Global Email Research Articles

An Email Spam Filtering Model Using Ensemble of Machine Learning Techniques

The growth of spam emails is on the increase responsible for larger portions of the global email traffics. Aside the annoyance and the time wasted sifting through the unwanted messages; spam emails can also cause immeasurable harms through malicious software capable of damaging systems and compromising confidential information. The risks of filtering spam emails is that sometimes, legitimate mails are marked as spam, yet the results of not filtering spam are the constant flood of spam clogs on networks that adversely impacts users inboxes while draining valuable resources on the networks such as bandwidth and storage capacity, productivity loss and interfere with the expedient delivery of legitimate emails. Several researchers had worked on the design of models for spam email filtering using different techniques, however the detection accuracy of these models have also become subject of discussions. This study developed spam email filtering model using Ensemble of Decision Tree, Support Vector Machine and Multilayer Perceptron (DT-SVM-MLP) technique as a solution approach to solving issues of low spam emails detection accuracy. The ensemble model was trained using forward propagation training technique and the performance was evaluated using five performance metrics of Accuracy, False Positive (FP) Rate, Precision, Recall and F-Measure.

BDD Knowledge, Attitude and Practice Among Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons Worldwide.

Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) is a controversial topic in the field of plastic surgery. Our aim was to determine whether BDD knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) are affected by the experience of the surgeon in the field, sex of the surgeon, country of practice, and the number of patients the surgeon sees annually. We were particularly interested in uncovering any significant relations in KAP of BDD between plastic surgeons practicing in developed versus developing countries. We created a two-page survey of 24 questions about the KAP of BDD. The survey was sent to aesthetic plastic surgeons worldwide via ISAPS global email list. The data were collected over a period of 20 days at the end of 2020. A total of 464 plastic surgeons completed the survey. The only factor that determines the awareness of BDD is the experience of the surgeon. The more experienced the surgeon is, the more likely he/she is to be familiar with the clinical picture of BDD. Although aware, the more experienced surgeons tend to dismiss the importance of referring BDD patients to psychiatrists/psychologists. Male surgeons tend to diagnose more patients with BDD than female surgeons. Surgeons who estimated the correct prevalence of BDD among patients seeking surgery acquired knowledge of BDD from scientific journals. The KAP is relatively similar between surgeons practicing in developed and developing countries, and the main statistically significant difference was in the questions used during the course of the interviews to diagnose BDD. We can deduce from the results that most aesthetic surgeons worldwide have got knowledge of the presentation of BDD and are keen to diagnose the disorder in their practice. It is worth noting that surgeons usually have their unique approach in the management of BDD. Our study highlights the importance of not only raising awareness of the best management of BDD, but also of establishing a consensus that BDD is a contraindication to aesthetic treatment. The best methods to raise awareness are through journals and plastic surgery residency. This journal requires that authors assign a level of evidence to each article. For a full description of these Evidence-Based Medicine ratings, please refer to the Table of Contents or the online Instructions to Authors https://www.springer.com/00266 .

Persistent post-covid symptoms in healthcare workers.

BackgroundRecent reports suggest a higher incidence of COVID-19 infections among healthcare workers (HCW). However, information about the long-term complications affecting this population is lacking.AimsInvestigation of long-term impact of COVID-19 in HCW.MethodsSeropositivity for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies was evaluated for the majority of HCW in an English teaching hospital 2 months following the peak of COVID-19 first wave. A questionnaire investigating the long-term complications was sent through global e-mail to HCW 4 months following the peak of the wave enquiring about the persistent health issues still affecting them at that point.ResultsOut of 3759 subjects tested for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies, 932 were positive (24%). Forty-five per cent of 138 HCW responding to the questionnaire reported persistent symptoms with 32% struggling to cope 3–4 months following the peak of the wave. Moderate-to-severe fatigue stood out as the most disabling symptom (39%) but mild-to-moderate shortness of breath, anxiety and sleep disturbance were almost universal in the subjects still struggling with symptoms. Only 16% consulted their general practitioner (GP) about their symptoms with only 2% taking sick leave after recovering from the acute illness.ConclusionsOur data suggest that about a third of HCW who responded to the survey were still struggling to cope with the symptoms of what is now known as long covid several months after the acute COVID-19 infections. The overwhelming majority of this group seem to be reluctant to neither seek medical advice nor take sick leave.

Definition, diagnostic and therapeutic options in recurrent implantation failure: an international survey of clinicians and embryologists.

