-related cost savings based on pharmacists' self-assessments of the likely effects of their interventions on health care utilization. Medication therapy management claims from a multistate MTM administrative services company were analyzed over the 7-year period from January 1, 2000, through December 31, 2006. Data extracted from each MTM claim included patient demographics (e.g., age and gender), the drug and type that triggered the intervention (e.g., drug therapeutic class and therapy type as either acute, intermittent, or chronic), and specific information about the service provided (e.g., Reason, Action, Result, and Estimated Cost Avoidance [ECA]). ECA values are derived from average national health care utilization costs, which are applied to pharmacist self-assessment of the "reasonable and foreseeable" outcome of the intervention. ECA values are updated
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Delivering service adaptation with 3G technology
Liotta, A.; Yew, A.; Bohoris, C.; Pavlou, G.; Feridun, M.; Kropf, P.G.; Babin, G.
2002-01-01
Now that 3G technologies have reached their maturity, newly advanced services can be delivered to the mobile user. These include context- aware services, adaptable services and Virtual Home Environment (VHE)-like services. Important research issues relate, however, to managing such services through
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Marketing Online Services: Product, Market and Strategy.
Trudell, Libby
1991-01-01
Describes characteristics of the online marketplace. Topics discussed include technology barriers; data ownership; markets for online services, including libraries and end users; marketing and promotion tactics, including exhibits and conferences, advertising, direct mail, and user groups; international marketing and service; strategic marketing…
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Service Recovery Sebagai Upaya Peningkatan Kualitas Layanan Perbankan
Liestyana, Yuli
2008-01-01
This study focused on an empirical investigation of service failure and service recoveryin retail banking. Different types of failures and recovery strategies used by banks wereidentified by using critical incident interviews. A survey questionnaire was then developed tomeasure customers' perceptions of the magnitude of service failure and the effectiveness ofservice recovery strategies. A number of research hypothesis were tested relating to thecustomers' evaluations of particular banking fa...
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Recruiting for Prior Service Market
2008-06-01
perceptions, expectations and issues for re-enlistment • Develop potential marketing and advertising tactics and strategies targeted to the defined...01 JUN 2008 2. REPORT TYPE N/A 3. DATES COVERED - 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE Recruiting for Prior Service Market 5a. CONTRACT NUMBER 5b. GRANT...Command First Handshake to First Unit of Assignment An Army of One Proud to Be e e to Serve Recruiting for Prior Service Market MAJ Eric Givens / MAJ Brian
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Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Paiho, S.; Kuusisto, J.; Stenlund, O.; Ala-Juusela, M.
2012-08-15
There are about 1.1 million single-family houses in Finland. 75% of these houses were built before year 1990. Majority of the houses remain at the energy- and eco-efficiency level of their construction time. If all of these houses were renovated to meet the state-of-the- art energy-efficiency requirements, the savings in nationwide consumption of heating energy would be 11.8 TWh. There are lots of typical single-family houses in the Finnish housing stock from the construction period. Renovation concepts with typical solutions can be developed for these typical houses. However, it must always be ensured that the selected concept suits the particular house. Comprehensive, full-service or one-stop-shop service models can be developed based on the renovation concepts. These may also include other services such as a building condition survey or a study, energy certificate, equipment and system installations, financial services, operation and maintenance services, and energy-monitoring and consumption analysis. It is natural to connect the one-stop-shop service model into the renovation process. The process includes stages for marketing, preliminary building inspection and energy audit, a detailed building inspection and energy analysis, a proposal for an integrated solution, the actual repair work, and quality assurance and continuous commissioning. Different stages involve different actors and service providers. There are several options for which type of organization or agent takes the main responsibility for the one-stop-shop service. Depending on the responsible organization, the content provider's business model and priorities differ. The one-stop-shop services business has been a narrow part of actors' whole business, so far. Some actors have already stopped providing the services, either due to the lack of demand or unprofitableness of the services. In an ideal model, the value promise and the main features of the model are the same, but the service
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The Barbados Emergency Ambulance Service: High Frequency of Nontransported Calls
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Sherwin E. Phillips
2012-01-01
Full Text Available Objectives. There are no published studies on the Barbados Emergency Ambulance Service and no assessment of the calls that end in nontransported individuals. We describe reasons for the nontransport of potential clients. Methods. We used the Emergency Medical Dispatch (Medical Priority Dispatch System instrument, augmented with five local call types, to collect information on types of calls. The calls were categorised under 7 headings. Correlations between call types and response time were calculated. Results. Most calls were from the category medical (54%. Nineteen (19% percent of calls were in the non-transported category. Calls from call type Cancelled accounted for most of these and this was related to response time, while Refused service was inversely related (. Conclusions. The Barbados Ambulance Service is mostly used by people with a known illness and for trauma cases. One-fifth of calls fall into a category where the ambulance is not used often due to cancellation which is related to response time. Other factors such as the use of alternative transport are also important. Further study to identify factors that contribute to the non-transported category of calls is necessary if improvements in service quality are to be made.
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Service design attributes affecting diabetic patient preferences of telemedicine in South Korea.
Park, Hayoung; Chon, Yucheong; Lee, Jongsu; Choi, Ie-Jung; Yoon, Kun-Ho
2011-01-01
Attempts to introduce telemedicine in South Korea have failed mostly, leaving critical questions for service developers and providers about whether patients would be willing to pay for the service and how the service should be designed to encourage patient buy-in. In this study, we explore patients' valuations and preferences for each attribute of telemedicine service for diabetes management and evaluate patient willingness to pay for specific service attributes. We conducted a conjoint survey to collect data on patients' stated preferences among telemedicine service alternatives. The alternatives for diabetes-related service differed in 10 attributes, including those related to price, type of service provider, and service scope. To estimate the relative importance of attributes, patients' willingness to pay for each attribute, and their probable choice of specific alternatives, we used a rank-ordered logit model. A total of 118 respondents participated in the survey. All 10 attributes significantly affected patients' valuations and preferences, and demographic and disease characteristics, such as existence of complications and comorbidities, significantly affected patients' valuations of the attributes. Price was the most important attribute, followed by comprehensive scope of service, the availability of mobile phone-based delivery, and large general-hospital provided services. The study findings have significant implications for adoption policy and strategy of telemedicine in diabetes management care. Further, the methodology presented in this study can be used to draw knowledge needed to formulate effective policy for adoption of the necessary technology and for the design of services that attract potential beneficiaries.
