Service Vendors Research Articles

Scalable Metadata-Hiding for Privacy-Preserving IoT Systems

Modern cloud-based IoT services comprise an integrator service and several device vendor services. The vendor services enable users to remotely control their devices, while the integrator serves as a central intermediary, offering a unified interface for managing devices from different vendors. Although such a model is quite beneficial for IoT services to evolve quickly, it also creates a serious privacy concern: the vendor and integrator services observe all interactions between users and devices. Toward this, we propose Mohito, a privacy-preserving IoT system that hides such interactions from both the integrator and the vendors. In Mohito, we protect both the interaction data and the metadata, so that no one learns which user is communicating with which device. By utilizing oblivious key-value storage as a primitive and leveraging the unique communication graph of IoT services, we build a scalable protocol specialized in handling large concurrent traffic, a common demand in IoT systems. Our evaluation shows that Mohito can achieve up to 600x more throughput than the state-of-the-art general-purpose systems that provide similar security guarantees.

Wheelchair Repairs: Delays, Causes, and Associated Outcomes

ObjectiveTo examine the length of time to complete wheelchair repairs and the relationship between negative outcomes and the factors that prevented or determined who performed repairs. DesignSurvey, cross-sectional. SettingNine spinal cord injury (SCI) Model Systems Centers. ParticipantsWheelchair users with SCI reporting at least 1 repair (N=301) InterventionsNot applicable Main Outcome MeasuresPrevalence of adverse consequences associated with wheelchair repairs, repairs completed of those needed, and time elapsed before wheelchair repair. Results76% of participants reported all necessary repairs were completed, while 7% indicated that some repairs were addressed, and 14% reported none of the repairs being completed. The most common reason for incomplete repairs (30%) was the vendor's failure to complete the repair after being contacted. Among the repairs that were successfully completed, 56% were performed by vendors. The median time elapsed before repair was 14 days, with no significant difference observed in the time taken for repairs across different components. The most common consequences were being forced to use a backup wheelchair or being confined at home. A greater percentage of participants experienced each type of consequence, except injury, for repairs completed by vendors. ConclusionsThe high percentage of uncompleted wheelchair repairs poses a significant risk to users, and this risk is compounded by prolonged time taken by vendors to address breakdowns. Unsatisfactory vendor service was common, with a significantly larger proportion of participants experiencing consequences for repairs that required a vendor. This seems to indicate structural inadequacies within the repair process and the need for interventions to address these issues.

Scientific Periodicals Circulation in Lithuania in the First Half of the 19th Century: the Case of Vilnius University

This article examines the evolution and circulation of scientific periodicals within the academic community of Vilnius. The study aims to determine how periodicals from abroad reached Lithuania, how they were stored at Vilnius University, and how scientists utilized these information resources. It was found that the concept of scientific periodicals in the early 19th century began to emerge in bibliographic classification and librarians’ documentation, with their form and content being equated to popular science and/or the continuous works of scientific academies and societies. The distribution of scientific periodicals, especially those received from abroad, faced obstacles due to repressive censorship, which were attempted to be overcome using alternative channels (services of street book vendors). Despite the “clutches” on scientific information, the periodicals collection at Vilnius University Library grew significantly between 1803 and 1832, catering to the needs of the academic community. The thematic and content analysis of this collection from a heritage perspective would be the subject of another study.

A Qualitative Study on the Influencing Factors of E-Government Adoption to Improve Public Trust in Local Government: Case Study of Rokan Hulu Municipality

Amidst global public trust challenges, e-government emerges as a promising solution to bolster trust. In Indonesia, rural areas face obstacles hindering effective e-government implementation. This paper explores Rokan Hulu Municipality's initiatives, aiming to understand e-government's impact on public trust at the rural/district level, bridging critical knowledge gaps. This study employs a qualitative approach to investigate the factors influencing e-government adoption. Primary data is gathered through interviews with key stakeholders, supplemented by secondary data from organizational documents. Employing open and axial coding, this study organizes findings to the Technology-Organization-Environment framework. Within the technological dimension, obstacles such as infrastructure; integration and interoperability; data security and confidentiality; and service providers, third parties, or vendors emerge as significant barriers. In the organization dimension, culture, organizational capability, budget constraints, human resource quality, perceptions, bureaucracy, and strategy become challenges, with organizational capability and strategy showing mixed impacts due to incomplete initiatives and limited inter-agency coordination. In environment dimension, digital divide, regulatory availability, and public participation become inhibiting factors, while political intervention becomes the driving factor.

