Private Ones Research Articles

Different Preferences or Opposite Directions? Reforms and Job Satisfaction at Public and Private Universities in Spain

Recent decades have witnessed how both in Spain and elsewhere, legal reforms have helped to transform the management and governance of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). These transformations have changed the conditions in which academics work, with a knock-on effect on their job satisfaction. Although these legal developments in Spain have basically been the same for both the public and private sectors in Higher Education, the evidence gathered in this article shows that the rate of cases of loss of job satisfaction is higher in public institutions than in private ones. The article provides an initial explanation for this situation, whereby the legal reforms have been met with different organisational solutions in these two kinds of institutions.

Assessing the Vulnerability of California Water Utilities to Wildfires

Wildfires are becoming more frequent and destructive in California, and it is essential to quantify their potential impacts on drinking water utilities. This study aims to measure the severity of wildfires in each California water utility based on the exposure frequency and the extent of area burned by wildfires in each service area. Our quantitative models show an association between water utility characteristics and their vulnerability to wildfires. Findings indicate that wildfire vulnerability is higher in government-owned utilities than private ones, utilities primarily relying on surface water than groundwater, and utilities using local-sourced water than purchased water. Also, we find a stronger association between wildfire vulnerability and large utilities in terms of population served than small or medium ones. Regarding geography, we find wildfire vulnerability is higher in southern and coastal California utilities than in Northern and inland California. These results help water utilities and land managers identify vulnerable locations and develop wildfire management and disaster preparedness strategies.

Subspace Differential Privacy

Many data applications have certain invariant constraints due to practical needs. Data curators who employ differential privacy need to respect such constraints on the sanitized data product as a primary utility requirement. Invariants challenge the formulation, implementation, and interpretation of privacy guarantees. We propose subspace differential privacy, to honestly characterize the dependence of the sanitized output on confidential aspects of the data. We discuss two design frameworks that convert well-known differentially private mechanisms, such as the Gaussian and the Laplace mechanisms, to subspace differentially private ones that respect the invariants specified by the curator. For linear queries, we discuss the design of near-optimal mechanisms that minimize the mean squared error. Subspace differentially private mechanisms rid the need for post-processing due to invariants, preserve transparency and statistical intelligibility of the output, and can be suitable for distributed implementation. We showcase the proposed mechanisms on the 2020 Census Disclosure Avoidance demonstration data, and a spatio-temporal dataset of mobile access point connections on a large university campus.

SOURCES OF INFORMATION AND USE OF MOBILE PHONES IN MAJOR SEED SPICES GROWING STATES

The present study attempts to know the effective sources of agricultural information and usage of mobile phones by seed spice growers. The total 450 respondents were interviewed from Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh during 2018-19. The results found that sixty-six percent of the respondents approached private agencies whereas forty-four percent farmers relied upon government sources. A large group of medium farmers approached to input dealers, whereas small and medium farmers preferred government agencies. Further, we found that ninety-five percent of the farmers owned mobile phones, and ninety percent of them used it to access agricultural information. Eighty-nine percent of smart phone owners were using social media platforms to share and access agricultural information. Logit analysis of socio-economic factors influencing farmers� access to information sources found that literacy considerably enhanced the likelihood in favor of government sources over private ones due awareness to various government programs and services. The size of landholding and was prime factor for contacting government agencies specially Kisan Call Centre for their queries. This paper highlight's potential role of mobile phones as a tool for information and communication to reach resources constrained geographical isolated seed spice growing areas.

