Certification Of Services Research Articles

Self-Reported Cognitive Frailty Predicts Adverse Health Outcomes for Community-Dwelling Older Adults Based on an Analysis of Sex and Age.

The present study examined whether the combination of self-reported mobility decline (SR-MD) and cognitive decline (SR-CD) was associated with mortality and new long-term care insurance (LTCI) service certifications based on sex and age. A prospective cohort study. We analyzed cohort data from a sample of older adult residents in Kami Town, Japan. The response rate was 94.3%, and we followed 5,094 older adults for 3 years. Full analyses were conducted on 5,076 participants. A total of four groups were determined through self-reported responses on the Kihon Checklist for SR-MD (a score of 3 or more on 5 items) and SR-CD (a score of 1 or more on 3 items): non-SR-cognitive frailty, non-SR-MD and SR-CD, SR-MD and non-SR-CD, and SR-cognitive frailty. Main outcomes included mortality (n = 262) or new certifications for LTCI services (n = 708) during the 3-year period. Excluding overlapping, this included 845 older adults (16.6%). Among men, prevalence of non-SR-cognitive frailty, non-SR-MD and SR-CD, SR-MD and non-SR-CD, and SR-cognitive frailty (SR-MD and SR-CD) was 48.2%, 26.4%, 11.5%, and 13.8%, respectively. Respective rates for women were 45.7%, 15.5%, 23.1%, and 15.7%. Multivariate analyses revealed that for men, SR-MD and non-SR-CD significantly affected adverse health outcomes, leading to earlier negative outcomes relative to the non-SR-MD and SR-CD group. For women, non-SR-MD and SR-CD and SR-MD and non-SR-CD had similar slopes. The impact of SR-MD or SR-CD on adverse health outcomes differed as a function of age and sex. Thus, we need to consider preventive approaches according to these specific target group features.

Nursing Services Certification in Brazilian Health Organizations

Nursing Services Certification in Brazilian Health Organizations

Can ecosystem services certification enhance brand competitiveness of certified products?

Many ecolabels support sustainable production and consumption related to ecosystem services and could be used as a basis to develop ecosystem services certification. To generate a price premium and attract buy-in from producers, such a certification would need to boost the brand equity of the certified product above the competition. This study tests the feasibility of such an effect by analyzing the brand equity of certified bottled water using a choice experiment with 529 households in Lombok, Indonesia. Our results revealed enhanced brand equity of certified bottles, indicating an impact of ecolabel logos used to represent certification. However, the enhancement neither exceeded brand equity of competing brands of bottled water, nor reflected different values associated with the ecolabel logos. These results imply challenges for certification uptake in a competitive market, a need for branding and marketing of certification, and the importance of brand-competitiveness analysis in price premium studies.

Test-Based Security Certification of Composite Services

The diffusion of service-based and cloud-based systems has created a scenario where software is often made available as services, offered as commodities over corporate networks or the global net. This scenario supports the definition of business processes as composite services, which are implemented via either static or runtime composition of offerings provided by different suppliers. Fast and accurate evaluation of services’ security properties becomes then a fundamental requirement and is nowadays part of the software development process. In this article, we show how the verification of security properties of composite services can be handled by test-based security certification and built to be effective and efficient in dynamic composition scenarios. Our approach builds on existing security certification schemes for monolithic services and extends them towards service compositions. It virtually certifies composite services, starting from certificates awarded to the component services. We describe three heuristic algorithms for generating runtime test-based evidence of the composite service holding the properties. These algorithms are compared with the corresponding exhaustive algorithm to evaluate their quality and performance. We also evaluate the proposed approach in a real-world industrial scenario, which considers ENGpay online payment system of Engineering Ingegneria Informatica S.p.A. The proposed industrial evaluation presents the utility and generality of the proposed approach by showing how certification results can be used as a basis to establish compliance to Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard.