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Optimizing capital and time expenditures for drilling service operations
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Zazovskiy, F Ya; Soltysyak, T I
1980-01-01
The operational efficiency of drilling services operations management are examined. The structure of time expenditure is analyzed for repair operations according to equipment type employed by the Ivano-Frankovsk Drilling Management under the Ukrneft' enterprise during 1977. The results of this analysis are weighed against a series of service operations carried out at industrial enterprises and connected with technical disruptions. Some of the cases examined include service competion operations outside of the industrial units when technical processes are disrupted only for the change of equipment which has outlived its usefulness and is no longer in series production. First of all, time expended for repair work can be reduced to zero during the drilling of shallow wells which do not require extensive drilling time. The actual savings, both in time and money, as far as repair work is concerned, hinges on the actual time factor for total oil depetion. An equation is provided for optimal time expenditure necessary for repair work and equipment replacement. An actual example is given from the Dolinsk UBR (Drillin Management) under the Ukrneft' enterprise where time spent on actual service operations has appeared to be less than the optimal figure cited in the above material. This is possible because of increased capital expenditures.
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Quantifying the contribution of riparian soils to the provision of ecosystem services.
de Sosa, Laura L; Glanville, Helen C; Marshall, Miles R; Prysor Williams, A; Jones, Davey L
2018-05-15
Riparian areas, the interface between land and freshwater ecosystems, are considered to play a pivotal role in the supply of regulating, provisioning, cultural and supporting services. Most previous studies, however, have tended to focus on intensive agricultural systems and only on a single ecosystem function. Here, we present the first study which attempts to assess a wide range of ecological processes involved in the provision of the ecosystem service of water quality regulation across a diverse range of riparian typologies. Specifically, we focus on 1) evaluating the spatial variation in riparian soils properties with respect to distance with the river and soil depth in contrasting habitat types; 2) gaining further insights into the underlying mechanisms of pollutant removal (i.e. pesticide sorption/degradation, denitrification, etc.) by riparian soils; and 3) quantify and evaluate how riparian vegetation across different habitat types contribute to the provision of watercourse shading. All the habitats were present within a single large catchment and included: (i) improved grassland, (ii) unimproved (semi-natural) grassland, (iii) broadleaf woodland, (iv) coniferous woodland, and (iv) mountain, heath and bog. Taking all the data together, the riparian soils could be statistically separated by habitat type, providing evidence that they deliver ecosystem services to differing extents. Overall, however, our findings seem to contradict the general assumption that soils in riparian area are different from neighbouring (non-riparian) areas and that they possess extra functionality in terms of ecosystem service provision. Watercourse shading was highly habitat specific and was maximal in forests (ca. 52% shade cover) in comparison to the other habitat types (7-17%). Our data suggest that the functioning of riparian areas in less intensive agricultural areas, such as those studied here, may be broadly predicted from the surrounding land use, however, further research
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Mbaeyi, Chukwuma; Kamawal, Noor Shah; Porter, Kimberly A; Azizi, Adam Khan; Sadaat, Iftekhar; Hadler, Stephen; Ehrhardt, Derek
2017-07-01
The Basic Package of Health Services (BPHS) program has increased access to immunization services for children living in rural Afghanistan. However, multiple surveys have indicated persistent immunization coverage gaps. Hence, to identify gaps in implementation, an assessment of the BPHS program was undertaken, with specific focus on the routine immunization (RI) component. A cross-sectional survey was conducted in 2014 on a representative sample drawn from a sampling frame of 1858 BPHS health facilities. Basic descriptive analysis was performed, capturing general characteristics of survey respondents and assessing specific RI components, and χ2 tests were used to evaluate possible differences in service delivery by type of health facility. Of 447 survey respondents, 27% were health subcenters (HSCs), 30% were basic health centers, 32% were comprehensive health centers, and 12% were district hospitals. Eighty-seven percent of all respondents offered RI services, though only 61% of HSCs did so. Compared with other facility types, HSCs were less likely to have adequate stock of vaccines, essential cold-chain equipment, or proper documentation of vaccination activities. There is an urgent need to address manpower and infrastructural deficits in RI service delivery through the BPHS program, especially at the HSC level. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press for the Infectious Diseases Society of America.
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Hospitality Services Reference Book.
Texas Tech Univ., Lubbock. Home Economics Curriculum Center.
This reference book provides information needed by employees in hospitality services occupations. It includes 29 chapters that cover the following topics: the hospitality services industry; professional ethics; organization and management structures; safety practices and emergency procedures; technology; property maintenance and repair; purchasing…
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A Stochastic Location-Allocation Model for Specialized Services in a Multihospital System
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Khadijeh Naboureh
2016-01-01
Full Text Available Rising costs, increasing demand, wasteful spending, and limited resources in the healthcare industry lead to an increasing pressure on hospital administrators to become as efficient as possible in all aspects of their operations including location-allocation. Some promising strategies for tackling these challenges are joining some hospitals to form multihospital systems (MHSs, specialization, and using the benefits of pooling resources. We develop a stochastic optimization model to determine the number, capacity, and location of hospitals in a MHS offering specialized services while they leverage benefits of pooling resources. The model minimizes the total cost borne by the MHS and its patients and incorporates patient service level, patient retention rates, and type of demand. Some computational analyses are carried out to gauge the benefits of optimally sharing resources for delivering specialized services across a subset of hospitals in the MHS against complete decentralization (CD and full centralization (FC policies.
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Vivian L. Towe
2017-11-01
Full Text Available Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs are being integrated into U.S. strategies to expand the services that are available during health security threats like disasters. Identifying better ways to classify NGOs and their services could optimize disaster planning. We surveyed NGOs about the types of services they provided during different disaster phases. Survey responses were used to categorize NGO services as core—critical to fulfilling their organizational mission—or adaptive—services implemented during a disaster based on community need. We also classified NGOs as being core or adaptive types of organizations by calculating the percentage of each NGO’s services classified as core. Service types classified as core were mainly social services, while adaptive service types were those typically relied upon during disasters (e.g., warehousing, food services, etc.. In total, 120 NGOs were classified as core organizations, meaning they mainly provided the same services across disaster phases, while 100 NGOs were adaptive organizations, meaning their services changed. Adaptive NGOs were eight times more likely to report routinely participating in disaster planning as compared to core NGOs. One reason for this association may be that adaptive NGOs are more aware of the changing needs in their communities across disaster phases because of their involvement in disaster planning.