АНАЛИЗ ИНФОРМАЦИОННО-ОБРАЗОВАТЕЛЬНЫХ ПОТРЕБНОСТЕЙ ФАРМАЦЕВТИЧЕСКИХ СПЕЦИАЛИСТОВ РЕСПУБЛИКИ КРЫМ ПО ВОПРОСАМ ФАРМАЦЕВТИЧЕСКОГО КОНСУЛЬТИРОВАНИЯ ПРИ САХАРНОМ ДИАБЕТЕ II ТИПА

Abstract. Introduction. The quantity of the patients with type II diabetes mellitus is constantly increases, according to the latest 1-st half-year data 2021 it makes 4.5 million people in Russian Federation. Wherein the spread of IItype diabetes mellitus in the majority of countries with developed economics is two times higher than registered. The purpose of the research is to survey the awareness and the informational needs of chemist’s workers consulting the type II diabetes mellitus people in the Crimean Republic. Material and methods. 105 pharmacists of the chemist’s network organizations and the private ones of the Crimean Republic located in Simferopol and resort area took part in the anonymous survey in June-October 2021. 63 pharmacists with the special secondary education and 42 with the higher special education participated in this research. Results and discussion. In the majority of cases patients to treat the type II diabetes mellitus buy medicines, at the same time 34% - over-the-counter drugs, 5%-by the recipe. Besides medicines people buy medical technical things (19%), medicinal raw materials (17%), biologically active additives (16%), care patient items (9%). Test strips are of a great demand (83.7%), insulin syringes (16.3%). In pharmacist’s opinion the majority of the customers (68.8%) use multicomponent medicines to treat the type II diabetes mellitus. The pharmacist survey found out that 95.2% of the patients asked buy the medicine prescribed by the doctors that demonstrates a highly effective pharmacotherapy, doctors trust and patient’s compliance. Conclusions. The pharmacist questionnaire in the Crimean Republic helped to reveal the sufficient knowledge level of the first - line pharmacists to consult the type II diabetes mellitus patients.

Análise da adequação estrutural das maternidades do Piauí, Brasil, 2018-2019

Abstract Objectives: to evaluate the structure and adequacy of maternal healthcare facilities in Piauí. Methods: cross-sectional study in 26 hospitals with more than 200 births/year between 2018-2019. The structure was assessed by direct observation and interview with manager, in four domains: physical aspects, human resources, equipment, and drugs. Fisher’s chi-square/exact tests were used to assess differences in adequacy of structure. Results: only 46.2% of the maternal healthcare facilities had pre-delivery, parturition and immediate post-partum room. Pediatricians (73.1%) and anesthesiologists (61.5%) were the least present professionals on-duty regime. Regarding drugs, magnesium sulfate and oxytocin were observed in 76.9% of hospitals. Overall adequacy was 23.1%, being higher in maternal healthcare facilities in the capital (p=0.034) and in private ones (p=0.031). Conclusions: Data show inequalities in the structure of maternity hospitals of the state. The absence of health professionals, essential drugs, and appropriate physical structure can expose women and newborns to unnecessary and avoidable risks.

MULTIPLE VIEWS

The choice of this theme is justified by the need to better understand the historical and social inequalities that permeate the daily life of the black population and stand out as immense that black peoples still experience in Brazil today. From this perspective, the research aims to identify and elucidate the racial and structural issues that are part of the construction of our society. The article will be briefly presented on the term black, its etymology, racial classification and the study of its genetics; historical analysis of blacks in Brazil and their colonization; the condition of the free black in the context of Brazilian society; History of black people who are nationals and identify themselves at different times. From this contextualization, we will go over structural racism and its contribution to violent deaths against blacks. How do black lives matter? For whom? The methodology used was the bibliography, which contains articles from magazines, books, theses and other perspectives of qualitative research in documents. In view of the research, Brazil is characterized by a conception of racism and that it persists from preconceived and proven attitudes of discrimination. Therefore, ethnic-racial prejudice exists and presents itself through racism and Brazilian cordial behavior, the Brazilian private ones, which are manifested in relationships and are manifested in supposed public tolerance, which can be called racism. It is concluded that the debate on racial prejudice is of great importance for the formation of a conscious and egalitarian society.

