Potential Service Providers Research Articles

SWOL2023: Report of Space Weather Observations Throughout Latinoamerica: Filling the Southern Gaps

AbstractThe “Space Weather Observations throughout Latinoamerica: Filling the Southern gaps” Workshop took place in Ushuaia, Argentina, from 2 to 4 October 2023. This event was exclusively dedicated to Space Weather (SWx), gathering leading international academic and governmental agencies focused on the subject. The meeting addressed the field of SWx from three perspectives: driving phenomena occurring in the solar atmosphere, evolution in the interplanetary environment, and interaction with the Earth. In addition, emphasis was placed on identifying key research directions in solar and space physics that warrant development in Argentina and across the region in the forthcoming years. The workshop also focused on the current observational infrastructure that supports SWx studies, and how to improve and develop it through strategic international partnerships, stressing on the need for real‐time data. The conference fostered discussion among different partners involved in SWx studies, that is, researchers and potential space weather service providers, and the need to include in this debate potential users of space weather services.

Examination of the selection of logistics service providers

The selection of logistics service providers plays a crucial role in the success of an organization's supply chain management. The new industrial revolution taking place today provides solutions that prioritize the issue of quality and also raise reliability to a new level, both on the service provider's and user's sides. As businesses grow and expand, the need for efficient and reliable logistics services becomes increasingly important. This study examines how to determine the criteria for the selection of logistics service providers in the current technological environment. The choice of logistics service provider has significant implications for an organization's operations and overall performance. Optimum selection can lead to enhanced customer satisfaction, cost savings, improved efficiency, and a competitive advantage. However, poor selection can result in logistical inefficiencies, decreased customer satisfaction, increased costs, and negative impacts on organizational reputation. Hence, careful consideration and evaluation of potential service providers are crucial. The digitized environment offers a solution for accessing large-scale databases, which provide well-founded decision evaluation plans based on a large number of samples. The quality characteristics influencing the logistics parameters were examined and weighted from the perspective of customer requirements. By exploring various aspects, we aim to shed light on the intricacies of this process and provide insights that can assist organizations in making informed decisions. We attempt to make the indices that appear as bottlenecks in the specified order more efficient using an optimization procedure.

Development of Android-based Application for Mental Health Services in Butuan City, Philippines

This study aimed to develop and evaluate an Android-based mobile application relative to mental health services in Butuan City to address challenges faced by both clients seeking mental health services, and mental health service providers who are also trying to reach clients and patients in need of their services. This mobile application functions as an intermediary platform, allowing clients to conveniently search for mental health service providers, schedule appointments, and locate their physical office addresses. For mental health service providers, the application offers appointment management modules and service management, streamlining their workflow and potentially reducing administrative burdens such as scheduling and other workloads. To evaluate the effectiveness of the mobile application in addressing the identified challenges, a survey was conducted among 100 respondents within Butuan City, including potential clients and mental health service providers. The survey results yielded an Excellent rating which indicates a strong level of agreement among the respondents regarding the application’s usability suggesting that users perceive that the mobile application is a user-friendly and intuitive platform. Qualitative feedback obtained during the usability study highlighted the application’s value in addressing current challenges faced by both clients and mental health service providers. Future researchers may also consider to include other stakeholders, such as the local government units, in the promotion and further development of the mobile application for it to contribute and support regulatory decisions related to mental health or the integration of mental health apps into the healthcare systems of the country in general.

DEVELOPING AND IMPLEMENTING A NATIONWIDE CURRICULUM FOR AGING STUDIES. WHAT ARE THE KEY CONSIDERATIONS FOR GHANA?

Abstract In 2019, Ghana reported the implementation of a Geriatric Medicine Fellowship Program within the Faculty of Family Medicine at the Ghana College of Physicians and Surgeons (GCPS). Though this is a laudable effort to address the specialized workforce shortage the country is facing, the GCPS program is meant to provide an in-country specialization path for physicians desiring to become geriatricians. There are currently no national standardized aging studies, training programs or curricula available to other students in disciplines such as nursing, psychology, public health, and social work. Students in the public, government-owned tertiary institutions are offered isolated courses related to aging and the needs of older adults. To effectively address the workforce shortage issue and improve the overall health and wellbeing of older adults in Ghana, it is imperative to train students in diverse fields and disciplines with the needed knowledge and skills to provide the various specialized services for the aging population. This presentation highlights a proposal to the government of Ghana to consider some key issues and recommendations related to developing and implementing a nation-wide aging studies programs in the public higher institutions. Five key evidence-based areas are extensively discussed: (1) Aging studies in Ghana should be culturally relevant. (2) Aging studies in Ghana should address the needs of older Ghanaians. (3) Aging studies in Ghana should be competency-based. (4) Aging studies in Ghana should be implemented and evaluated by expert-educators. (5) Aging studies in Ghana should be attractive to potential service providers.