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Barnard, Sharmani; Free, Caroline; Bakolis, Ioannis; Turner, Katy M E; Looker, Katharine J; Baraitser, Paula
2018-02-07
Online services for self-sampling at home could improve access to STI testing; however, little is known about those using this new modality of care. This study describes the characteristics of users of online services and compares them with users of clinic services. We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of routinely collected data on STI testing activity from online and clinic sexual health services in Lambeth and Southwark between 1January 2016 and 31March 2016. Activity was included for chlamydia, gonorrhoea, HIV and syphilis testing for residents of the boroughs aged 16 years and older. Logistic regression models were used to explore potential associations between type of service use with age group, gender, ethnic group, sexual orientation, positivity and Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) quintiles. We used the same methods to explore potential associations between return of complete samples for testing with age group, gender, ethnic group, sexual orientation and IMD quintiles among online users. 6456 STI tests were carried out by residents in the boroughs. Of these, 3582 (55.5%) were performed using clinic services and 2874 (44.5%) using the online service. In multivariate analysis, online users were more likely than clinic users to be aged between 20 and 30 years, female, white British, homosexual or bisexual, test negative for chlamydia or gonorrhoea and live in less deprived areas. Of the individuals that ordered a kit from the online service, 72.5% returned sufficient samples. In multivariate analysis, returners were more likely than non-returners to be aged >20 years and white British. Nearly half (44.5%) of all basic STI testing was done online, although the characteristics of users of clinic and online services differed and positivity rates for those using the online service for testing were lower. Clinics remain an important point of access for some groups. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article
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Personality types of entrepreneurs.
Müller, Günter F; Gappisch, Cathrin
2005-06-01
85 German entrepreneurs were psychometrically assessed on 12 primary trait characteristics. The sample consisted of 49 men and 36 women whose mean age was 45.6 yr. (SD= 10.3). Occupational domains were production (40%) and services (60%). The mean duration of entrepreneurship within these domains was 13.1 yr. (SD=9.3). By factor analysis five personality types of entrepreneurs could be identified: Creative Acquisitor, Controlled Perseverator, Distant Achiever, Rational Manager, and Egocentric Agitator. These types correspond with types found in research by Miner and with the Myer-Briggs Indicator. In addition, correlations between general type potential and both job and life satisfaction of entrepreneurs were found. The results are discussed with regard to intercultural stability of personality types and implications for research and application.
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Franchising reproductive health services.
Stephenson, Rob; Tsui, Amy Ong; Sulzbach, Sara; Bardsley, Phil; Bekele, Getachew; Giday, Tilahun; Ahmed, Rehana; Gopalkrishnan, Gopi; Feyesitan, Bamikale
2004-12-01
Networks of franchised health establishments, providing a standardized set of services, are being implemented in developing countries. This article examines associations between franchise membership and family planning and reproductive health outcomes for both the member provider and the client. Regression models are fitted examining associations between franchise membership and family planning and reproductive health outcomes at the service provider and client levels in three settings. Franchising has a positive association with both general and family planning client volumes, and the number of family planning brands available. Similar associations with franchise membership are not found for reproductive health service outcomes. In some settings, client satisfaction is higher at franchised than other types of health establishments, although the association between franchise membership and client outcomes varies across the settings. Franchise membership has apparent benefits for both the provider and the client, providing an opportunity to expand access to reproductive health services, although greater attention is needed to shift the focus from family planning to a broader reproductive health context.
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Dynamic selection mechanism for quality of service aware web services
D'Mello, Demian Antony; Ananthanarayana, V. S.
2010-02-01
A web service is an interface of the software component that can be accessed by standard Internet protocols. The web service technology enables an application to application communication and interoperability. The increasing number of web service providers throughout the globe have produced numerous web services providing the same or similar functionality. This necessitates the use of tools and techniques to search the suitable services available over the Web. UDDI (universal description, discovery and integration) is the first initiative to find the suitable web services based on the requester's functional demands. However, the requester's requirements may also include non-functional aspects like quality of service (QoS). In this paper, the authors define a QoS model for QoS aware and business driven web service publishing and selection. The authors propose a QoS requirement format for the requesters, to specify their complex demands on QoS for the web service selection. The authors define a tree structure called quality constraint tree (QCT) to represent the requester's variety of requirements on QoS properties having varied preferences. The paper proposes a QoS broker based architecture for web service selection, which facilitates the requesters to specify their QoS requirements to select qualitatively optimal web service. A web service selection algorithm is presented, which ranks the functionally similar web services based on the degree of satisfaction of the requester's QoS requirements and preferences. The paper defines web service provider qualities to distinguish qualitatively competitive web services. The paper also presents the modelling and selection mechanism for the requester's alternative constraints defined on the QoS. The authors implement the QoS broker based system to prove the correctness of the proposed web service selection mechanism.
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International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Barbur, I.; Barchenkov, A.; Molnar, L; Panasenkov, A.; Tolpygo, V.; Hake, V.; Shcherbinin, B.
1977-01-01
The report gives an account of the problems of projected development of atomic power and evaluates its role in the fuel and power complex and long-range development of interconnected power systems of the CMEA member countries. The report emphasizes the importance of scientific and technical co-operation in the creation of power reactors on thermal and fast neutrons with 1000-1500 MW unit electric capacity as well as in the elaboration of nuclear plants for heating services. It notes the positive experience of the International scientific and research group of scientists of the CMEA member countries carrying out reactor-physical studies on the critical assembly and its contribution to the elaboration of power reactors. The report contains basic conclusions from the development forecast for nuclear power of the CMEA member countries up to 1990 including forecasting methodology; role of nuclear power plants in saving natural and enriched uranium for a projected period; impact of nuclear power development rates on its structure (thermal and fast reactor ratio); relation between the beginning of mass commissioning of nuclear power plants with fast reactors and the integral demand for nuclear fuel; scale of required capacities of fuel cycle services; time dependence of fuel cycle on nuclear fuel requirements. It examines the problems and lists the results of scientific and technical co-operation of the CMEA member countries in the field of fuel cycle, including the transport of spent nuclear fuel, its recovery, reprocessing and radioactive waste disposal. Particular questions of co-operation of the CMEA member countries to secure radiation safety of nuclear power plants and environmental protection are analyzed. The report notes the role of international economic associations - ''Interatomenergo'' and ''Interatominstrument'' - in the accelerated development of nuclear power on the basis of cooperation and specialization in the manufacture of equipment for nuclear power
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DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Bordy, J.M.; Stadtmann, H.; Ambrosi, P.
2000-01-01
of the dosimetry of routine services. It was assumed that each service would have already done a type test before performing routine dosimetry: the radiation fields were chosen to simulate, as far as possible, workplace radiation fields by mixing combining energies and incident angles. The results of photon...... for External Radiation. The other two papers are included in this issue of Radiation Protection Dosimetry....