NRCan’s Compliance Program for high accuracy, GNSS services: ensuring compatibility with the Canadian Spatial Reference System

There are currently over 700 Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) reference stations actively broadcasting corrections (Active Control Stations — ACSs) in Canada. This number has been consistently growing since the early 2000s. In 2009, the federal, provincial, and territorial members of the Canadian Council on Geomatics (CCOG) recognized that consumers of GNSS corrections data had very little ability to verify that service providers were following best practices to ensure the quality of their work. It is common for surveyors to delineate property boundaries or to define the location of civil infrastructure with significant economic value, so being dependent upon another party without quality assurance was perceived as a major risk. Additionally, this new dependence upon commercial ACSs for GNSS corrections posed a threat to the consistency of position values in Canada. To address this concern, CCOG tasked its Canadian Geodetic Reference System Committee (CGRSC) with developing a plan to describe, validate, and provide certification of the GNSS corrections services consumed by industry. This paper summarizes the development of Natural Resources Canada’s (NRCan) Compliance Program for High Accuracy, GNSS Services, and how it can benefit professional surveyors across Canada.

OTT Regulation a way of combating cybercrimes

In the past decade we have witnessed a rapid expansion of the Internet gadgets, Internet services and internet applications. This revolutionary communication network has significantly changed the way people live, communicate, and conduct business. However, from legal perspective all of these new challenges remain under covered, things that frequently could generate harm, abuses and cybercrimes. Therefore, by this research, it is proposed to discuss the main risks, which are generated by using of uncontrolled OTT and present perspectives of regulations. The article includes topics such as description of OTT regulations practices used for the moment, problems generated by chaotic regulations of OTT, perspective that we have to take, need for licensing and certification of new internet applications and services, setting of quality standards, and proposes for involvement in development.

The emerging EU framework on cybersecurity certification

The emerging EU cybersecurity certification framework proposed by the European Commission by means of the Cybersecurity Act seeks to complement the efforts of the EU Member States in the area of certification of products and services. While EU Member States retain full operational capacity in the aftermath of this proposal, a European Cybersecurity Coordination Group undertakes the governance of the certification framework and ENISA assumes a role in the drawing up of certification schemes. The expectation that the EU certification framework build upon is that it will enhance the ability of the EU to compete in the global cyber-security arena and improve security conditions for consumers and businesses in the EU as a whole.

Certification of eIDAS trust services and new global transparency trends

Trust services form the core of the digital trust space as initiated by the eIDAS Regulation which came into effect throughout the EU in summer 2017. We will discuss various ways of demonstrating trust in these services and we will examine certain global trends that are relevant for this area.

CRIMINAL LAW PROTECTION OF JOURNALISTS IN UKRAINE: REFLECTION OF THE APPROACH

The article is devoted to the review of the system of criminal law protection of journalists in Ukraine. The current state of normative and legal regulation of criminal liability for encroachments on the legitimate professional activity of journalists is analyzed; alongside with the reasons for strengthening of such liability; the possibility of allocating a separate group object of criminal law protection and the reasonableness of the emergence of a new specific object of protection, which is named in the law as «crimes against journalists». The reasons for this situation are two interrelated factors: the objective one and the subjective one. It is difficult to deny that the journalist's professional activity has got a rather large social impact and has become a dangerous profession in Ukraine. Among the subjective factors is the fact that during recent years many professional journalists have turned into professional politicians. The system of crimes against journalists is formed by the encroachments on the same (similar) direct object. It is indicated that there is every reason to assert that crimes, the main direct object of which is the legitimate professional activity of journalists, are the encroachments provided for by Articles 171, 345 1 , 347 1 , 348 1 , 349 1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. The main direct object of the corresponding crimes is characterized by the following elements: 1) the composition of subjects - it can only be performed by a journalist - a person with an editorial or service certificate or other document issued by the media, its editorial office or the professional or creative association of journalists. It is the journalist who enters into the relevant relations with other subjects (individuals and legal entities, communities, the state) on the subject-matter of journalistic activity – the information; 2) the essence of such relations is the systematic activity of a person associated with the collection, obtainment, creation, distribution, storage or other use of information; 3) the subject-matter of the relevant activity is the distribution of information among the uncertain circle of persons through the printed mass media, broadcasting organizations, news agencies, the Internet. Other persons whose special status gives them additional criminal law protection (the officials, the persons providing public services) bear criminal liability for abusing such status or for its negligent use – in other words: for intentional or negligent causing damage due to those additional opportunities that are provided to them by their profession (position, service, provision of services, etc.). The paper states that the introduction to the Criminal Code of the norms that would establish the criminal liability of journalists for the abuse of their rights and for the negligence in their duties would ensure the balance between «criminal law protection of rights» and «criminal law coercion to perform the duties», which would be a completely natural phenomenon, the balancing of criminal law influence. It seems that the corpus delicti of the relevant crimes should contain the same characteristics that the legislator has established for the officials and the persons providing public services in Articles 364, 364-1, 365-2 and 367 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