Baseline methods for distributed flexibility in power systems considering resource, market, and product characteristics

Emerging flexibility markets are increasingly characterised by many product characteristics, differing flexibility buyers, and a disparate set of potential Flexibility Service Providers (FSPs), including those connected to the distribution networks. The FSPs that do not have an individual schedule from previous markets (e.g., wholesale energy markets) need a counterfactual to verify service provision, often called the baseline. This paper investigates the fitness of various baseline methodologies while considering different resource, market, and product characteristics. A novel baseline decision framework is proposed. The analysis showcases that no one-size-fits-all baseline method exists while proposing alternatives for FSP types and flexibility market conditions.

Drivers and barriers to participation in Sweden's local flexibility markets for electricity

Local flexibility markets (LFM) for electricity are in their early stages, and most research has focused on their design aspects and aggregators, while little attention has been paid to providers and potential providers of flexibility resources. The present research aims to fill this gap by analysing data from 25 in-depth interviews with enrolled and potential flexibility service providers of two LFMs in Sweden. The primary goal of the analysis is to identify the drivers and barriers to participating in and providing flexibility to LFMs that are influencing these actors. Our findings show that monetary incentives were not as important as expected. The main drivers were as follows: an aggregator acting as a mediator between the buyer and the provider; a champion with personal engagement in the organisation; a wish to be a part of resolving congestion in the electricity grid; and gaining knowledge about flexibility as a resource. The main barriers identified were that LFM design was challenging to understand and that extensive knowledge about how the market functions was needed to participate. Other barriers were related to existing regulations, manual and time-consuming processes, participation not being profitable enough, perceived interference with the companies’ core businesses, and the risk of compromising customer relationships. For the future, it is essential to simplify participation, develop automation, and contribute to establishing aggregators who can support potential flexibility service providers.

Introducing an efficiency index to evaluate eVTOL designs

The evolution of electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft as part of the Advanced Air Mobility initiative will affect our society and the environment in fundamental ways. Technological forecasting suggests that commercial services are fast emerging to transform urban and regional air mobility for people and cargo. However, the complexities of diverse design choices pose a challenge for potential adopters or service providers because there are no objective and simple means to compare designs based on the available set of performance specifications. This analysis defines an aeronautically informed propulsion efficiency index (PEX) to compare the performance of eVTOL designs. Range, payload ratio, and aspect ratio are the minimum set of independent parameters needed to compute a PEX that can distinguish among eVTOL designs. The distribution of the PEX and the range are lognormal in the design space. There is no association between PEX values and the mainstream eVTOL architecture types or the aircraft weight class. A multilinear regression showed that the three independent parameters explained >90 % of the PEX distribution in the present design space.

Improving adult behavioural weight management services for diverse UK Black Caribbean and Black African ethnic groups: a qualitative study of insights from potential service users and service providers.

A significantly higher proportion of UK Black ethnic adults live with overweight or obesity, compared to their White British counterparts. The role of obesity in excess infection rates and mortality from COVID-19 has increased the need to understand if weight management interventions are appropriate and effective for Black ethnic groups. There is a paucity of existing research on weight management services in Black populations, and whether anticipated or experienced institutional and interpersonal racism in the healthcare and more widely affects engagement in these services. Understanding the lived experience of target populations and views of service providers delivering programmes is essential for timely service improvement. A qualitative study using semi-structured interviews was conducted in June-October 2021 among 18 Black African and Black Caribbean men and women interested in losing weight and 10 weight management service providers. The results highlighted a positive view of life in the United Kingdom (UK), whether born in the UK or born abroad, but one which was marred by racism. Weight gain was attributed by participants to unhealthy behaviours and the environment, with improving appearance and preventing ill health key motivators for weight loss. Participants relied on self-help to address their overweight, with the role of primary care in weight management contested as a source of support. Anticipated or previously experienced racism in the health care system and more widely, accounted for some of the lack of engagement with services. Participants and service providers agreed on the lack of relevance of existing services to Black populations, including limited culturally tailored resources. Community based, ethnically matched, and flexibly delivered weight management services were suggested as ideal, and could form the basis of a set of recommendations for research and practice. Cultural tailoring of existing services and new programmes, and cultural competency training are needed. These actions are required within systemic changes, such as interventions to address discrimination. Our qualitative insights form the basis for advancing further work and research to improve existing services to address the weight-related inequality faced by UK Black ethnic groups.