Exploring and Estimating the Revenues of Cybercrime-As-Service Providers: Analyzing Booter and Stresser Services

ABSTRACT Research on cybercrime-as-service markets has increased substantially over the last decade, particularly the use of so-called booter and stresser services that enable individuals to engage in high volume denial of service attacks against websites and servers. There is far less research considering the revenues vendors may generate from running these services, calling to question whether the economic gains from this form of crime are greater than the potential risk of arrest or legal sanctions. This analysis attempted to estimate the revenues of 42 booter and stresser services in operation after a series of arrests and takedowns by law enforcement. The models presented were based on the visible characteristics of vendor services, attack volume and customer detail. Three pricing tiers were developed using different potential distributions for booter/stressor markets and find that their potential revenues are of such a magnitude that they may be viewed as an incentive for individuals to enter the market and persist despite the risk of formal sanctions.

Identifying and Ranking Critical Success Factors for Cloud Computing Deployment at Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences

Background: Cloud computing offers benefits such as faster innovation, scalability, and the ability to access data from any internet-capable device. Objectives: To explore and identify the critical success factors for cloud computing deployment and ranking at Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences in 2023. Methods: This study employed a mixed approach (qualitative and quantitative) with an exploratory design. The qualitative part utilized the three-step Delphi method, while the quantitative part employed the descriptive method (survey type). A sample of 276 individuals was selected using the stratified random sampling method. Questionnaires were distributed to participants through various methods. Data analysis involved descriptive statistics, exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, and structural equation modeling. Results: The dimension with the highest average value was the service level agreement, with a value of 3.25. In second place was choosing a service vendor, with an average of 3.08, followed by optimization with an average of 2.73, and choosing a model with an average rating of 2. Conclusions: The implementation of cloud computing at Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences could lead to improved quality and efficiency in medical, research, and educational services

The Influence of Procurement Practices in Commercialization of Water, and Private Service Delivery in Nairobi County, Kenya

Aim: The purpose of the study was to discuss the effect of procurement practices on commercialization of water and private service delivery in Nairobi City County, Kenya. Methods: Quantitative and Qualitative methodologies of data collection and analysis were implored in this research. The Collection of the data was through key informant interviews and questionnaires. Secondary data was obtained from library research materials, internet search and document analysis. The researcher used descriptive and content analysis techniques to analyze the data. Simple random sampling was used in selecting participants from Nairobi City residents. The target population was 4,397,073 Nairobi City County Residents and 635 Staff of the Ministry of Water, Sanitation and Irrigation; two departments were targeted in the Ministry i.e. The Water, Sewerage and Sanitation Development department and The Water Infrastructure Development Department which has a total of 168 in-post staff. Results: The study found that the components of commercialization of water greatly influences the quality control and equal access to water by the residents. These components are procurement practices, standardization machinery, and the supervision mandate by governmental agencies i.e. WASREB (Water Services Regulatory Board) and WARMA (Water Resources Management Authority). The study concludes that having good procurement practices in place, fosters integrity and professionalism in private water service provision. Recommendations: There is need for the government through its approved agencies WASREB and WARMA, to tailor-make policies that would better suit the unique Kenyan societies’ informal service providers, instead of unifying them all to be governed by a single policy. There is need to ensure private water service vendors provide quality and affordable services set out by government and its agencies. The government ought to thoroughly investigate the private water enterprises that have applied to be licensed to provide water services; not just at the national level but also the small-scale water kiosks-ought to be thoroughly scrutinized. The governmental agency WASREB ought to conduct more impromptu checks on WSPs (Water Service Providers) as opposed to only limiting itself to doing quarterly checks and visits.

