Service Science Research Articles

Episciences overlay journals

Watch VIDEO. Episciences is a publishing platform for diamond open access overlay journals. The ambition is to provide scientific communities with the technical means to produce high-quality, cost-effective journals in line with FAIR principles. The process is based on open repositories (arXiv; Zenodo; HAL). All the published content of a journal is hosted on repositories. Episciences is therefore set up as a service layer for repositories, using them as input and output for open access publication. The platform was launched in 2013 as a peer review service for preprints hosted in open archives. Over the years, the list of services offered has grown and adapted to new trends in scientific publications. For example, peer review reports are now a new type of content that can be hosted in repositories, along with datasets and software code for publications. Support for these new objects in Episciences increases transparency and reproducibility of science. Support for datasets and software code also means that both data journals and software journals can be easily created on top of repositories. The platform has implemented new protocols and workflows promoted by the Confederation of Open Access Repositories (COAR) Next Generation Working Group, such as COAR Notify and SignPosting. It has enabled us to build innovative new services for researchers on top of the HAL repository. We have also connected Episciences to other open science services such as OpenAIRE Graph, OpenCitations and Scholexplorer. This has allowed us to add new services at the same time for journals and the HAL repository. The presentation will explain how Episciences and overlay journals in general can be a bridge between publications, open repositories, data and software repositories - and more broadly with open science infrastructures.

Data, Tools and Services for Spatial Sustainability Science

The emerging research data centre (RDC) at the Leibniz Institute of Ecological Urban and Regional Development (IOER) constitutes an essential milestone towards promoting sustainable land transition and transformative urban and regional development. The IOER RDC leverages spatial data science and artificial intelligence to process and analyse diverse and complex data sources. It provides high-resolution indicator maps of land use, ecosystems, and settlement structures, as well as cross-scale and cross-disciplinary spatial analyses, modelling, and simulations. Moreover, the IOER RDC offers digital tools to support decision-making, policy planning, and sustainable transformations. Hence, the IOER RDC has the potential to foster a sustainable future by facilitating the transition towards sustainable land use and development in urban and regional areas. The IOER RDC's endeavours offer a path towards addressing pressing societal challenges, such as rapid urbanisation, environmental degradation, climate change, and social inequality.

Managerial approaches, frameworks, and practices for business model application in public services management in the VUCA environment

Abstract Significant gaps in public services management were highlighted when service-dominant logic emerged in services science, resulting in fundamental changes in attitudes. The business model application in public services was initiated by offering public service logic. However, this concept requires justification of its interfaces with management approaches, frameworks, and practices. The VUCA (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, and Ambiguity) environment has changed the existing managerial approach in organisational performance and services management. This paper aims to highlight the key aspects and justify the application of services management approaches, frameworks, and practices (Agile practices, customer experience management frameworks, and the design thinking approach) that coincide with the business model approach in public services management (public service logic) in a VUCA environment. In this paper, the Cochrane Guide to Literature Reviews was loosely followed. The focus was on academic publications and such expert sources as webinars for practitioners. Only publications and expert sources in English were included. The Scopus search engine was used for academic sources. Publications covering at least two of the following domains were included: Customer experience, business model, Agile practices, design thinking approach, public services, and VUCA. The expert sources were selected using purposive sampling when communities of practice were identified by authors with expert knowledge, and the main communication channels within each community of practice were sampled. The analysis showed that public services are defined as public goods that the State’s government commits to deliver in line with public values by applying a customer-centric approach. Integrating the design thinking approach and Agile practices help create customer-centric solutions for the customer experience management framework as design thinking helps understand what to do, while Scrum (one of Agile practices) gives the autonomy in deciding how to do it. Each analysed managerial method contributes uniquely to improving public services management in a VUCA environment.