GA-Based Permutation Logic for Grid Integration of Offshore Multi-Source Renewable Parks

This paper proposes and analyzes a genetic algorithm based permutation control logic applied to the aggregator of an offshore multi-source park. The energy losses at the common coupling point are accounted for in the feedback. This paper focuses on offshore distributed energy resources, such as floating photovoltaic (PV), wind, and wave power. The main contributions of this research are the development of a control system that is capable of tracking the set-point imposed by the demand curve for each source individually, the introduction of a capacity factor for combined offshore floating PV/wind/wave power farms, and the unveiling of pure offshore renewable sources as potential storage-less flexibility service providers. The results of a case study for a site near San Francisco showed that energy losses and capacity factors are positively influenced by implementing the proposed approach.

Unveiling professional service providers' willingness to educate: A configurational approach

Customer education in professional business services demands that service providers solve multiple trade-offs in allocating limited educational resources. This study explains the differences in service providers' willingness to provide education in professional business services. Supported by the relationship marketing literature, service-dominant logic, and transaction-cost economics, the authors adopt a configurational approach to conceptualize the willingness to educate as a complex phenomenon. A fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis applied to a sample of 240 marketing service providers reveals eight equifinal configurations that elicit a willingness to educate and three configurations that lead to an unwillingness to educate. These findings enable customer firms to anticipate potential service providers' willingness to provide education, which can constitute a new criterion for service provider selection. Professional service provider managers can leverage these findings to reassess the foundational premises of their willingness to educate and upgrade the strategic role of customer education.

Policy action needed to unlock eDNA potential

Policy action needed to unlock <scp>eDNA</scp> potential

The perceived development needs for medicines information services in university hospital pharmacies: A mixed methods study

BackgroundReliable and evidence-based medicines information (MI) is critical for patient care. To guarantee this, in many countries, there are medicines information centers (MICs) which offer medicines information services (MISs). While there are no MICs in Finland, pharmacists in all five university hospital pharmacies provide MISs. A proposal for establishing five MICs has been made by the National Medicines Information Network. ObjectivesThe aim was to explore the current MISs and the perceptions of current and potential MI service providers of the need for the proposed national MICs. Barriers and facilitators for potential transition from the current MISs provided by the university hospital pharmacies to establishing national MICs, were examined. MethodsThis sequential explanatory mixed methods study was conducted nationally during September 2019–April 2020 as an online survey and semi-structured individual, pair and group theme interviews with hospital representatives. The survey questionnaire was sent to chief pharmacists and MI pharmacists in all five Finnish university hospital pharmacies (n = 5, census). The interviews (n = 13) were carried out with chief pharmacists, MI pharmacists, medication safety officers (pharmacists), chairs of the Medicines Advisory Board (physicians) and clinical pharmacologists (physicians) (participants n = 19). The data was analyzed using descriptive quantitative analysis and qualitative content analysis. ResultsAll invited representatives participated in the study. Offered MISs are quite similar but the human resources vary among the organizations. Answering MI questions was one of the core MISs. Most representatives considered a proposal of establishing five MICs to Finland positively. The expected benefits were related to achieving an official status to enhance MI, establishing the MICs within the university hospitals and close to where the MISs are needed, and fostering multiprofessional collaboration and collaboration between the MICs. Limited financial and human resources were seen the most critical challenges. ConclusionThe existing expertise of the pharmacists and the similarities in MISs provided by the university hospital pharmacies seem to provide a good basis and preconditions for expanding MI operations and forming MICs at the national level. By pooling current limited resources, synergies could be achieved and MISs, and potentially MICs developed. The establishment of MICs may enhance utilization of networking and multiprofessional collaboration in producing MISs at the national level.

Antecedents and Outcomes of Service Co-Creation in the Sharing Economy

The study focuses on service co-creation in the sharing economy, where platform operators mediate the relationship between customers and potential service providers. Service co-creation consists of information sharing, interaction, and responsible behavior that customers undertake voluntarily or willingly to create an experience of value. Based on S-D logic, a theoretical model of service co-creation was developed and tested through structural equation modeling using survey data from 627 respondents in Sydney, Australia. The results provide strong empirical support for the hypothesized relationships between service co-creation, its determinants and impact on customer satisfaction. The implications on theory development and for property owners and platform operators are discussed.