Abstract 2073: Human breast patient derived organoids: Development and characterization of a new tissue mimetic model

Abstract Worldwide, breast cancer (BC), is the most frequently diagnosed cancer among women. In the US, 1 out of 8 women may expect to be diagnosed with BC In their lifetime. Current models for studying BC tumor biology and BC drug discovery include 2D cultured cell lines and patient derived xenografts (PDX). As 2D cultured cells do not represent the 3D complexity of human tissue, and PDX models are time consuming and cost prohibitive, better tissue mimetic models are needed. Organoids are self-assembled 3D cultured cellular units that may mimic the corresponding human tissue structurally and functionally (1). Patient derived organoids (PDO) are developed from tissue of specific patients and may resemble the source tissue in molecular features, including recapitulation of patient specific responses to therapies (2). Here, we report development and characterization of novel breast PDO lines from fresh (≤24h post-surgery) and cryopreserved (≤7 days post-surgery) tissue. Breast tumor and normal, tumor adjacent (NTA) tissue were sourced from consented patients. Breast PDO were generated following modifications to a published protocol (3). Briefly, tissue samples were minced, digested with collagenase, and filtered. The filtrate was resuspended in Matrigel (Corning) and small drops were added on cell culture plates. Both tumor and NTA PDO were cultured using the same media and organoids were monitored using brightfield microscopy (Olympus CK40) and live cell imaging (Muvicyte, Perkin Elmer). PDO lines were analyzed for expression and distribution of important breast-specific biomarkers using confocal microscopy (ImagExpress, Molecular Devices). PDO lines displayed hormone receptors (ER, PR), cell surface (EpCAM, CD49f), cytoskeletal (cytokeratin 14, 19, E-cadherin, vimentin) and cell proliferation (Ki67) markers. Transcriptome profiles were analyzed using vendor services (Azenta). PDO were also tested for their susceptibility to breast cancer drugs, e.g., Tamoxifen, chlorambucil and Docetaxel. We have successfully generated one NTA ER+/PR+/HER2− PDO line and one tumor ER+/PR+/HER2− PDO line from different donors. Our breast PDO lines would be highly useful in understanding tumor biology, BC progression, signal transduction, and drug discovery/testing. Future efforts would include process scaling up and development of BC specific assays.

Abstract 2072: Human liver patient derived organoids: Development and characterization of a new tissue mimetic model

Abstract Liver is the largest solid organ and performs hundreds of vital functions including drug metabolism. Liver diseases, including viral infections, cancer and metabolic disorders account for about 2 million deaths annually, worldwide (1). Current models for studying liver biology and drug metabolism include 2D cultured primary cells/cell lines, which do not represent the metabolic and structural complexity of human tissue. In vivo models for liver diseases are time consuming, cost prohibitive and often ineffective. Therefore, better tissue mimetic liver models are needed. Organoids are self-assembled 3D cultured cellular units that may mimic the corresponding human tissue structurally and functionally (2). Patient derived organoids (PDO) are developed from tissue of specific patients and may resemble the source tissue in molecular features, including recapitulation of patient specific responses to therapies. Here, we report development and characterization of novel liver PDO lines from vendor-sourced cryopreserved tissue. We have developed biobanks of undifferentiated as well as differentiated liver PDO models.Human cadaver-sourced liver tissue were obtained with explicit donor consent. Liver PDO were generated following modification of a previously established protocol (3). Briefly, samples were minced, digested to single cells, and filtered. Specific number of cells were mixed with diluted Matrigel (Corning) and added as small drops on cell culture plates and grown in liver PDO specific growth media. Whenever appropriate, PDO were differentiated by culturing in differentiation-specific media in multi-well plates. In all cases, PDO were monitored using brightfield microscopy (Olympus CK40) and live cell imaging (Muvicyte, Perkin Elmer); and passaged every 6-8 days. Undifferentiated PDO were cryopreserved/thawed following in-house SOP to confirm viability. Liver-specific biomarker expression in the PDO lines were confirmed by confocal microscopy (ImageExpress, Molecular Devices). PDO lines were also assayed for ALT activity, albumin production and urea. PDO were cleared for microbial/viral contamination and confirmed as unique lines using single tandem repeat analyses. Transcriptome profiles were analyzed using vendor services. So far, we have successfully generated 3 liver PDO lines, both undifferentiated as well as differentiated. Our liver PDO lines would be highly useful in understanding liver biology and disease models; and will have significant usage in drug testing, including DMPK and ADME/Tox studies. Future efforts would include scaling up, development of liver specific assays and developing PDO from specific liver diseases, including hepatocellular carcinoma, MASLD and NASH.