Securing Deep Learning as a Service Against Adaptive High Frequency Attacks With MMCAT

Most cloud providers offer Deep Learning as a Service (DLaaS) for different business, science and engineering domains. However, it is known that deep neural networks (DNNs) are vulnerable to adversarial examples, which can cause well-trained DNN models to misbehave by injecting human-imperceptible perturbations to the query input data. Securing deep learning as a service becomes a critical challenge in mitigating such adversarial input perturbations, and enhancing the robustness of DNNs. In this paper, we report two important facts: First, most adversarial perturbations are high frequency signals or are added to high frequency signals. Second, due to Frequency Principle that neural networks overly pay attention to fit the low frequency signals during training, the models could be easily misled by the high frequency signals of adversarial examples. These facts consequently contribute to the vulnerability of DNNs service in the Cloud. We conjecture that the more robust the neural networks are in learning from high frequency signals, the more resilient these neural networks are against adversarial perturbed examples. We propose a novel method for generating high-frequency-enhanced adversarial examples, which is achieved by a high-pass filter in the frequency domain via Fourier Transform. This method enhances the learning ability for high frequency signals and ameliorates to over-fit useless low frequency signals. In order to improve the robustness of DNNs service under such signal frequency attacks, we propose a multi-modal collaborative adversarial training framework, named as MMCAT, which uses the multi-modal information of the input images for cross-modal collaborative training, delivering excellent extension for effectively learning of multi-modal image information. Extensive experiments show that under strong adaptive frequency attacks, the DNNs service trained with the proposed MMCAT method achieve superior performance and robustness over the state-of-the-art adversarial training approaches.

ROLE OF PACKAGING EDUCATION AND TRAINING IN IMPROVING THE QUALITY OF SMEs

One of the problems often faced by SME entrepreneurs is the lack of knowledge about the right type of material to use according to the product they have and the design and composition of labels according to applicable regulations. Packaging designs and labels become icons that can make these products competitive and attract more consumers. So that the main goal of SME entrepreneurs is achieved, namely increasing turnover. Among them, P-IRT/MD permits, halal certificates, product composition, serving sizes, serving suggestions, and storage suggestions, so that consumer safety in consuming these products can run well. Dapoer Ikan partners Umi Ali and Rendang Bu Guru are SMEs that do not yet have a P-IRT permit and labels that do not comply with food packaging regulations. The knowledge that is still minimal about this is the background for the TICK Study Program to carry out community-based science and technology services regarding improving the quality of packaging for the UKM Dapoer Ikan Umi Ali and Rendang Bu Guru through socialization and training. The implementation of the service is carried out through offline educational seminars and training regarding 1) Packaging design for SMEs that sell; 2) Appropriate material selection and 3) Appropriate SME packaging regulations. This activity aims to make partners able to compete better by having packaging that is in accordance with regulations and attractive label designs and TICK Study Program can apply their knowledge to Dapoer Ikan Partners Umi Ali and Rendang Bu Guru. The results of the evaluation of participants' activities became more knowledgeable about the world of packaging and all participants agreed to hold seminars and training activities like this on a regular and continuous basis so that packaging, product quality and product sales turnover increased.

Re3data – Indexing the Global Research Data Repository Landscape Since 2012

For more than ten years, re3data, a global registry of research data repositories (RDRs), has been helping scientists, funding agencies, libraries, and data centers with finding, identifying, and referencing RDRs. As the world’s largest directory of RDRs, re3data currently describes over 3,000 RDRs on the basis of a comprehensive metadata schema. The service allows searching for RDRs of any type and from all disciplines, and users can filter results based on a wide range of characteristics. The re3data RDR descriptions are available as Open Data accessible through an API and are utilized by numerous Open Science services. re3data is engaged in various initiatives and projects concerning data management and is mentioned in the policies of many scientific institutions, funding organizations, and publishers. This article reflects on the ten-year experience of running re3data and discusses ten key issues related to the management of an Open Science service that caters to RDRs worldwide.

Online System Adaptation Single Submission Risk Based Approach (OSS-RBA)

The industrial revolution can bring changes in human lifestyles, from manual to digital trading and ways of working. This will provide Indonesia with opportunities, enormous opportunities, including government organizations that are innovative in fulfilling their mandates and functions. Utilizing developments in information technology, accelerating the promotion of e-government, implementing science and technology public services and implementing other government affairs. The Indonesian government has finally passed Law No. 19 of 2020. Law Number 11 of 2020 concerning Job Creation has changed the licensing paradigm from a permit-based approach to a risk-based approach (RBA). Not without reason, this provision is intended to provide ease and certainty in doing business so as to increase regional competitiveness. This new paradigm places risk as the main consideration in every business activity, thus having implications for changes in the current design of business policies, institutions and service platforms in the central and regional governments. However, at the implementation level in each region, the application of this risk-based licensing model depends on the readiness and subsequent response from each region, especially policies, institutions (organization and human resources) and digital service tools (sarpras, internet networks). Electronically Integrated Business Licensing or Online Single Submission Risk-Based Approach (OSS-RBA) is a business license issued by the OSS-RBA agency on behalf of the Minister, Head of Agency, Governor, or Regent/Mayor to commercial participants through an electronic system. The OSS-RBA was created as a form of reform in the field of commercial licensing, because initially the handling of proposed permits seemed complicated, requiring lengthy bureaucratic procedures and direct visits to relevant agencies.