What makes an optimal delivery for PrEP against HIV: A qualitative study in MSM

Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is an effective means of HIV prevention for men who have sex with men (MSM), a key population whose engagement is crucial for achieving effective public health outcomes. An optimal service model would be important in planning the implementation of PrEP in places where such service has not been established. A qualitative study was conducted to delineate the attributes of an optimal PrEP service model for MSM in Hong Kong, a city where no formal PrEP programs existed. Twenty purposively sampled MSM who were enrollees of two pilot PrEP projects participated in the semi-structured interviews promoting story-telling. The coded data were thematically analyzed following Grounded Theory approach, focusing on uncovering a typology of the essential attributes of an optimal PrEP service model, and the reasons for such preferences. Participating MSM were all ethnic Chinese and aged 26 to 52 years. All had received PrEP from pilot projects in conjunction with periodic screening of sexually transmitted infections (STI), HIV antibody, and plasma creatinine. Four major themes emerged as regards the attributes of a preferred PrEP service: (i) comprehensiveness of HIV/STI and safety monitoring; (ii) convenient unitary service; (iii) stigma-free PrEP access and protecting confidentiality; and (iv) affordable price. Whereas regular provision of PrEP was acceptable to MSM, unaffordability and related stigma were the anticipated challenges for potential service providers. The qualitative assessment of MSM's preference for PrEP service delivery has yielded important information on the many facets of a desirable service model.

Challenges of Storage in Large Power Systems

Fossil fuel-based electric generation is a contributor to air pollution in the world. In this regard, storage provides a viable specially if it is combined with solar energy and wind generation. Storage also represents a major challenge for the traditional criteria for planning the power system, which its generated with hydro and non-renewable generation as Central America case. This article reviews literature in loadability, frequency regulation and control, stability, economic issues, reliability, harmonics and power quality and resilience applied to power systems. It presents a simulation using ETAP to analyze voltage profiles considering storage for El Salvador Power System (ESPS). The result shows a significant contribution in to enhance the voltage profiles and voltage regulation after failed. Opportunities also arise when storage is considered as potential ancillary service providers that can help to stabilize the grid under faulty situation or to mitigate the power generation variability of non-traditional renewable power sources such as wind and solar energy in Central America Power System. The present paper provides an overview of the major challenges of storage to large power systems.

Understanding decision processes in becoming a fee-for-hire service provider: A case study on direct seeded rice in Bihar, India

While Direct Seeded Rice (DSR) has numerous potential benefits to smallholder farmers in the Eastern Gangetic Plains of South Asia, it's out-scaling has been limited by both a lack of demand by farmers and limited supply of DSR services by machinery owners. This contrasts with the comparatively more rapid scaling of zero tillage wheat in the region. This trend is yet to be fully explored, particularly when focus has been placed almost exclusively on understanding DSR adoption though the lens of farm-level agronomic, economic and environmental performance. Given that limited DSR service provision is likely to be governed outside of these considerations, this study explores with zero tillage drill owners the decision processes they apply in deciding how to use their zero tillage drills. Respondents highlight a complex web of interrelated considerations that highlight the additional complexities of DSR as compared to existing practices. Using a novel ‘Decision-making Dartboard’ qualitative framework, these complexities are unpacked and a set of potential changes to the assumed theory of change for DSR scaling are identified, including considerations for selection of potential DSR service providers and responsibilities for promotion and extension of DSR to overcome the prevalent negative perceptions of DSR held broadly across the communities explored. The proposed framework and analysis process are also potentially useful for exploration of other farmer decision making processes more broadly.

MaaS users: Who they are and how much they are willing-to-pay

Mobility-as-a-service (MaaS) is a concept that has gained popularity and interest in the last few years. A significant determinant of the successful integration of a MaaS scheme is demand from passengers and potential users. The current research explores demand and willingness-to-pay for MaaS, focusing on different MaaS plans and offered services. An online survey in Greater Manchester, United Kingdom is utilized in order to explore and model such preferences and choices. Data from the survey includes socio-demographic data, current travel patterns, and a menu-based, stated preference experiment where the users were able to design their ideal MaaS plan. We model user choices by estimating a multinomial logit model, calculating also willingness-to-pay (WTP) for different levels of offered services in the MaaS package (public transport, car-sharing, bike-sharing and taxi). Results of the paper shed light into demand and quantitative analysis regarding MaaS, which the current literature lacks and outlines a price range for mobility services which is close to relevant literature in other locations for public transport and car-sharing and provides WTP estimates for taxi and bike-sharing. Results from this paper are useful both to potential MaaS operators and mobility service providers who would consider joining such initiatives; as we highlight user preferences and willingness-to-pay and to policymakers; outlining the overall preference for MaaS and the effect of socio-demographic and travel habits on MaaS plan choices.