A multiview clustering framework for detecting deceptive reviews

Online reviews, which play a key role in the ecosystem of nowadays business, have been the primary source of consumer opinions. Due to their importance, professional review writing services are employed for paid reviews and even being exploited to conduct opinion spam. Posting deceptive reviews could mislead customers, yield significant benefits or losses to service vendors, and erode confidence in the entire online purchasing ecosystem. In this paper, we ferret out deceptive reviews originated from professional review writing services. We do so even when reviewers leverage a number of pseudonymous identities to avoid the detection. To unveil the pseudonymous identities associated with deceptive reviewers, we leverage the multiview clustering method. This enables us to characterize the writing style of reviewers (deceptive vs normal) and cluster the reviewers based on their writing style. Furthermore, we explore different neural network models to model the writing style of deceptive reviews. We select the best performing neural network to generate the representation of reviews. We validate the effectiveness of the multiview clustering framework using real-world Amazon review data under different experimental scenarios. Our results show that our approach outperforms previous research. We further demonstrate its superiority through a large-scale case study based on publicly available Amazon datasets.

Referral of patients from rural primary care clinics to telemedicine vendors for opioid use disorder treatment: A mixed-methods study.

Rural primary care clinics can expand their medication treatment for opioid use disorder (MOUD) capacity by coordinating care with external telemedicine (TM) vendors specializing in addiction medicine. This study used mixed methods to identify factors that influence patient referrals from rural primary care clinics to TM vendors for MOUD. Between July/August 2020 and January/February 2021, 582 patients with OUD were identified across six primary care sites; that included 68 referred to an external TM vendor to receive MOUD. Mixed effects logistic regression identified individual and site-level factors associated with being referred to the TM vendor. Clinic providers and staff participated in in-depth interviews and focus groups to discuss their considerations for referring patients to the TM vendor. Patient referrals were positively associated with local household broadband coverage (OR = 2.55, p < 0.001) and negatively associated with local population density (OR = 0.01, p = 0.003) and the number of buprenorphine prescribers in the county (OR = 0.85, p < 0.001). Clinic personnel expressed appreciation for psychiatric expertise and the flexibility to access MOUD brought by the TM vendor. Perceived concerns about TM referral included a lack of trust with external providers, uncertainty about TM service quality, workflow delays, and patients' technological and insurance challenges. This study revealed several clinic-level factors that may potentially influence patient referral to TM vendor services for MOUD. To facilitate the referral process and utilization of TM vendors, efforts should be made to foster open communication and trust between clinic providers and TM vendors, streamline workflows, and improve Internet access for patients.

How to control vendor service to avoid fraud in insurance sector

How to control vendor service to avoid fraud in insurance sector

DIMENSIONS OF DATA QUALITY FOR VALUES IN SMART CITIES DATAFICATION PRACTICES

Data quality facilitates data interoperability for optimal decision-making in smart cities datafication. But there are few studies on how technologists (e.g., data scientists), governance people (e.g., municipal workers), and third-party collaborators (e.g., smart city services vendors) assess data quality together in smart cities datafication. This paper offers a response to this knowledge gap, using interviews (n=10) with municipal workers, data scientists and smart city services vendors, and data structure documents (n=8) in a situated case, the Stavanger (Norway) smart city. Implicit the paper’s results is that data quality is a floating signifier – comprising the different articulations of data scientists, municipal workers and services vendors in assessment. This generates friction with implications on data interoperability. This paper therefore posits that assessing data quality in smart cities datafication is ambiguous, but not empty. It fluctuates between the articulations of data scientists, municipal workers, and services vendors, with implications on data interoperability through the friction this generates. Keywords: data quality, data interoperability, floating signifier, frictions, smart city datafication