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An evolving model for the lodging-service network in a tourism destination
Hernández, Juan M.; González-Martel, Christian
2017-09-01
Tourism is a complex dynamic system including multiple actors which are related each other composing an evolving social network. This paper presents a growing model that explains how part of the supply components in a tourism system forms a social network. Specifically, the lodgings and services in a destination are the network nodes and a link between them appears if a representative tourist hosted in the lodging visits/consumes the service during his/her stay. The specific link between both categories are determined by a random and preferential attachment rule. The analytic results show that the long-term degree distribution of services follows a shifted power-law distribution. The numerical simulations show slight disagreements with the theoretical results in the case of the one-mode degree distribution of services, due to the low order of convergence to zero of X-motifs. The model predictions are compared with real data coming from a popular tourist destination in Gran Canaria, Spain, showing a good agreement between analytical and empirical data for the degree distribution of services. The theoretical model was validated assuming four type of perturbations in the real data.
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Martinez-Millana, Antonio; Bayo-Monton, Jose-Luis; Argente-Pla, María; Fernandez-Llatas, Carlos; Merino-Torres, Juan Francisco; Traver-Salcedo, Vicente
2017-12-29
Life expectancy is increasing and, so, the years that patients have to live with chronic diseases and co-morbidities. Type 2 diabetes is one of the most prevalent chronic diseases, specifically linked to being overweight and ages over sixty. Recent studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of new strategies to delay and even prevent the onset of type 2 diabetes by a combination of active and healthy lifestyle on cohorts of mid to high risk subjects. Prospective research has been driven on large groups of the population to build risk scores that aim to obtain a rule for the classification of patients according to the odds for developing the disease. Currently, there are more than two hundred models and risk scores for doing this, but a few have been properly evaluated in external groups and integrated into a clinical application for decision support. In this paper, we present a novel system architecture based on service choreography and hybrid modeling, which enables a distributed integration of clinical databases, statistical and mathematical engines and web interfaces to be deployed in a clinical setting. The system was assessed during an eight-week continuous period with eight endocrinologists of a hospital who evaluated up to 8080 patients with seven different type 2 diabetes risk models implemented in two mathematical engines. Throughput was assessed as a matter of technical key performance indicators, confirming the reliability and efficiency of the proposed architecture to integrate hybrid artificial intelligence tools into daily clinical routine to identify high risk subjects.
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Gulati, S; Misra, A
2017-07-01
Obesity and type 2 diabetes are increasing in rural and urban regions of South Asia including India. Pattern of fat deposition in abdomen, ectopic fat deposition (liver, pancreas) and also low lean mass are contributory to early-onset insulin resistance, dysmetabolic state and diabetes in Asian Indians. These metabolic perturbations are further exacerbated by changing lifestyle, diet urbanization, and mechanization. Important dietary imbalances include increasing use of oils containing high amount of trans fatty acids and saturated fats (partially hydrogenated vegetable oil, palmolein oil) use of deep frying method and reheating of oils for cooking, high intake of saturated fats, sugar and refined carbohydrates, low intake of protein, fiber and increasing intake of processed foods. Although dietary intervention trials are few; the data show that improving quality of carbohydrates (more complex carbohydrates), improving fat quality (more monounsaturated fatty acids and omega 3 polyunsaturated fatty acids) and increasing protein intake could improve blood glucose, serum insulin, lipids, inflammatory markers and hepatic fat, but more studies are needed. Finally, regulatory framework must be tightened to impose taxes on sugar-sweetened beverages, oils such as palmolein, and dietary fats and limit trans fats.
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Cogeneration. Section 2: Products and services
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Anon.
1991-01-01
This is a directory of suppliers of products and services in the area of cogeneration. The subheadings of this directory include developers and owner operators, system packagers, manufacturers of prime movers, equipment manufacturers, instruments and controls manufacturing, consulting services, appraisal and valuation, computer services, environmental services, feasibility services, hydrology, marketing, measurements, meteorology, regulatory and licensing, research, testing, training and personnel, engineering and construction, operations and maintenance, and insurance, financial and legal services
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Pennings, J.M.E.; Wetzels, M.G.M.; Meulenberg, M.T.G.
1999-01-01
The financial services industry is one of the fastest growing service industries. The financial services industry includes financial derivatives markets such as options and futures markets. In order to ensure survival, firms providing financial services show a rapid product innovation. However, for
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M-Health Service for Train Passengers Using Mobile GPS System: An ArchiMate Service Layer Model
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
MUHAMMAD SAJID
2017-01-01
Full Text Available EA (Enterprise Architecture is an instrument that is employed to describe the organization?s structure, business layout and operations within the IT (Information Technology environment. Different types of organizations extensively employed EA for aligning their business and operations with IT resources. EA may also be employed in non-organizational setting such as service providing agencies; rescue, medical emergency and education services. This paper suggests an EAF (Enterprise Architecture Framework for non-organizational setting by critically analyzing the top four EAs. The paper also proposes a new m-Health service model based on the mobile GPS (Global Positioning System for train/rail passengers by employing the ArchiMate modeling language and compares the proposed model with existing service providers.
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Methods of Services Provision in Slovak Towns
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Emília Sičáková-Beblavá
2009-07-01
Full Text Available This article deals with the methods of services provision in Slovak towns. It addresses decision-making concerning selected services provision, based on a transaction cost economic model. The article looks at five types of services from that point of view. These are core services, i.e., services that are provided in most Slovak towns, thereby allowing outcomes of decision-making to be compared, and services which can be outsourced according to transaction cost theory. Findings partially confirm the hypothesis: Slovak towns do outsource, though “insourcing” moderately prevails. However, a comparison of several research studies in the area indicates a trend towards higher outsourcing of such local services provision. The findings show that public bodies do not always select the most suitable methods of services provision, as suggested by the transaction costs theory (the Brown-Potoski model. This indicates that it is not only economic models that influence decision-making concerning the organization of services provision in the Slovak towns.
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System Safety in an IT Service Organization
Parsons, Mike; Scutt, Simon
Within Logica UK, over 30 IT service projects are considered safetyrelated. These include operational IT services for airports, railway infrastructure asset management, nationwide radiation monitoring and hospital medical records services. A recent internal audit examined the processes and documents used to manage system safety on these services and made a series of recommendations for improvement. This paper looks at the changes and the challenges to introducing them, especially where the service is provided by multiple units supporting both safety and non-safety related services from multiple locations around the world. The recommendations include improvements to service agreements, improved process definitions, routine safety assessment of changes, enhanced call logging, improved staff competency and training, and increased safety awareness. Progress is reported as of today, together with a road map for implementation of the improvements to the service safety management system. A proposal for service assurance levels (SALs) is discussed as a way forward to cover the wide variety of services and associated safety risks.