What is the global variability in recurrent implantation failure (RIF) definition, investigation and therapy, currently offered to patients undergoing IVF? Definitions, diagnostic investigations and treatments offered to RIF patients differ widely amongst assisted reproduction healthcare professionals and clinical guidelines on RIF are urgently needed. RIF affects around 10% of patients undergoing IVF worldwide. There is no consensus on the definition of RIF, its diagnostic investigations or the therapeutic options, which leads to inconsistencies in clinical practice. A cross-sectional study of clinicians and embryologists was conducted between May and June 2020. The survey included 43 questions aimed at understanding participants' background and their current practice with regards to defining, investigating and managing RIF. The questions were designed by the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE) Special Interest Group (SIG) on implantation and early pregnancy following three consensus meetings. A total of 8579 ESHRE members from 6916 IVF centers were invited to participate using two global email calls based on their pre-specified interest in implantation and early pregnancy. SurveyMonkey and SPSS were used for data collection and analysis, respectively. Furthermore, differences were reported in the answers of European and non-European professionals, as well as between public and private settings and among clinicians clustered according to the average number of RIF patients treated per year. The final data set included 735 clinicians and 300 embryologist or IVF-biologists. The majority defines RIF based on the number of failed embryo transfers (ETs) with the most common threshold adopted being three ETs both fresh and frozen. More than two-thirds take lifestyle factors into account, mainly drugs, smoking and BMI. The highest consensus on which diagnostic investigations should be performed was reached for anatomical malformations and gynecological aspects focusing on hydrosalpinx, Asherman's syndrome, endometrial thickness and endometriosis. Concerning treatment of RIF patients, the highest consensus was reached for preconceptional therapies, including BMI adjustment, smoking and endometritis followed by therapies during IVF procedures. The response rate was relatively low, but comparable to other surveys. A consensus on definition, diagnosis and treatment of RIF would help to reduce costly, time-consuming and poorly validated approaches. No external funding was used. B.T. received support from Bayer for Clinical trials concerning endometriosis and Ferring for clinical trials concerning ovarian stimulation. She received reimbursement for travel expenses from Astropharm, Ferring. Dr Kade and is a shareholder of Reprognostics. She is a board member of the Austrian Society for Obstetrics and Gynecology (OEGGG), the associate head of the 'Reproduktionsmedizinische Zentren Baden-Württemberg' (RZBW), a member of guideline group of the German Society for Obstetrics and Gynecology (DGGG) and an editorial board member of the following journals: American Journal of Reproductive Immunology (AJRI), Archives of Gynecology and Obstetrics. All the other authors declare no conflict of interest. N/A.

Global survey of factors influencing choice of surgical journal for manuscript submission

An increasing number of general and affiliated specialty society journals make finding the right place for manuscript submission of an article challenging. Little is known about what factors surgeons hold important when choosing a journal for article submission. A global e-mail survey of authors publishing in 5 general surgery journals (Annals of Surgery, British Journal of Surgery, World Journal of Surgery, Archives of Surgery, and Surgery) from January 1, 2007, to December 31, 2008. Demographic data were collected. 15 arbitrarily chosen factors associated with submission strategy were rated for importance on a 5-point modified Likert scale (ranging from 1 representing "unimportant" and 5 representing "very important"). Of 1,855 authors, 250 (14%) responded. Representing 41 countries, 23 (10%) of the respondents were female and 250 (90%) were male. About two thirds of the authors had less than 10 years of clinical practice, with general surgery or gastrointestinal surgery as the major fields of interest represented. Of the 15 factors, the journal "reputation" was rated "very important" (5 points) by 62% of the respondents, followed by the journal "impact factor," which was rated "very important" by 61%, although some geographic differences were noted in this rating. Grouping several factors together in categories, the journal "prestige" and "turnaround time" category was held to be most important based on the average scores received. Age correlated with valued importance of the journal reputation (Spearman rho=0.141; P=.033). The factors considered the least important included the journal's acceptance/rejection rate, the option to suggest peer reviewers, and open access. The majority of seasoned surgeons held the overall reputation of the journal as the most important factor followed by the impact factor when choosing a journal for manuscript submission.

Training medical staff for pediatric disaster victims: a comparison of different teaching methods.

The goal of this study was to assess the effectiveness of the different types of healthcare worker training in pediatric disaster medicine knowledge over time and to analyze the effects of training type on healthcare workers' attitude toward pediatric disaster medicine. Prospective randomized controlled longitudinal study. Large, urban, tertiary academic children's hospital. Physicians and nurses employed at Children's Hospital Los Angeles randomly selected from a global hospital e-mail server over a 3-week time frame were invited to participate and receive an incentive on completion. Forty-three controls and 42 intervention subjects (22 lecture + tabletop exercise, 20 lecture only) completed the study. Subjects with disaster training in the prior 6 months were excluded. Subjects underwent a didactic lecture or a combination of didactic lecture and tabletop exercise. Preintervention and postintervention testing took place using a 37-question multiple-choice test on pediatric disaster medical topics. Posttesting took place immediately after intervention and then 1, 3, and 6 months after the intervention. Subjects also were surveyed before and after intervention regarding their attitudes toward pediatric disaster medicine. (1) Scores on a 37-question knowledge test and (2) Likert scores on self-perceptions of knowledge, comfort, and interest in pediatric disaster medicine. Regardless of intervention type, participant scores on a postintervention pediatric disaster medicine tests over a 6-month period increased and remained well above pretest means for intervention and control pretest scores. There were no differences in scores comparing type of intervention. However, subjects who underwent the tabletop simulation had a better sense of knowledge and comfort with the topics compared with those who only underwent a didactic lecture. Didactic lecture and tabletop exercises both increase healthcare worker's knowledge of pediatric disaster medical topics. This knowledge seems to be retained for at least 6 months postintervention. The addition of the tabletop exercise to a standard didactic lecture may increase a learner's sense of knowledge and comfort with disaster topics, which may in turn lead to increased staff participation in the event of an actual disaster.