How to connect with your parent audience: Duquesne University's implementation of a strategic family communications platform

The increasingly competitive higher education market demands that institutions adapt to and communicate effectively with the key audience of parents and families. As decision makers and influencers, parents are highly involved in helping their children manage the college selection process and navigate their academic journeys. This case study lays out how the Duquesne University Parents and Families Portal, built on the software platform by CampusESP, enabled the university to provide a modern, all-in-one communication and family engagement vehicle that shares personalised, timely content. The tool and vendor service team facilitate the needed support with guidance and relevant general content in furnishing a streamlined, main hub of information. The strategy empowers a point person working with the central marketing and communications team and engenders campus partners in a campus-wide collaborative effort to share inspirational communications that provide the greatest opportunity for brand and relationship building. Readers will learn how Duquesne University, a private, Catholic institution, with more than eight thousand students, implemented this strategic communication platform for parents and families that influenced student retention and recruitment, and exceeded expectations.

Analysis of Calculation, Withdrawal and Reporting of Income Tax Article 23 For Cleaning Services at PT. Pelindo I Belawan Branch

The purpose of writing this final assignment is to find out whether calculating, withholding and reporting PPh Article 23 for cleaning services at PT. Pelindo I Belawan Branch in accordance with Law no. 36 of 2008. The data collection methods used in preparing this final assignment are secondary and primary methods. The research was conducted at PT. Pelindo I Belawan Branch. The data analysis technique in this research is descriptive qualitative. Cleaning services are one of the services that are subject to withholding from Income Tax Article 23 in accordance with Law no. 36 of 2008 concerning income tax. The imposition of the Article 23 Income Tax withholding rate which is withheld by PT. Pelindo I Belawan Branch is 2% of the gross amount. Because ISS Indonesia as the service vendor has a NPWP. The results of the research are that the imposition of Income Tax Article 23 on cleaning services provided by PT. Pelindo I Belawan Branch is in accordance with Law no. 36 of 2008.

Agency problems in facility management (FM) outsourcing in the Ghanaian retail sector

Purpose The aim of this study is to examine the agency problems that arise between retail property owners and outsourced facility management (FM) service vendors in Ghana. Design/methodology/approach This study was carried out using telephone and face-to-face interviews. Nine facility managers (n =9) and six retail property owners (n = 6) purposively selected participated in the interviews. The responses from the interviews were analysed using content analysis. To begin with the analysis, the recorded audio for each respondent during the interviews was transcribed to augment what was written during the interviews. The next step was the development of a coding framework where each of the agency problems was assigned unique codes and grouped under themes. Each response was assigned a predefined code based on the agency problems identified in the literature. The research team discussed the consistency of the thematic codes assigned to each of the responses to ensure that each response was captured under the appropriate agency problem theme it best represents. Findings The results showed that agency problems in FM outsourcing in the Ghanaian retail sector are related to disagreement on expenditure associated with maintenance and repairs and improper tenant information sharing and use by FM service providers. Based on the findings, it is recommended that property owners explore the mixed approach to FM to mitigate the risks of complete outsourcing of FM services. It is also recommended that a clear path on how tenant information can be shared be pre-agreed in FM contracts. Originality/value This study provides new literature relating to agency problems in outsourcing and may be the first of its kind for FM in the Ghanaian retail industry. The findings could serve as a starting point for service providers and their principals to find common grounds to understand each other and mitigate the agency problems that could arise and their overall impact on performance.

PD-PAn: Prefix- and Distribution-Preserving Internet of Things Traffic Anonymization

One of the features of network traffic in Internet of Things (IoT) environments is that various IoT devices periodically communicate with their vendor services by sending and receiving packets with unique characteristics through private protocols. This paper investigates semantic attacks in IoT environments. An IoT semantic attack is active, covert, and more dangerous in comparison with traditional semantic attacks. A compromised IoT server actively establishes and maintains a communication channel with its device, and covertly injects fingerprints into the communicated packets. Most importantly, this server not only de-anonymizes other IPs, but also infers the machine states of other devices (IPs). Traditional traffic anonymization techniques, e.g., Crypto-PAn and Multi-View, either cannot ensure data utility or is vulnerable to semantic attacks. To address this problem, this paper proposes a prefix- and distribution-preserving traffic anonymization method named PD-PAn, which generates multiple anonymized views of the original traffic log to defend against semantic attacks. The prefix relationship is preserved in the real view to ensure data utility, while the IP distribution characteristic is preserved in all the views to ensure privacy. Intensive experiments verify the vulnerability of the state-of-the-art techniques and effectiveness of PD-PAn.