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MAPPING AND ASSESSING MULTIPLE ECOSYSTEM SERVICES IN AN ALPINE REGION: A STUDY IN TRENTINO, ITALY
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
M. Ferrari
2014-04-01
Full Text Available This research aims to identify ecosystem services relevant for Trentino (a region in the Italian Alps, and to assess them through spatial indicators. 51 experts were involved in the identification of relevant ecosystem services and appropriate indicators to represent them. Indicators were computed using the database available at administrative level. Indicators represent the actual or the potential supply of ecosystem services, expressed in terms of either stock or flow. Moreover, indicators may refer to biophysical, economic or socio-cultural values. In total, the experts selected 25 ecosystem services and 57 assessment indicators. Accordingly, the selected indicators were mapped over different spatial units of ecosystem services representation, including land use and forest types. This research was the first attempt to assess a multiple set of ecosystem services for Trentino. The results provide new information that can be used to achieve the objectives of the EU Biodiversity Strategy by 2014. The proposed approach can be reasonably extended to other Alpine areas with similar morphology, land cover and land use.
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Glynn, Robert J; Colditz, Graham A; Tamimi, Rulla M; Chen, Wendy Y; Hankinson, Susan E; Willett, Walter W; Rosner, Bernard
2017-08-01
A breast cancer risk prediction rule previously developed by Rosner and Colditz has reasonable predictive ability. We developed a re-fitted version of this model, based on more than twice as many cases now including women up to age 85, and further extended it to a model that distinguished risk factor prediction of tumors with different estrogen/progesterone receptor status. We compared the calibration and discriminatory ability of the original, the re-fitted, and the type-specific models. Evaluation used data from the Nurses' Health Study during the period 1980-2008, when 4384 incident invasive breast cancers occurred over 1.5 million person-years. Model development used two-thirds of study subjects and validation used one-third. Predicted risks in the validation sample from the original and re-fitted models were highly correlated (ρ = 0.93), but several parameters, notably those related to use of menopausal hormone therapy and age, had different estimates. The re-fitted model was well-calibrated and had an overall C-statistic of 0.65. The extended, type-specific model identified several risk factors with varying associations with occurrence of tumors of different receptor status. However, this extended model relative to the prediction of any breast cancer did not meaningfully reclassify women who developed breast cancer to higher risk categories, nor women remaining cancer free to lower risk categories. The re-fitted Rosner-Colditz model has applicability to risk prediction in women up to age 85, and its discrimination is not improved by consideration of varying associations across tumor subtypes.
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
McDermott Máirtín S
2012-05-01
Full Text Available Abstract Background The English National Health Service’s (NHS Stop Smoking Services (SSSs constitute one of the most highly developed behavioural support programmes in the world. However, there is significant variation in success rates across the approximately 150 services, some of which may be due to variation in practice. This study aimed to assess these differences in practice. Methods Two online surveys were administered. All commissioners (people who purchase services for the NHS and managers (those who run the services of NHS SSSs in England were invited to participate. Items included details of current practices and services provided, what informed the commissioning of SSSs, what targets were included within service specifications and whether the types of treatment model to be delivered were specified. Results Both surveys had a response rate of 35%, with 50 commissioners and 58 managers participating. There were no significant differences between the characteristics of the Primary Care Trusts (PCTs from which commissioners and managers responded to this survey and those PCTs from which there was no response. Managers reported that the treatment model most frequently offered by SSSs was one-to-one (98%. A total of 16% of managers reported that some approved medications were not available as first-line treatments. Just over one third (38% of commissioners reported consulting national guidelines or best evidence to inform local commissioning. Almost one third (30% of commissioners reported that they specified the types of stop smoking interventions to be delivered by the providers. Conclusions A substantial part of commissioning of Stop Smoking Services in England appears to take place without adequate consultation of evidence-based guidelines or specification of the service to be provided. This may account for at least some of the variation in success rates.
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Bright, Tess; Felix, Lambert; Kuper, Hannah; Polack, Sarah
2018-05-01
The populations of many low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) are young. Despite progress made towards achieving Universal Health Coverage and remarkable health gains, evidence suggests that many children in LMIC are still not accessing needed healthcare services. Delayed or lack of access to health services can lead to a worsening of health and can in turn negatively impact a child's ability to attend school, and future employment opportunities. We conducted a systematic review to assess the effectiveness of interventions aimed at increasing access to health services for children over 5 years in LMIC settings. Four electronic databases were searched in March 2017. Studies were included if they evaluated interventions that aimed to increase: healthcare utilisation, immunisation uptake and compliance with medication/referral. Randomised controlled trials and non-randomised study designs were included in the review. Data extraction included study characteristics, intervention type and measures of access to health services for children above 5 years of age. Study outcomes were classified as positive, negative, mixed or null in terms of their impact on access outcomes. Ten studies met the criteria for inclusion in the review. Interventions were evaluated in Nicaragua (1), Brazil (1), Turkey (1), India (1), China (1), Uganda (1), Ghana (1), Nigeria (1), South Africa (1) and Swaziland (1). Intervention types included education (2), incentives (1), outreach (1), SMS/phone call reminders (2) and multicomponent interventions (4). All evaluations reported positive findings on measured health access outcomes; however, the quality and strength of evidence were mixed. This review provides evidence of the range of interventions that were used to increase healthcare access for children above 5 years old in LMIC. Nevertheless, further research is needed to examine each of the identified intervention types and the influence of contextual factors, with robust study designs. There
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The international marketing of professional service projects
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Skaates, Maria Anne; Tikkanen, Henrikki; Alajoutsijärvi, Kimmo
2003-01-01
Many types of commercial professional services are commonly sold as projects. Therefore this article draws on the project marketing literature to elucidate the international marketing of professional service projects. After an initial literature review, the project marketing milieu concept......, and representations to another national milieu with similarly well-developed norms, rules, and representations, yet that there also exist global milieux. Managerial implications concerning professional service firms' preparation for entering a foreign milieu as well as subsidiary or office establishment abroad...
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Closing the (service) gap: exploring partnerships between Aboriginal and mainstream health services.
Taylor, Kate P; Thompson, Sandra C
2011-08-01
Although effective partnerships between Aboriginal and mainstream health services are critical to improve Aboriginal health outcomes, many factors can cause these partnerships to be tenuous and unproductive. Understanding the elements of best practice for successful partnerships is essential. A literature review was conducted in 2009 using keyword searches of electronic databases. Sourced literature was assessed for relevance regarding the benefits, challenges, lessons learnt and factors contributing to successful Aboriginal and mainstream partnerships. Key themes were collated. Although there is much literature regarding general partnerships generally, few specifically examine Aboriginal and mainstream health service partnerships. Twenty-four sources were reviewed in detail. Benefits include broadening service capacity and improving the cultural security of healthcare. Challenges include the legacy of Australia's colonial history, different approaches to servicing clients and resource limitations. Recommendations for success include workshopping tensions early, building trust and leadership. Although successful partnerships are crucial to optimise Aboriginal health outcomes, failed collaborations risk inflaming sensitive Aboriginal-non-Aboriginal relationships. Factors supporting successful partnerships remind us to develop genuine, trusting relationships that are tangibly linked to the Aboriginal community. Failure to invest in this relational process and push forward with 'business as usual' can ultimately have negative ramifications on client outcomes.