Community activities predict disability and mortality in community-dwelling older adults.

With aging, it is important to maintain older community dwellers' regular engagement with familiar community activities (CA) engaged in close to home to protect them from frailty. Thus, the present study aimed to examine whether CA items or CA score were associated with mortality or the need for care under the new long-term care insurance service requirements over 3 years among community-dwelling older Japanese adults. We analyzed cohort data for older adults from a prospective cohort study in Kami town, Japan. The response rate to the self-reported questionnaire was 94.3% (n = 5094), and we followed these participants for 3 years. Our final sample comprised 5076 older adults. Missing data were filled in using multiple imputation. We used seven items to assess CA: (i) volunteer activity; (ii) regional activity related to the neighborhood; (iii) visiting friends; (iv) hobbies or favorite lessons; (v) earning an income; (vi) farm work and growing vegetables; and (vii) shopping daily by oneself. The Kihon Checklist and new long-term care insurance service certifications were used as the frailty screening and disability indices, respectively. During the follow-up survey, 705 participants obtained new long-term care insurance service certifications and 262 died. Using the receiver operating characteristic curve, the desirable cut-off of the CA score to predict disability and mortality was at least two items for all elderly age groups in rural areas. CA items and CA score could predict disability and mortality in community-dwelling older adults in Japanese rural areas. Therefore, it is recommended that older adults from all age groups participate in CA. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2018; 18: 1114-1124.

Estimating water user demand for certification of forest watershed services

Eco-certification is one solution to the common problem of verification of delivery of services in payment for ecosystem services (PES) schemes. Certification incurs costs, which may limit uptake, so it should be able to benefit users of certified services for it succeeds. In part to inform a project targeting expansion of the Forest Stewardship Council's forest management certification to include ecosystem services, we tested market demand for a potential certification scheme for watershed services. Using choice experiments among end-users of water subject to an existing PES scheme in Lombok, Indonesia, we assessed potential business values of certification. Our results suggested that preferred business values included credible information disclosure on improved water quality, reduced flood risk, environmental safeguards, and/or social safeguards of the upstream forests. These preferences indicate potential demand for a certification of forest watershed services designed to provide such information to end users.

Recommendations for Legislative Regularization of Certain Issues of Establishment, Certification and Activities of Emergency Rescue Services

Recommendations for Legislative Regularization of Certain Issues of Establishment, Certification and Activities of Emergency Rescue Services

Service as a function of transport and an activity in the anthropotechnics management

Improvement of transport management, automation, modularity, containerization are the main directions for increasing labor productivity and reducing the duration of the transport cycle, not only due to the growth of traffic speeds, but also due to a reduction in downtime in points. At the end of the XX - beginning of the XXI century, significant changes occurred in the economies of developed countries, including Russia. Enterprises began to introduce new methods and technologies for the delivery of goods, based on the concept of integration of transport and logistics, on the development of advanced technology in the field of informatics and communications. The principles of certification of services in transport production, the specifics of transport services and their classification, logistics services, as well as the sequence and methods of system analysis in transport for service are considered.