The distributed ownership of on-demand mobility service

Mobility as a service (MaaS) is an innovative and value-laden method to operate on-demand mobility services within the existing transport infrastructures. A big challenge for the transport system is that the transport infrastructure cannot be restructured as quickly as a digital platform like cloud computing infrastructure services, which is a constraint that limits the balance between mobility demand and supply in real-time. The ownership of mobility services needs to be redefined to establish legal binds between service vendors and commuters, further demonstrating the capacity to balance the demand and supply of mobility services in real-time. The ownership of a mobility service is defined as the commuter's right to use the mobility service provided by the service vendor under agreed terms and conditions. This is facilitated by MobiToken in this study. An eMarket-place is proposed for commuters, mobility service vendors and other stakeholders to exchange MobiToken, where the marketplace demonstrates the potential use of blockchain tools, methods and algorithms, where a specialised capability for reliably link stakeholders is proposed through a nonrevertible blockchain dataset. The bidden price of MobiToken reflects the demand for mobility services in the real world, where congestion charges are incorporated within the bidden price. The performance of the preliminary platform is evaluated with three testing scenarios, and the results of performance testing indicate the stability and reliability of the Raft consensus algorithm for the blockchain database.

Implementing AHP Method for Determining Level Priority of Vendor Selection

Vendors are suppliers of goods or services that help the production process of a company. One of the companies that carry out vendor selection is CV Milyarda Cipta Karya which is engaged in fashion. Vendor selection is an activity to determine vendors who will work with the company to help the production process. Based on an assessment of the 30 most popular CV Milyarda Cipta Karya's products on Shopee, there are consumer complaints about the inconsistent quality of materials. This problem is caused by the absence of standards governing the mechanism for selecting fabric vendors. Therefore, it is necessary to know the priority level of vendor selection criteria. Vendor selection criteria are Quality of goods, response time, location, flexibility, price, vendor inventory policy, and vendor service. The data needed in the design are vendor selection criteria according to William J Stevenson, namely hierarchical data and criteria weighting questionnaires. The method used to determine the priority level of vendor selection criteria is the Analytical Hierarchy Process method. Based on the calculation of the AHP method, the results obtained are the criteria for quality of goods 0.19, location 0.12, response time 0.12, vendor inventory policy 0.09, flexibility 0.09, price 0.11, and vendor service 0.28. The largest priority value is vendor service and the smallest is flexibility.

Nexus Between Risk in Outsourced Activities and Operational Performance of Electricity Distribution Company in Nigeria

The emergence of globalization has made outsourcing become one of the most used corporate strategies for providing top‐notch services to various service industry which the electricity distribution sector is not left out. The study aims at examining the outsourced risk and operational performance of electricity distribution company in Nigeria using Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC) as a case study. The study employed survey research design with a sample size of 14 business managers who were selected purposively. The data collected were analyzed using correlation analysis to determine the risk inherent outsourced activities posed are associated with operational performances. The findings of the study shows that the Pearson correlation value r = 0.333 between security &amp; privacy risk and operational performance indicates a positive and low relationship at (P=0.245; P&gt;0.05) significant level, the Pearson correlation value r = 0.311 between operational risk and operational performance indicates a positive and low relationship at (P=0.279; P&gt;0.05) significant level , and the Pearson correlation value r = 0.543 between financial risk and operational performance indicates a positive and moderate at (P=0.045; P&lt;0.05) significant level in the study area. In line with the findings, the study concludes that all risks factors are contributing element to operational performance except for financial risk having a moderate influence on operational performance in the study area and recommends that as much as risk is an important factor in business, the services of outsourced vendors should be cautioned so as not to expose the organization to too much of risk.