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Luz Dalia Sanchez, MD, MCP, MHA, PhD
2011-01-01
Full Text Available Objective: to describe cultural beliefs and medication-taking-behavior about pregnancy in African-American and Latina women. Design: qualitative study using phenomenological methodology; face-to-face, semi structured interviews and focus group. Thematic analysis was done to obtain themes consistent with the research objective. Setting: Maricopa County, Arizona, Department of Public-health Programs, November 2008 through April 2009.Participants: women seeking public-health services in the greater Phoenix, Arizona.Results: fifteen adult women representing two ethnic groups (seven African-Americans and eight Latinas participated. Themes derived from the interview data included: “The Dilemma: To Become or Not to Become Pregnant;” “The Ideal Stress-free World: Support System;” “Changing Worlds: Wanting Dependency;” and “The Health care System: Disconnection from Pregnancy to Postpartum.”Conclusions: based on the cultural themes: 1. pregnancies were not planned; 2. healthy life-style changes were not likely to occur during pregnancy; 3. basic facts about the biology of sexual intercourse and pregnancy were not understood, and there was no usage of any preconceptional or prenatal medications; and 4. professional health care was not desired or considered necessary (except during delivery. These cultural beliefs can contribute to negative birth outcomes, and need to be considered by pharmacists and other health-care providers. The information gained from this study can guide the implementation of educational programs developed by pharmacists that are more sensitive to the cultural beliefs and points of view of these particular women. Such programs would thus be more likely to be favorably received and utilized.
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Determinants of satisfaction with campus transportation services: Implications for service quality
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Felix Charbatzadeh
2016-04-01
Full Text Available Background: In a number of countries, buses are a critical element of public transportation, providing the most inclusive and sustainable mode of transportation to all forms of citizenry, including staff and students of universities. Objectives: The study examines the determinants of satisfaction with campus bus transportation. The article is primarily discursive and based on the synthesis of existing service literature supported by data obtained from a survey of 847 respondents. Method: Structural equation modelling is undertaken using AMOS 19, allowing for the examination of compound relationships between service engagement variables. Results: Results show statistically significant differences between perceived service quality and travel routes. The authors argue that managerial attention to service user experiences does not only hold the key to ongoing competitive success in campus transportation services but also that those services can be significantly enriched through greater managerial attention to the interface between risk of financial loss (which increases when the campus bus transportation service provider becomes less able to compete and service quality. Conclusion: The authors argue that if providers of campus bus transportation services are to rise to their service delivery challenges and also maintain or improve upon their market positions, they must conceptualise their services in a manner that takes into consideration the two-way interrelationship between risk of financial loss and service quality. It must also be noted that, although this study may have relevance for firm–firm scenarios, its focus is primarily on service supplier firm–customer service engagements. Keywords: Modelling; Transportation; Service
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Two service units with interference in the access to servers
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Rosa E. Lillo
1999-01-01
Full Text Available We examine the service mechanism of two queueing models with two units in tandem. In the first model, customers who complete service in Unit 1 must wait in an intermediate buffer until the ongoing service in Unit II ends. In the second model, jobs can be pre-positioned in an intermediate buffer to await service in Unit II. Under the assumption of phase-type service times, the steady-state regime of the service system is studied in detail.
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Metaheuristics in the service industry
Geiger, Martin Josef; Sevaux, Marc; Sörensen, Kenneth
2009-01-01
This book presents novel methodological approaches and improved results of metaheuristics for modern services. It examines applications in the area of transportation and logistics, while other areas include production and financial services.
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17 CFR 256.923 - Outside services employed.
2010-04-01
...) UNIFORM SYSTEM OF ACCOUNTS FOR MUTUAL SERVICE COMPANIES AND SUBSIDIARY SERVICE COMPANIES, PUBLIC UTILITY HOLDING COMPANY ACT OF 1935 2. Expense § 256.923 Outside services employed. (a) This account shall include... services. (b) Records shall be so maintained to permit ready analysis showing nature of service, identity...
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A review of international pharmacy-based minor ailment services and proposed service design model.
Aly, Mariyam; García-Cárdenas, Victoria; Williams, Kylie; Benrimoj, Shalom I
2018-01-05
The need to consider sustainable healthcare solutions is essential. An innovative strategy used to promote minor ailment care is the utilisation of community pharmacists to deliver minor ailment services (MASs). Promoting higher levels of self-care can potentially reduce the strain on existing resources. To explore the features of international MASs, including their similarities and differences, and consider the essential elements to design a MAS model. A grey literature search strategy was completed in June 2017 to comply with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses standard. This included (1) Google/Yahoo! search engines, (2) targeted websites, and (3) contact with commissioning organisations. Executive summaries, table of contents and title pages of documents were reviewed. Key characteristics of MASs were extracted and a MAS model was developed. A total of 147 publications were included in the review. Key service elements identified included eligibility, accessibility, staff involvement, reimbursement systems. Several factors need to be considered when designing a MAS model; including contextualisation of MAS to the market. Stakeholder engagement, service planning, governance, implementation and review have emerged as key aspects involved with a design model. MASs differ in their structural parameters. Consideration of these parameters is necessary when devising MAS aims and assessing outcomes to promote sustainability and success of the service. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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Prasertsang, Parichart; Nuangchalerm, Prasart; Pumipuntu, Chaloey
2013-01-01
The purpose of the research was to study pre-service teachers on social responsibility and self-efficacy through service learning. The mixed methodology included two major procedures (i) the actual use of a developed service learning instructional model by means of action research principles and qualitative research and (ii) the study into the…
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Kline, Ronald M; Muldoon, L Daniel; Schumacher, Heidi K; Strawbridge, Larisa M; York, Andrew W; Mortimer, Laura K; Falb, Alison F; Cox, Katherine J; Bazell, Carol; Lukens, Ellen W; Kapp, Mary C; Rajkumar, Rahul; Bassano, Amy; Conway, Patrick H
2017-07-01
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services developed the Oncology Care Model as an episode-based payment model to encourage participating practitioners to provide higher-quality, better-coordinated care at a lower cost to the nearly three-quarter million fee-for-service Medicare beneficiaries with cancer who receive chemotherapy each year. Episode payment models can be complex. They combine into a single benchmark price all payments for services during an episode of illness, many of which may be delivered at different times by different providers in different locations. Policy and technical decisions include the definition of the episode, including its initiation, duration, and included services; the identification of beneficiaries included in the model; and beneficiary attribution to practitioners with overall responsibility for managing their care. In addition, the calculation and risk adjustment of benchmark episode prices for the bundle of services must reflect geographic cost variations and diverse patient populations, including varying disease subtypes, medical comorbidities, changes in standards of care over time, the adoption of expensive new drugs (especially in oncology), as well as diverse practice patterns. Other steps include timely monitoring and intervention as needed to avoid shifting the attribution of beneficiaries on the basis of their expected episode expenditures as well as to ensure the provision of necessary medical services and the development of a meaningful link to quality measurement and improvement through the episode-based payment methodology. The complex and diverse nature of oncology business relationships and the specific rules and requirements of Medicare payment systems for different types of providers intensify these issues. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services believes that by sharing its approach to addressing these decisions and challenges, it may facilitate greater understanding of the model within the oncology
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Development of services on the electricity market in the USA
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Augustsson, Kamilla
1997-10-01
American electric utilities are developing new services and creating strategic alliances in order to be competitive on a de-regulated market. Separate energy-service companies are created, which offer many services: energy brokers, energy auditing, out-sourcing of energy supply, control of energy bills and information- and communication-services. The report describes how the utilities prepare for the deregulation and what type of services are offered to commercial and industry customers 21 refs, 10 figs
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A proposed change to the NASA strategy for servicing space assets
Levin, George C.