Assessment of Agricultural Practices Impact on the Development of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi

In natural environments, the development of plants depends on the interactions they maintain with their environment, in particular with soil microorganisms such as arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, especially since the used of inputs is scarce by the majority of farmers in Côte d’Ivoire. The present study was carried out to study the endomycorrhizogenic potential of the soils on which tomato, cashew and banana are grown. Place and Duration of Study: Soil sampling in bananas, cashews and tomatoes fields (July and August 2016), spore trapping in WASCAL (West African Science Service Center on Climate Change and Adapted Land Use) greenhouse in the city of Bingerville and spore extraction and identification in Laboratory of Biotechnology, Agriculture and Development of Biological Resources (September 2016 to March 2017). Material and Methods: Soil samples were taken away from the same depth, 10 to 20 cm, in cashew, tomato or banana fields. They were then used for trap pot culture by sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.)] and cowpea [Vigna ungugulata (L.) Walp.]. The wet sieving revealed spore density and morphological diversity. Results: Spores were more abundant in the soils sampled under cashew (22 spores / gram of soil) in comparison to banana (9 spores / gram of soil) and tomato (3 spores / gram of soil). There were a real diversity of glomeromycete in the different agrosystems. There is a great richness and diversity of AMF spore form under cashew (18 morphotypes) in Côte d'Ivoire compared to tomato (2 morphotypes) and banana (4 morphotypes). Conclusion: Land use system impact spore richness and diversity. Controlled mycorrhization of cashew, tomato and banana could be considered.

Advanced Research Institute (ARI): Supporting the Geriatric Mental Health Research Pipeline

The Advanced Research Institute (ARI) in Mental Health and Aging is a NIMH-funded mentoring network to help transition early-career faculty to independent investigators and scientific leaders. Since 2004, ARI has enrolled 184 Scholars from 61 institutions across 34 states. We describe the ARI components and assess the impact and outcomes of ARI on research careers of participants. Outcomes of ARI graduates (n = 165) came from NIH Reporter, brief surveys, and CVs: 87.3% remained active researchers, 83.6% performed scientific service, and 80.6% obtained federal grants. A population-based analysis examined NIMH mentored K awardees initially funded from 2002–2018 (n = 1160): in this group, 77.1% (47/61) of ARI participants versus 49.5% (544/1099) of nonparticipants obtained an R01. Controlling for time, ARI participants were 3.2 times more likely to achieve R01 funding than nonparticipants. Given the struggle to reduce attrition from the research career pipeline, the effectiveness of ARI model could be relevant to other fields.

Providing open imaging data at scale: An EMBL-EBI perspective

Biological imaging is one of the primary tools by which we understand living systems across scales from atoms to organisms. Rapid advances in imaging technology have increased both the spatial and temporal resolutions at which we examine those systems, as well as enabling visualisation of larger tissue volumes. These advances have huge potential but also generate ever increasing amounts of imaging data that must be stored and analysed. Public image repositories provide a critical scientific service through open data provision, supporting reproducibility of scientific results, access to reference imaging datasets and reuse of data for new scientific discovery and acceleration of image analysis methods development. The scale and scope of imaging data provides both challenges and opportunities for open sharing of image data. In this article, we provide a perspective influenced by decades of provision of open data resources for biological information, suggesting areas to focus on and a path towards global interoperability.

Requirements for Brazilian Outpatient Centers of Excellence in Hidradenitis Suppurativa: Consensus Co-Creative Study.

Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is a chronic skin condition. Its complexity and impact on patients highlight the need for multidisciplinary care that can address the physical, psychological, and social aspects. Centers of excellence can ideally provide the necessary infrastructure, resources, and expertise to effectively treat HS. However, there are still no consolidated models of centers of excellence in HS, and establishing their foundations is an intricate research challenge. Purposely, design and co-creation as innovation techniques are helpful approaches to this type of research. In this study, we conducted a co-creation with consensus among HS specialists to propose the criteria and requirements to establish outpatient centers of excellence of HS in Brazil. We followed a linear process with mixed methods in 6 stages. The process resulted in 10 categories for establishing outpatient centers, including their respective requirements, rationale, and classification. The categories include onboarding and welcoming; infrastructure and procedures; infusion therapy; flows and referrals; staffing; disease management; metrics during diagnosis; metrics during treatment; awareness and advocacy; research and education. The idealized outpatient centers can play a role in the complete multidisciplinary treatment for HS and advancing the science of healthcare services by providing a focus for research, training, and translation of findings into practice.

THE HADITH INDUSTRY IN THE INTERPRETATION OF SCHOLAR EL-HJOUJI

Moroccan scholars have been interested in religious sciences since the introduction of Islam to Morocco, and left us valuable works, some of which are considered reliable references. Among the sciences that they gave great attention to, and devoted a great deal of time to, is the interpretation of the Noble Qur’an. So we find in the book of interpretation the grammatical, morphological, lexical, rhetorical, jurisprudential, or Sufi artifacts, or we find most of them... With their diversity and differences, the ways they dealt with the interpretation of the contents of the Quranic verses varied and differed. In this scientific article, I deal with research and study of the hadith industry of one of the scholars of Morocco, Mohamed El Hjouji (d. 1370 AH) through his interpretation of “The Necklace of Durr, Sapphire and Coral in the Interpretation of the Qur’an.” This research introduces this encyclopedic scholar, who gave Morocco many like him in the fourteenth century AH. It also presents to researchers and those other scholars the efforts of the man in the service of religious sciences, transmission and rationality, whether it is related to the science of the outer or the inner, especially his efforts in the service of the Holy Qur’an in terms of its interpretation, and the Sunnah of the Prophet and its sciences in terms of both teaching and composition. The reason for my choice of the subject of Hadith industry in Tafsir El Hjouji, which is still in manuscript form in the library of his heirs in the city of El Jadida in the Kingdom of Morocco, is to show the man’s encyclopedic knowledge, his mastery of accepted hadith texts and what is below, and his skill in employing these prophetic hadiths in the process of interpretation, but rather his good use of hadith sciences in this process

The Progress and Prospects in the Scenario Simulation Research on the Sustainability of Regional Ecosystem Services Based on a “Safe Operating Space”

Integrating scenarios and models to assess the sustainability of future regional ecosystem services is at the forefront of ecosystem service science. However, there are a lack of comprehensive reviews on this topic. Therefore, this study provides a systematic review of the research progress considering two aspects: ecosystem service scenario simulation and sustainability assessments based on the concept of a “safe operating space.” We found that (1) a number of studies have already started to explore methods for evaluating the sustainability of future ecosystem services; (2) in terms of scenario construction methods, most existing studies have adopted the global classical scenario downscaling approach, while less consideration has been given to the important socio-economic-environmental characteristics of a region itself, which affect the credibility and policy relevance of scenarios; and (3) in terms of sustainability simulation evaluation, most existing studies are qualitative comparisons of the sustainability of ecosystem services within different scenarios, while quantitative methods are lacking. We proposed an approach that combined participatory scenario construction and a regional safe operating space to address the above identified challenges. Successfully implementing this research approach would provide decision makers with more accurate and practical early warning information regarding the sustainability of future ecosystem services.

Assessment of Dynamic Object Information Utilization Service in a Control Center for Each Urban Scale via Fuzzy AHP

Recently, the demand for citizen-sensible service solutions such as traffic, crime prevention, and disasters in smart cities is increasing. In order to provide technology-based smart city services, local government control centers could be utilized. Accordingly, this paper presented a method for selecting a control center-based dynamic object information utilization service model through in-depth interviews with 26 related local government control center operation personnel. A comparative analysis according to the size of the local government to which the evaluator belongs was also performed. As a methodology, Fuzzy AHP was used, which can support rational decision-making by mathematically expressing ambiguous phenomena such as subjective and uncertain judgments. The summary of the research results is as follows. Services related to recent incidents in South Korea (e.g., school zone traffic accidents and lowland inundation) were identified as very important. These social issues are significant factors in policy decisions. In comparing the results for each urban scale, the importance of pedestrian safety services on backside roads and main road traffic services was found to be important in the metropolitan area and regional, medium, and small cities, respectively. This was attributed to metropolitan cities with high population density, and medium and small cities experiencing alienated traffic information. In metropolitan areas, new services are highly important owing to the demand for a more scientific control service and future mobility based on a sound control infrastructure. In medium and small cities, facility management services were assessed relatively highly owing to the poor conditions of regional cities with a lack of supervising personnel in the field and a lack of surveillance system infrastructure. This paper was able to confirm the difference in service preference by city size, and it is necessary to select the optimal service model considering these results.