Standardizing nursing degree curriculum structure in Spain: A mixed-methods study

BackgroundLegislation regulating Spanish and European academic curricula prescribes a certain level of knowledge and skills any student must master. Spanish universities freely decide the number of credits assigned to each subject and in which year the subject will be taught. We hypothesize that this flexibility may give way to excessively heterogeneous training across universities in nursing degrees. Such curricula heterogeneity hinders inter-university transfers and weakens educational excellence. Objectives1) To review the existing differences in nursing degrees in Spanish universities; 2) to compare our results against current legislation; 3) to propose changes in the legislation, if necessary. DesignMixed-methods approach. SettingSpain. MethodsWe reviewed nursing degree curricula of all 60 Spanish universities. Inter-university differences were analyzed and checked against current legislation. A focus group proposed legislative changes accordingly. ResultsSeveral differences between public and private universities were statistically significant. During the first cycle, public universities´ course loads include more theoretical teachings, more credits in core subjects during the first year, and more compulsory subjects in second year. Private universities are more likely to offer external internships during the first cycle whereas the public ones are more likely to offer them during the second cycle. Public universities offer more credits under the following curricular blocks than private ones: “Nutrition/Dietetics,” “Psychiatry,” “Public and Community Health,” and “Geriatrics.” In turn, private universities offer more credits in the areas of “Theory/Methodology,” “Ethics/Legislation,” “English,” and “Theology.”Academic curricula meet most of the criteria established by the Spanish and European legislation. The proposed legislative changes aim at standardizing curricula by associating specific credits and their timeline to the teaching blocks. ConclusionsNursing degree curricula among Spanish universities are highly heterogeneous. Legislative changes to homogenize teaching blocks would facilitate credit validations and student mobility across universities, in addition to increasing nursing degrees´ standardization and excellence.

Improving the Efficiency of Energy Consumption in Buildings: Simulation of Alternative EnPC Models

The construction sector and the operation and maintenance of buildings largely contribute to energy consumption and emission of greenhouse gases (GHGs) in the European Union (EU). Therefore, it is of utmost importance to improve the energy performance of buildings. Yet, this frequently involves high short-term investments, which may not be compatible with owners’ budgetary constraints. In this research we analyze the importance of Energy Performance Contracting (EnPC) for the improvement of energy efficiency in buildings. These models allow bypassing budgetary restrictions of owners (public and private ones) and bring private capital to finance energy efficiency measures. The paper analyses different models of contracting Energy Service Companies (ESCOs), from traditional models to alternative models, and exposes the versatility of the new contracting models and the associated risks. Several applications of energy performance contracts implemented in European countries are presented to identify the main characteristics that lead to successful contracts. The paper also includes the discussion of energy performance contracts applied to a public building (a school) that seeks to reduce its annual energy consumption, by testing the use of three types of energy performance contracts. The results show that there is potential in the use of EnPC but it is critical to select the most adequate model, especially when defining the contract duration, to balance both owners’ and companies’ interests.

The role of specific prophylaxis in the control of the epizootic process of brucellosis in small ruminants

A retrospective epizootic analysis proves the effectiveness of control of the epizootic process of brucellosis in small ruminants in large public farms with the annual use of live agglutinogenic vaccine from the B. abortus 19 strain (with thesubcutaneous injection method) in dysfunctional and threatened brood flocks. The live agglutinogenic vaccine from the B. melitensis Rev-1 strain, which was officially regulated for single use, turned out to be non-technological, primarily because of reactogenicity, and also because of the short duration of the immunity formed in animals. Most outbreaks of brucellosis currently occur in private small ruminants, which are significantly outnumbered and lack immunity. It is kept in small farms without division into sex and age groups, epizootic and immune categories, and therefore the systematic replacement of compromised animals with healthy ones is ruled out. It is not technologically feasible to use a vaccine from strain 19 in them according to the scheme adopted for large public farms, since in these conditions, it is impossible to distinguish serological reactions of vaccine and infectious nature during mass diagnostic studies of animals. The proposed scheme based on the conjunctival method immunization and reimmunization of animals with a vaccine from a stable agglutinogenic strain B. abortus 19 in a reduced dose, provides the necessary group immunity, as well as unhindered early post-vaccination diagnostics to identify hidden brucella carriers. It is acceptable for all categories of sheep farms, including small private ones.