The Cost Impact of Spam Filters: Measuring the Effect of Information System Technologies in Organizations

More than 70% of global e-mail traffic consists of unsolicited and commercial direct marketing, also known as spam. Dealing with spam incurs high costs for organizations, prompting efforts to try to reduce spam-related costs by installing spam filters. Using modern econometric methods to reduce the selection bias of installing a spam filter, we deploy a unique data setting implemented at a German university to measure the costs associated with spam and the costs savings of spam filters. The applied methodological framework can easily be transferred to estimate the effect of other IS technologies (e.g., SAP) implemented in organizations. Our findings indicate that central IT costs are of little relevance since the majority of spam costs stem from employees who spend working time identifying and deleting spam. The working time losses caused by spam are approximately 1,200 minutes per employee per year; these costs could be reduced by roughly 35% through the installation of a spam filter mechanism. The individual efficiency of a spam filter installation depends on the amount of spam that is received and on the level of knowledge about spam.

Email Fraud: Language, Technology, and the Indexicals of Globalisation

This paper investigates a corpus of email messages known as “419 scams”: a form of financial fraud in which huge offers of money are being made to people provided they pass on bank details and other personal information to the perpetrators. This kind of message presents us with a typical instance of “globalized” communication: they are produced in the margins of the world (the term “419 scam” is Nigerian) and sent to other places; they are electronically mediated; and they are written in varieties of “world languages”, mostly English. In the messages, authors claim particular identities and relationships, and have to do so using specific, generically regimented forms of communication. Investigating such forms yields a complex view of what it takes to communicate in a globalized environment: at least three different forms of communicative competence seem to be blended. First, authors require technological competence, the capacity to control, explore and exploit the communicative opportunities offered by global email systems. Second, they require cultural competence: they need some awareness of genres and genre expectations among their addressees in order to stand a chance of success. And thirdly, they need linguistic competence: the capacity to actually produce linguistic messages that are congruent with the projected identities and relationships in the transaction. We see that whereas the first two forms of competence appear to be well developed, the third is often problematic, yielding rich indexical signals pointing towards fraud. The genre of email fraud thus yields insights into the changing nature of communication in the age of globalization.

Legal update: Getting tough on spam?

Recent estimates suggest that spam now accounts for as much as 60 per cent of all global e-mail traffic, ranging from business advertisements to outright fraud. The EU and USA have recently introduced anti-spamming legislation — implementation of Directive 2002/58/EC in the EU and passing of the CAN-SPAM Act in the USA respectively. This paper looks at the difficulties inherent in legislating against spam and assesses how successful the recent legislation is likely to be at stopping the spammers. It also considers the effect the legislaton is likely to have on legitimate marketing companies.

Rewarding quality teaching in higher education: the evading dream?

Teaching, and specifically quality teaching, has for many centuries been the defining characteristic of the academic profession. However, since the dawning of the 20th century, it seems that the very basis of the global higher education institutional reward system is the belief that working with, contributing to, and pursuing knowledge (ie research) is in fact superior to teaching. The article discloses some findings, based upon a global e-mail survey, involving more than 20 higher education institutions, practices that are being implemented in order to reward quality teaching. The survey indicated that there is in fact a disequilibrium between teaching and research, with the weight favourably tilted towards the latter. But, it seems as if the rewarding/recognition of quality teaching is slowly but surely catching on. Higher education institutions are increasingly implementing formal reward systems, which makes quality teaching much more than purely an evading dream. South African Journal of Higher Education Vol.16(2) 2002: 32-40

Wired to the World - Global Email

Wired to the World - Global Email

Navigating the Net through the PHYSIO list: an Internet resource for physiotherapists

The physiotherapy profession has embraced computer-mediated communication (CMC) through its widespread use of electronic mail, WWW and other Internet resources. PHYSIO, the UK mailbase for the profession gives physiotherapists a global email discussion list and easy access to the WWW. Through email, physiotherapists worldwide can discuss a variety of issues of interest to the profession. Access to the WWW is provided through the Mailbase Hypermail archives using a unique service entitled 'Heather's Hyperlinks', whereby an email message listing sites relevant to physiotherapy is stored in the archives, where the URLs become live clickable links.

Interlinking E‐mail systems

Many companies have implemented E-mail systems in a non-standard manner. This article gives methods for interlinking such systems. It deals with the structure of directories and the X.500 standard. It defines the interconnection problem and develops the uses of a Global directory. It provides alternative structures for Global E-mail systems and indicates how to manage such a system. It briefly discusses security, authorization, and distributed agents.