SPATIAL DIFFERENTIATION OF THE SOCIAL SPHERE: LANDMARKS OF THE POST-WAR RECONSTRUCTION OF UKRAINE

The proposed study is devoted to determining the features of the spatial differentiation of the social sphere within the territory of Ukraine. The essence, objects, subjects, results of the process of differentiation of the social sphere of Ukraine in the spatial context, as well as the specificity of relations and the nature of the development of the corresponding process in space and time are disclosed. For this, an analysis of income was made as one of the key criteria of the level of formation and functionality of the social sphere. The role of the population's needs as a key motivating element in the formation of social space is substantiated, because the population is multidimensional and the population itself is the basis of the social space.
 The following research methods were used during the conducted research: descriptive, comparative and descriptive-vector methods. They are important for the characterization of concepts related to the presence of social sphere components and their accessibility for the local population, comparison of the functional level of individual social sphere components and their comprehensive review, and designation of the most important factors affecting the functioning of social sphere subjects, along with indicating the most important areas of activity.
 The dependence and connection between the level of demand and use of elements of the social sphere and the level of income of the population was investigated, as well as regional and temporal (in this case - quarterly) differences in service consumption were substantiated. Key types of social services for which consumers spend money have been determined at the regional level.
 Elements of the social sphere are characterized by local influence and limited operational capabilities. Despite their different functional purpose, their common goal is to identify and satisfy local social needs. The realities of modern Ukrainian society require the formation of guidelines for the restoration of the state of functioning and accessibility of the social sphere, which was typical for the regions of Ukraine before the start of the Ukrainian-Russian war.
 The criterion for the functioning and development of the social sphere should be financial availability, which in turn is determined by the population's ability to spend a certain amount of money on receiving social services. At the regional level in Ukraine, there are significant fluctuations in the incomes of the population, which is generally an objective phenomenon. The statistical data of the last decades allow us to state that in the vast majority of regional regions there was an increase in the well-being of the population. Expenditure on the social sphere in the regions of Ukraine is correlated with indicators of the number of family members, primarily the number of children in them. Traditionally, families with a small number of children are young and wages are not the main source of their income. At the same time, these families have high hopes for social support in various forms (scholarships, grants, targeted payments). Families with more children mainly form their budget from wages and in equal proportions from entrepreneurial activity and other social benefits. The structure of implemented services at the all-Ukrainian level includes transport, warehousing, postal and courier services, temporary accommodation and catering services, information and telecommunications services, real estate operations, professional, scientific and technical services, activities in the field of administrative and auxiliary service, education, health care and provision of social assistance, services in the system of art, sports, entertainment and recreation.
 Keywords: social sphere, regions of Ukraine, spatial differentiation, incomes of the population, available social guidance services, implementation of social guidance services.

Adult didactics – component of andragogy: peculiarities and basic categories

At the stage of rapid development of science and market of educational services for adults, a relatively new direction in education was formed - andragogy (pedagogy of adults).In the present time, andragogy occupies a place in the structure of education sciences as an independent category, possessing at the same time its own scientific apparatus, research methods, scientific approaches and principles. In this article, an attempt was made to substantiate the definition of basic concepts and categories of adult teaching: subject, tasks, functions. Special attention is paid to the principles of adult learning: priority of independent education, reliance on personal experience, individualization of learning, contextuality of learning, reliance on individual needs, considering them as motives and sources of designing the outcomes of education. At the same time, adult learning is considered within the framework of the following characteristics: andragogic self-reflexivity, decentralization of andragogic approach, deconstruction/reconstruction of andragogic theory, contextualization of adult learning and education.