1989-01-01
Given the limitations of the present Shuttle manifest, it is necessary for NASA to consider revision of its previous strategy for servicing satellites. This is particularly important in a period of tight budgets, when space assets will be difficult to replace. Therefore on-orbit assets take on additional value and keeping these assets operational will take on added importance. The key to maintaining these assets will be the long term strategy of developing a remote servicing capability which is space based and has a minimum reliance on the Shuttle. Such a strategy will require that the users of this servicing system design serviceable spacecraft at a high level and that these assets be located in or be capable of reaching orbits that are accessible to or compatible with the proposed servicing infrastructure. The infrastructure required to support this type of remote servicing architecture and the development of the necessary systems, tools, and procedures required to support a remote servicing architecture of this type are addressed.
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Seiber, Eric E; Hotchkiss, David R; Rous, Jeffrey J; Berruti, Andrés A
2005-07-01
Does the utilization of modern maternal and child health (MCH) services influence subsequent contraceptive use? The answer to this question holds important implications for proposals which advocate MCH and family planning service integration. This study uses data from the 1995/6 Guatemalan Demographic Health Survey and its 1997 Providers Census to test the influence of MCH service utilization on individual contraceptive use decisions. We use a full-information maximum likelihood regression model to control for unobserved heterogeneity. This model produces estimates of the MCH effect, independent of individual women's underlying receptiveness to MCH and contraceptive messages. The results of the analysis indicate that the intensity of MCH service use is indeed positively associated with subsequent contraceptive use among Guatemalan women, even after controlling for observed and unobserved individual- , household- , and community-level factors. Importantly, this finding holds even after controlling for the unobserved factors that 'predispose' some women to use both types of services. Simulations reveal that, for these Guatemalan women, key determinants such as age and primary schooling work indirectly through MCH service use to increase contraceptive utilization.
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Service contacts prior to death in people dying by suicide in the Scottish Highlands.
Stark, Cameron R; Vaughan, Susan; Huc, Sara; O'Neill, Noelle
2012-01-01
Many people who die by suicide have been in contact with health services prior to their death. This study examined service contacts in people in urban and rural areas of the Scottish Highlands. Highland residents dying by suicide or undetermined intent in 2001-2004 were identified using routine death records. Health service databases were searched to identify general hospital, mental health and general practice notes. 177 residents died in the time period (136 males). At least one type of record was identified on 175 people, including general practice records (167 people, 94.4%), psychiatric hospital records (n=87, 49.2%) and general hospital records (n=142, 80.2%). Of these, 52.5% had been in contact with at least one health service in the month before their death, including 18.6% with mental health services, and 46.4% with general practice. In total, 68.9% had a previous diagnosis of mental illness, 52.5% of substance misuse problems, and 40.1% of self-harm. The commonest mental illness diagnosis was depression (n=97, 54.8%). There was no difference in rates of GP contact in rural and urban areas. Of those dying in urban areas, 32% had been in contact with mental health services in the previous month, compared with 21% in Accessible Rural/Accessible Small Towns, and 11% in Remote Rural/Remote Small Towns (prural areas were less likely to have had contact with mental health services in the year before their death (prural than urban areas, and this finding increased with greater rurality.
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Pricing health care services: applications to the health maintenance organization.
Sweeney, R E; Franklin, S P
1986-01-01
This article illustrates how management in one type of service industry, the health maintenance organization (HMO), have attempted to formalize pricing. This effort is complicated by both the intangibility of the service delivered and the relatively greater influence in service industries of non-cost price factors such as accessibility, psychology, and delays. The presentation describes a simple computerized approach that allows the marketing manager to formally estimate the effect of incremental changes in rates on the firm's projected patterns of enrollment growth and net revenues. The changes in turn reflect underlying variations in the mix of pricing influences including psychological and other factors. Enrollment projections are crucial to the firm's financial planning and staffing. In the past, most HMO enrollment and revenue projections of this kind were notoriously unreliable. The approach described here makes it possible for HMOs to fine-tune their pricing policies. It also provides a formal and easily understood mechanism by which management can evaluate and reach consensus on alternative scenarios for enrollment growth, staff recruitment and capacity expansion.
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Ecosystem services in the Great Lakes
A comprehensive inventory of ecosystem services across the entire Great Lakes basin is currently lacking and is needed to make informed management decisions. A greater appreciation and understanding of ecosystem services, including both use and non-use services, may have avoided ...
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Satellite services system overview
Rysavy, G.
1982-01-01
The benefits of a satellite services system and the basic needs of the Space Transportation System to have improved satellite service capability are identified. Specific required servicing equipment are discussed in terms of their technology development status and their operative functions. Concepts include maneuverable television systems, extravehicular maneuvering unit, orbiter exterior lighting, satellite holding and positioning aid, fluid transfer equipment, end effectors for the remote manipulator system, teleoperator maneuvering system, and hand and power tools.
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47 CFR 54.511 - Ordering services.
2010-10-01
... eligible services shall not charge schools, school districts, libraries, library consortia, or consortia... under § 54.501 or consortium that includes an eligible school or library and a service provider shall be... December 31, 1998. (2) For a school, library, or consortium that includes an eligible school or library...
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The use of "mixing" procedure of mixed methods in health services research.