ReliableBox: Secure and Verifiable Cloud Storage With Location-Aware Backup

While the prevalent cloud storage platforms are offering convenient services in support of diverse data-driven applications for clients, various security concerns raise in terms of data confidentiality, availability, and retrievability. Among them, servers' dishonesty on the location-specific data backup becomes a serious concern when the data stands out clients' control, considering the strict regulations imposed by many governments and organizations on data storage location. This article studies location-aware data backup verification for the data stored in clouds and aims to design a secure framework, named as ReliableBox, enabling the clients to verify if their data have been backed up on the remote servers with specific geolocation. In the design of ReliableBox, we leverage the prominent proof-of-storage techniques for data possession proof, and take advantage of multilateration geolocation and Intel SGX for the precise communication delay measurement and trust computing delay measurement, respectively. In ReliableBox, a client first computes integrity tags for the files and then outsources both the files and tags to the cloud storage server. In the later attestation, with the precise network delay and distance measurement from location-known verifiers, the client verifies that the outsourced files are intact and backed-up to hosts at the specific geolocation. With the customized design, ReliableBox can support the security needs in terms of both data integrity and backup location verification for clients, even when there exists potential dishonest cloud service providers who may manipulate the network delays or forge verification proofs. We provide security analysis to show the security property of ReliableBox in terms of data access, confidentiality, and verifications. In the end, we implement the system prototype and deploy it into several prevalent and commercial cloud platforms for performance evaluation. The experimental results demonstrate that ReliableBox is secure in support of data integrity checking and location-aware backup auditing, while it is robust to the data possession and location spoofing attacks.

Analysis of the Factors Affecting the Choice of Whether to Internalize or Outsource the Task of Greenhouse Gas Inventory Calculations: The Cases of Indonesia, Vietnam, and Thailand

Developing countries need to build long-term institutional capabilities for a national greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory under the transparency framework of the Paris Agreement. By selecting three Southeast Asian countries as the cases, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Thailand, the present study comparatively examined their institutional designs for producing the GHG inventories. They are common in terms that their national focal points make the overall coordination and other relevant line ministries provide activity data. A major difference exists regarding who is tasked to perform calculations of GHG inventories. By using the framework of Hood concerning the choice of whether to work through specific performance contracts or through direct employment, this study discussed that the variations between the countries may be associated with their differences in the following two factors: One is the number of potential service providers, as expressed by the number of GHG inventory experts as registered in the roster of the United Nations, and the other is the level of uncertainty about how the task is to be done, as measured by a share of the agriculture, forestry and other land use sector in the national GHG inventory. The development of the endogenous research base can contribute to the long-term improvement in GHG inventories. The finding has implications for assistance in building the transparency-related capacity. Development cooperation with developing countries may extend to identifying the categories that are crucial for their current GHG inventories and collaborating relevant research activities with national experts, including young researchers.

An Evaluation of Health Care Service Provider Websites in Latvia – a Medical Tourism Perspective

The prospective health care consumers are increasingly using the Internet websites for communication with potential health care service providers and decision-making regarding choice of the travel destination for receiving particular health care services. Therefore, it is important for health care providers to present themselves and their services efficiently online in order to attract foreign patients and thus facilitate medical tourism. The objective of this study is to evaluate the website content of Latvian health care providers who offer services to medical tourists in order to evaluate their status-quo and identify opportunities to improve website design. Authors used the framework by Huerta et al. (2016) as a basis to develop a modified framework suited for medical tourism-related website evaluation. 21 active websites associated with a medical tourism and provision of health care services to foreign patients were identified and selected for analysis. Each website was evaluated using a 10-factor assessment on 4 dimensions that include website accessibility, content, marketing, technology on a scale ranging from 0 to 10. Results: Scores of 21 website evaluation ranged from 54 to 91 point across all 4 dimensions with 80 and above points being considered as excellent result. Conclusions: Study findings indicated that the main improvements should be related to accessibility dimension and enabling text resizing function for improving experience for patients with poor sight, information dimension in terms of developing a separate main level section with information exclusively for foreign patients, and marketing dimension to improve effectiveness of search engine optimization (SEO) for medical tourism related keywords.