SCIENTIFIC, POPULARISATION AND CIVIL ACTIVITY OF MYRON KORDUBA DURING THE GREAT WAR

The purpose of the article is to clarify the peculiarities of public activity and the scientific work of M. Korduba during the First World War. The methodological basis of the work is an interdisciplinary approach. Particular emphasis is placed on the structural and functional system analysis of historiographical facts and the method of critical analysis of documentary material. The scientific novelty of the article consists in an attempt to comprehensively reconstruct the intellectual biography of M. Korduba during the Great War. Conclusion. In the end, it was noted that the reconstruction of M. Korduba's life and activities during the First World War portrays him as one of the leading representatives of the Ukrainian intelligentsia of the modern era of national revival. Not being a professional politician by his chosen lifestyle, the scientist lively responded to the numerous needs of the Ukrainian public deprived of its own statehood. During the Great War, he directed his energy to the most important areas of national progress: he carried out cultural and educational work among prisoners of war, wrote popular scientific texts necessary for the self-education of the general public, defended Ukrainian interests with a journalistic pen when discussing the model of the post-war world order, etc. But M. Korduba's range of public talents was most fully demonstrated by the events of the establishment of national statehood in the western Ukrainian lands after the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It was his composure in difficult situations, responsible initiative and public courage that largely made it possible to declare a short-term, but important for the national self-awareness of the people of Bukovyna, political independence. The events of that time crystallized the sobornist convictions of Korduba-politician, as evidenced by the scholar's intellectual biography of the interwar period, in which once again scientific creativity and public service were inextricably intertwined.

Applying an equity lens to hospital safety monitoring: a critical interpretive synthesis protocol

IntroductionHospital safety monitoring systems are foundational to how adverse events are identified and addressed. They are well positioned to bring equity-related safety issues to the forefront for action. However, there...

PRODUCTIVITY SHOCKS AND INDUSTRY SPECIFIC EFFECTS ON EXPORT AND INTERNATIONALISATION: VAR APPROACH

This study examines the industry-specific effects of productivity shocks on exports and the internationalisation of the largest Croatian exporters. In order to answer two research questions: (1) Which hypothesis, the productivity-led hypothesis or export-led hypothesis, holds in the case of the largest Croatian exporters? (2) Are the effects of productivity shocks on exports and internationalization sectoral dependent, and in what way? The authors tested 300 largest exporters’ micro- financial data for the 2006-2015 period by using a vector autoregression (VAR) method. Three productivity measures examined are total factor productivity, labour productivity and capital productivity. The results imply that productivity-led hypothesis holds for majority of Croatian largest exporters’ sectors. Rather than a specific export-led hypothesis, a bi-directional flow has proved to have greater influence on several industrial sectors, including professional and scientific services and administrative services sectors, and to a lesser extent, transport and warehousing, accommodation and food sectors. It is predominantly negative in terms of TFP and positive in terms of labour productivity (agriculture, electricity and gas supply, wholesale and transport and warehousing, and information and communication) and capital productivity (electricity and gas supply). Managerial and policy implications of productivity shocks are discussed in the paper.

Pandemi Sırasında Çocuklarda Negatif Laparotomi Oranlarının Değerlendirilmesi

Background/Aims: Emergency service referrals frequently depend on non-urgent problems which are easy to solve without emergency services. Emergency services should be used effectively to raise service quality, patient and personnel satisfaction. Approximately %30 of emergency service referrals are pediatric patients. Covid-19 pandemia affecting the whole world, caused a decrease in non-covid patient emergency service referral numbers, consequently medically non-emergent patient numbers decreased too. Although the number of patients with a prediagnosis of acute appendicitis did not decrease during the pandemic, negative laparotomy rates decreased due to the effective use of emergency services.
 
 Material and Method: In this study we compared patients with prediagnosis of acute appendicitis and undergone appendectomy in our pediatric emergency service between 1 March-1 September 2019 and 1 March-1 September 2020. Patient records were evaluated retrospectively. Histopathological diagnoses were accepted as the gold standard.
 Result: Decreasing referrals of medically non-emergent patients to emergency services during pandemic led to improvement in service quality, so negative laparotomy rates declined. Looking at the literature, negative laparatomy rates of pediatric patients with the pre-diagnosis of acute appendicitis are 8-30%. In the 6-month period in 2019 negative laparotomy rate of our clinic found as 11.2%. When we examine the 6-month data of 2020 during pandemic we noticed that this rate declined to 2.8%. There was also a statistically significant difference between 2019 and 2020 in terms of the length of stay in the hospital.
 Conclusions: Because of the decrease in referral numbers of medically non-emergent patients to emergency services during pandemic, much more qualified and scientific service was provided. Community education considering emergency service referral indications could reduce workload density and enhance service quality of emergency services.