Zhang, Wanqing; Creswell, John
2013-08-01
Mixed methods research has emerged alongside qualitative and quantitative approaches as an important tool for health services researchers. Despite growing interest, among health services researchers, in using mixed methods designs, little has been done to identify the procedural aspects of doing so. To describe how mixed methods researchers mix the qualitative and quantitative aspects of their studies in health services research. We searched the PubMed for articles, using mixed methods in health services research, published between January 1, 2006 and December 30, 2010. We identified and reviewed 30 published health services research articles on studies in which mixed methods had been used. We selected 3 articles as illustrations to help health services researcher conceptualize the type of mixing procedures that they were using. Three main "mixing" procedures have been applied within these studies: (1) the researchers analyzed the 2 types of data at the same time but separately and integrated the results during interpretation; (2) the researchers connected the qualitative and quantitative portions in phases in such a way that 1 approach was built upon the findings of the other approach; and (3) the researchers mixed the 2 data types by embedding the analysis of 1 data type within the other. "Mixing" in mixed methods is more than just the combination of 2 independent components of the quantitative and qualitative data. The use of "mixing" procedure in health services research involves the integration, connection, and embedding of these 2 data components.
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Pre-Service Teachers’ Responses to Student Behavior in a Mixed-Reality Environment
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Jillian Black
2016-02-01
Full Text Available This study examined whether student gender and the type of student misbehavior affected the classroom management techniques of pre-service teachers. Participants were pre-service teachers who interacted with avatar students controlled by an actor in a mixed-reality environment. Avatar students’ behaviors were systematically coded along with their gender. Pre-service teachers’ responses were organized into four categories: coercion, retreatism, normative, and remunerative. Pre-service teachers’ use of proximity and tone of voice were also recorded. Data were analyzed using chi-square and ANOVA tests. Significant differences in pre-service teacher responses were found for type of avatar student misbehavior but not avatar student gender. Results and implications for future research are discussed.
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Hungry in hospital, well-fed in prison? A comparative analysis of food service systems.
Johns, Nick; Edwards, John S A; Hartwell, Heather J
2013-09-01
Meals served in prisons and hospitals are produced in similar ways and have similar characteristics, yet hospital patients are often at risk of being undernourished, while prisoners typically are not. This article examines field notes collected during nutritional studies of prison and hospital food service, which confirmed the difference in nutrient intake claimed by other authors. A comparison of food service processes and systems showed that the production of meals and the quality leaving the kitchen was similar in both types of institution. However, the delivery and service system was found to be much less coherent in hospital than in prison. Transport and service of hospital food were subject to delays and disruptions from a number of sources, including poor communication and the demands of medical professionals. These meant that meals reached hospital patients in a poorer, less appetising condition than those received by prisoners. The findings are discussed in the light of previous work and in terms of hospital food service practice. Crown Copyright © 2013. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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Sprong, Matthew Evan; Dallas, Bryan; Paul, Erina; Xia, Michelle
2018-05-03
The primary goal of the study was to evaluate how the use of rehabilitation technology impacted closure status for consumers receiving services in fiscal year (FY) 2014. Rehabilitation Service Administration (RSA-911) Case Service Report FY 2014 archival dataset was obtained from the U.S. Department of Education (2014) and secondary analyses was performed for this study. RSA-911 archival data is updated on an annual basis and consists of all state-federal rehabilitation consumers who were served in the specific fiscal year. The dataset contains information related to each consumer's demographic information (e.g. age, gender, race) and other supplemental information (e.g. weekly earnings at closure, cause of disability, services provided). A multiple logistic regression analysis was utilized and revealed that white consumers receiving rehabilitation technology (RT) services have significantly higher closure rate than consumers of other races, RT services differ by the employment status at application, RT services differ by the type of disability, educational level at application for people receiving RT services did predict closure status (i.e. exiting with an employment outcome), IEP status did not predict closure status, weekly earnings at application did predict closure status and the interaction effect between IEP and RT services is statistically significant. The odds ratio (ORs) were presented at the 95% confidence interval (CI). Vocational rehabilitation counselors needs training to correctly identify appropriate RT services for consumers, so that the likelihood of exiting with an employment outcome is obtained. Implications for Rehabilitation RT services significantly improved their chances of successful employment compared to those who did not receive RT services. Education at closure would also have some significant impact on employment outcomes. Training in Assistive Technology (AT) for Vocational Rehabilitation counselors will assist in the proper
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INTERRUPTION TO COMPUTING SERVICES, SATURDAY 9 FEBRUARY
2002-01-01
In order to allow the rerouting of electrical cables which power most of the B513 Computer Room, there will be a complete shutdown of central computing services on Saturday 9 February. This shutdown affects all Central Computing services as well as the general purpose site wide network (137.138), and hence desktop connectivity will also be cut. In order for the physical intervention to start at 07:30, services will be run down as follows (which has been planned to allow the completion of the Friday night backups of AFS and Oracle): Friday 08/02 17:00 Scheduling of batch jobs suspended 18:00 HPSS services shutdown Saturday 09/02 01:00 Any batch jobs that have not ended will be terminated 04:00 Rundown of general purpose services including Mail, Web, NICE, Unix interactive services, ACB, CASTOR, Tape Service and finally Oracle 06:30 AIS services shutdown (including EDH, BHT and HRT) 07:00 AFS service shutdown 07:30 End of guaranteed service on the general purpose site-wide network (137.138) Services will be res...
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Burton Hilary
2010-05-01
Full Text Available Abstract Background As advances in genetics are becoming increasingly relevant to mainstream healthcare, a major challenge is to ensure that these are integrated appropriately into mainstream medical services. In 2003, the Department of Health for England announced the availability of start-up funding for ten 'Mainstreaming Genetics' pilot services to develop models to achieve this. Methods Multiple methods were used to explore the pilots' experiences of incorporating genetics which might inform the development of new services in the future. A workshop with project staff, an email questionnaire, interviews and a thematic analysis of pilot final reports were carried out. Results Seven themes relating to the integration of genetics into mainstream medical services were identified: planning services to incorporate genetics; the involvement of genetics departments; the establishment of roles incorporating genetic activities; identifying and involving stakeholders; the challenges of working across specialty boundaries; working with multiple healthcare organisations; and the importance of cultural awareness of genetic conditions. Pilots found that the planning phase often included the need to raise awareness of genetic conditions and services and that early consideration of organisational issues such as clinic location was essential. The formal involvement of genetics departments was crucial to success; benefits included provision of clinical and educational support for staff in new roles. Recruitment and retention for new roles outside usual career pathways sometimes proved difficult. Differences in specialties' working practices and working with multiple healthcare organisations also brought challenges such as the 'genetic approach' of working with families, incompatible record systems and different approaches to health professionals' autonomous practice. 'Practice points' have been collated into a Toolkit which includes resources from the pilots