Enterprising nurses: An opportunity to broaden professional horizons

Legislation regulating Spanish and European academic curricula prescribes a certain level of knowledge and skills any student must master. Spanish universities freely decide the number of credits assigned to each subject and in which year the subject will be taught. We hypothesize that this flexibility may give way to excessively heterogeneous training across universities in nursing degrees. Such curricula heterogeneity hinders inter-university transfers and weakens educational excellence.1) To review the existing differences in nursing degrees in Spanish universities; 2) to compare our results against current legislation; 3) to propose changes in the legislation, if necessary.Mixed-methods approach.Spain.We reviewed nursing degree curricula of all 60 Spanish universities. Inter-university differences were analyzed and checked against current legislation. A focus group proposed legislative changes accordingly.Several differences between public and private universities were statistically significant. During the first cycle, public universities´ course loads include more theoretical teachings, more credits in core subjects during the first year, and more compulsory subjects in second year. Private universities are more likely to offer external internships during the first cycle whereas the public ones are more likely to offer them during the second cycle. Public universities offer more credits under the following curricular blocks than private ones: “Nutrition/Dietetics,” “Psychiatry,” “Public and Community Health,” and “Geriatrics.” In turn, private universities offer more credits in the areas of “Theory/Methodology,” “Ethics/Legislation,” “English,” and “Theology.”Academic curricula meet most of the criteria established by the Spanish and European legislation. The proposed legislative changes aim at standardizing curricula by associating specific credits and their timeline to the teaching blocks.Nursing degree curricula among Spanish universities are highly heterogeneous. Legislative changes to homogenize teaching blocks would facilitate credit validations and student mobility across universities, in addition to increasing nursing degrees´ standardization and excellence.

THE TENDENCIES OF KINDERGARTENS PRINCIPALS TOWARD INTEGRATING DISABLE CHILDREN ‎WITH OTHER CHILDREN IN THE KINDERGARTENS IN THE DIRECTORATES OF EDUCATION OF NABLUS

This study aimed to measure the tendencies of the kindergartens principals ‎toward integrating disable children with students in the kindergartens of south ‎Nablus depending on the variables such as Academic performance, years of ‎relevant experience, and the type of kindergarten the scanning, describing ‎approach was used. The study involved all principals of kindergartens in the ‎Directorates of Education of Nablus; which were ‎‏168‏‎ principals, and random ‎‏167‏‎ ‎samples were chosen for the study, a questionnaire was used as a tool for this ‎study. After its collection and analysis, the study came out of a number of results, ‎the most important one was the existence of the positive tendencies in the ‎principals about these disable students in the Directorates of Education of Nablus. ‎There were significant differences in the tendencies of the principals of ‎kindergartens toward integrating disable children due to the type of kindergarten ‎for the benefit of private ones. According to the results that were reached, the ‎study comes out with many recommendations، the most important one was ‎Training the teachers and the principals the necessary skills that needed to deal ‎with this type of students among the integrating, understand such characteristics ‎of it, to participate in determine and apply the programs to deal with them, and ‎prepare them to creating and build positive tendencies towards unusual children. ‎ Finally, it is necessary for teachers and principals to take courses and workshops ‎to learn how to merge disabled with normal children, and know the special ways ‎to deal with them.‎

Stakeholders’ power in the networking structuration processes of the urban resilience concept in Habitat III agenda (2012-2016)

The urban resilience concept was introduced in 2016 as a key concept in the Habitat III New Urban Agenda for the next 20 years. We wonder how this urban resilience concept was elaborated and who influenced it the most? The preparatory events structured several stakeholders’ networks. The relations between stakeholders allowed the flow of ideas in the consultation and production process. Some influential stakeholders strongly oriented definition of urban resilience concepts by taking power in the networking process of the consecutive meetings. The paper analyzes the network of stakeholders/concepts, during the building process between 2012 and 2016 (5,539 discourses from 290 stakeholders, in 357 events). The application of textual mining and machine learning topic modelling algorithm exposed the structure of the principal topics for building the concept of urban resilience, and presented how relations of main stakeholders with funders was crucial for the investment in policy interventions. Therefore, we underlined for the first time in an empirical way, different kinds of actors’ power in the construction process that supported the Habitat III resilience concept. We demonstrated how far some official stakeholders, but also external and private ones, oriented the construction of ideologies to validate the knowledge that supported the related actions in laboratory cities.