“Unblackboxing” Decision Makers’ Interpretations of IS Certifications in the Context of Cloud Service Certifications

“Unblackboxing” Decision Makers’ Interpretations of IS Certifications in the Context of Cloud Service Certifications

Challenges for developing Forest Stewardship Council certification for ecosystem services: How to enhance local adoption?

The rise of ecosystem services (ES) as a conservation and management tool has changed the way forests are conceived, but so far its translation into management actions has been limited. In this paper, we discuss the development of certification of forest ecosystem services (FES) from the perspective of those implementing it at the local level. We focus on the lessons that emerged from applying the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification framework at selected sites in Chile, Indonesia, Nepal and Vietnam.Our results indicate a clear relationship between local and global levels in the development of FSC FES certification. Although the FSC already had a broad vision of ES, it was only through local-level learning within a specific pilot experiment that the vision evolved and resulted in more formal FES certification becoming part of FSC forest management certification. We also found that those sites where participatory approaches to management and decision-making were applied could work with an undefined vision of the future system, and still successfully design and implement management activities. However, overall the lack of specific vision and detailed information about future FES certification was problematic in attracting market interest in FSC certified ES.

Theranos Experience Exposes Weaknesses in FDA Regulatory Discretion.

Theranos Experience Exposes Weaknesses in FDA Regulatory Discretion.

Nursing involvement in risk and patient safety management in Primary Care

Patient safety and quality of care in a highly complex healthcare system depends not only on the actions of professionals at an individual level, but also on interaction with the environment. Proactive risk management in the system to prevent incidents and activities targeting healthcare teams is crucial in establishing a culture of safety in centres. Nurses commonly lead these safety strategies.Even though safety incidents are relatively infrequent in primary care, since the majority are preventable, actions at this level of care are highly effective. Certification of services according to ISO standard 9001:2008 focuses on risk management in the system and its use in certifying healthcare centres is helping to build a safety culture amongst professionals.

Nursing involvement in risk and patient safety management in Primary Care.

Patient safety and quality of care in a highly complex healthcare system depends not only on the actions of professionals at an individual level, but also on interaction with the environment. Proactive risk management in the system to prevent incidents and activities targeting healthcare teams is crucial in establishing a culture of safety in centres. Nurses commonly lead these safety strategies. Even though safety incidents are relatively infrequent in primary care, since the majority are preventable, actions at this level of care are highly effective. Certification of services according to ISO standard 9001:2008 focuses on risk management in the system and its use in certifying healthcare centres is helping to build a safety culture amongst professionals.

Volume and health outcomes: evidence from systematic reviews and from evaluation of Italian hospital data.

Volume and health outcomes: evidence from systematic reviews and from evaluation of Italian hospital data.

Fair Trade as an Instrument for the Regulation of Risks in the Cross-Border Surrogacy Market

AbstractCross-border surrogacy transactions [CBST] entail several risks for the participants and the resulting child and, consequentially, for their states. In the absence of clear standards or coherent legal rules, the global industry depends on private contracts, the result of negotiations between parties from different countries with unequal bargaining power, which distributes risks and benefits unfairly. In this article I suggest a Fair Trade model as an instrument for the regulation of these transactions.The Fair Trade model addresses market failures and the externalization of risks. The basic principles of Fair Trade include trading process according to proper standards of quality and ethics based on a certification mechanism, a minimum price to producers, direct purchasing, transparent rules and fair distribution. In addition to quality and ethics, Fair Trade is a developmental tool, ensuring more of the economic benefits to producers in the global south.Applying these elements on the cross-border surrogacy market can be fruitful for the regulation of risks entailed in CBST. Certification of surrogacy services can ensure proper medical standards and fundamental rights, and decrease health risks; direct purchasing through democratically elected surrogates’ co-operatives could improve the surrogates’ power of negotiation and decrease contractual risks; a minimum price could guarantee a greater income to surrogates, and social premium could be used to fund communal projects and help surrogates to improve their social position. Finally, transparency can address administrative risks and ensure that children’s rights are not violated.