Politics of Space:The pandemic changed how we use public places – and private ones, too

Politics of Space:The pandemic changed how we use public places – and private ones, too

Assessing the Components of Crisis Management: A Comparative Study in Private and Public Hospitals

Introduction: Crisis management, as one of the areas of consequence management, can increase crisis resilience and reduce the level of organizational vulnerability in times of crises. Therefore, this study was designed and conducted to assess the components of crisis management in private and public hospitals.
 Method: The present study was conducted in 10 hospitals, in 2020. The sample size was estimated to be 200. The components of crisis management in this questionnaire included: management commitment, taking the blame, learning, awareness, preparedness, flexibility and transparency. Data analysis was performed using Independent samples t-test and Chi-square/Fisher exact test.
 Results: The results showed that the two groups of public and private hospitals did not have significant differences in terms of individual variables (p<0.05). The crisis management index in the two groups of public and private hospitals was estimated to be 4.11 and 3.22, respectively. The results of comparative assessment of the crisis management components in the two groups revealed that all these components in public hospitals are estimated to be higher than that of the private hospitals, and their differences are also statistically significant (p<0.05).
 Conclusion: The findings of the study indicated that although the resilience of private hospitals was higher than average, the comparative assessment of the crisis management components revealed that the level of resilience in times of crises in public hospitals was higher than the private ones. Therefore, the components of crisis management in these hospitals should be improved with a proper design and a comprehensive crisis management program.

Evaluation of quality and effectiveness of rendering medical care to patients with gonococcal infection in medical institutions

Objective. To assess the intensity of epidemic process in a long-term dynamics of gonorrhea sickness rate and evaluate the quality and effectiveness of rendering medical care to patients with this infection in medical institutions of Perm.
 Materials and methods. In this work, the data of official statistics of the State Budgetary Institution of Public Healthcare Perm Regional Clinical Dermatovenerological Dispensary are presented: official statistical form 12 Information on the number of diseases as well as accounting forms accepted by the Ministry of Public Health of Perm Krai. Epidemiological, descriptive-evaluative and analytical studies of the type case-control, sociological (questioning method) and statistical methods were used.
 Results. A long-term dynamics of gonococcal infection morbidity among the population of Perm for 19902020 was characterized by a marked tendency to decrease, an average annual decrease rate was 7.5 %. Despite the tendency to decline, from 2018 to 2020, there was observed an activation of epidemic process of the gonococcal infection. The growth rate was 137.5 %. Based on special investigations, it was established that 55.4 % of patients addressed to private clinics, 44.6 % (p0.05) to state ones (SBIPH PK RCDVD). In general, 76.5 % of patients from state and private clinics remained uncontrolled from the side of medical services. Thus, in three thirds of the foci, an active search of the sources of the infectious agent was not carried out. While studying medical documentation of 666 foci, epidemic diagnostics was performed only in 166 (24.9 %), in 500 foci the infectious agent source was not detected and investigated. At the same time, out of 500 foci, in 340 (68.0 %) one sexual partner for each focus remained unexamined, in 125 (25.0 %) foci two-three sexual partners, and in 35 (7.0 %) foci more than three sexual partners.
 Conclusions. Recent years have witnessed the activation of epidemiological process of gonococcal infection in Perm. The gonococcal infection morbidity 2.5 times exceeded the indicators in the country as a whole. Patients with gonococcal infection addressed to state and private clinics in 55.4 % and 44.6 % of cases, respectively. Three thirds of patients with gonorrhea receive medical care not in a full volume, and with bad quality. In the state institutions, such patients make 15 %, in private ones 85 %.

Teaching in a Global World: Challenges and Opportunities for Small-Sized Universities - Insights from Italy

Today’s academic institutions are strongly involved in the modern globalization process. The aim of the paper is to investigate if small-sized universities face particular challenges and if they obtain some advantages or are adversely affected by the ongoing process. The focus is on Europe and, specifically, on Italy, one of the signatory countries of the Bologna Declaration, that has implemented the European international reform process. Based on official data from the Italian Ministry of University and Research, first we analyse university characteristics and then we calculate performance selected indicators that are informative of a few key aspects, such as teaching quality and internationalisation and look at student satisfaction. Results show that teaching quality in small-sized public universities is similar to that in big-sized public ones whereas small-sized private universities perform better than big-sized private ones. Attractiveness for students abroad is greater for smaller and more specialized universities, and this is especially evident for private universities. Satisfaction as well is higher for students studying in small-sized universities. However, doubts exist for the future due to the possible negative effects of the very complex and strict administrative procedures of the current organization and evaluation system. Keywords: universities, small-sized, teaching, performance, Europe, Italy

Revisiting systemic risk during political shocks and its impact on unemployment: evidence from Tunisia

ABSTRACT We measure the systemic risk of the Tunisian financial system around the revolution period by the use of covar method and to test its ability to predict the future unemployment rate. Our findings show that public systemic banks kept their ranks before and after revolution. Conversely, private bank classification is partially reversed between the two periods. The top five ranks remain occupied by two public banks and the three largest private ones in terms of size, capitalization, efficiency and loans’ activities. Otherwise, the global Tunisian systemic risk seems not to be able yet to predict the future unemployment rate evolution..

Motivation and job satisfaction among hospital nurses in Bulgaria: A cross-sectional study

Introduction/Objective. The competitive healthcare market is focused on quality health services and the search for effective methods to improve the quality of these services represents a continuing challenge for healthcare managers. It has been found that satisfaction with the work of nurses directly affects the quality of care and patient satisfaction. The aim of this study was to examine the factors influencing the motivation and job satisfaction of hospital nurses. Methods. A cross-sectional study in private and public hospitals of Plovdiv region (second largest region in Bulgaria), established as training and teaching bases for nurses was conducted. The sample comprised of nurses employed in internal wards, surgical wards, intensive care units, and neurology ward settings. Results. Most of the participants 55 (67.1%) are working in public hospitals and 27 (32.9%) in private ones. All of the respondents were women with a mean age of 50.57 ? 11.6 years. Only 40.3% of nurses were satisfied with their job and employees in public hospitals were generally more dissatisfied, although both sectors have identified ?payment? and ?working conditions? as being an important source of dissatisfaction. Conclusion. Motivation and job satisfaction studies play an important role in providing appropriate medical care in the healthcare sector. The results of this study demonstrate the importance of good job salary, good working conditions, and co-workers? support for job satisfaction.

Identification of environmental cleaning and managerial best practices for integration in competitive bidding documents for outsourcing of housekeeping services in tertiary care hospitals in India

Aim: This study aimed at the identification of environmental cleaning and managerial best practices for integration in competitive bidding documents for outsourcing of housekeeping services in tertiary care hospitals in India. Materials and Methods: This study design was cross-sectional. The sample comprised of tender documents of eight government super-specialty hospitals/corporations and housekeeping contract agreements of five private ones. Convenience sampling was used-current tenders of most popular government hospitals available online and housekeeping agreements of consenting popular private hospitals were considered. Excel sheet was used for the analysis. Results: Hospitals outsourced housekeeping services on performance or human resource basis, use risk classification (23%) of hospital areas for determining intensity of cleaning, and outlined scope of services (50%). Fifteen percent tenders provide comprehensive lists of material. Scrubber requirements ranged from one per 25–250 beds. In 40% tenders, scope included handling of biomedical waste. Workforce included managerial cadres. There is a focus on occupational health and safety. Quality assurance is inbuilt in the contracts including bid evaluation criteria for selecting competent agencies and penal provisions such as in case of adverse report (INR 10,000) and unsatisfactory survey reporting (1% of monthly payment). Conclusion: Since successful outsourcing must focus on above-mentioned parameters, this study provides necessary guidance for health-care administrators for patient satisfaction, positive image, reducing hospital-acquired infections, and ensuring provision of quality care services.