The Traditional Influence on Increasing Acceptance of Commercial Smartphone Applications in Specific Regions of the Arabic World

The consumer sector represents one of the key players in the diffusion of M-commerce in contemporary societies. Consumers’ traditionalism has a significant impact in determining the appropriate products to offer electronically, as well as in determining the functions and information that should be offered to enable them to make the right decisions at the right time. Many characteristics and requirements in general-use commercial applications cannot be acceptable for more targeted release if they are not compatible with the target population’s traditional requirements, and therefore, the M-commerce applications go to complexity level in design because of the socio-technical systems. This study is conducted in three GCC countries, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar on 799 participant consumers. This study focuses to determine the basic requirements for smartphones’ commercial applications, including the requirements affected by different traditionalism in the studied communities.

Empirically validating five propositions regarding 3D visualizations for subsurface utility projects

PurposeThis study aims to empirically validate five propositions about the benefits of three-dimensional (3D) visualizations for the management of subsurface utility projects. Specifically, the authors validate whether benefits from 3D in the literature of building construction project management also apply to subsurface utility projects and map them using a taxonomy of project complexity levels.Design/methodology/approachA multiple case study of three utility construction projects was carried out during which the first author was involved in the daily work practices at a utility contractor. 3D visualizations of existing project models were developed, and design and construction meetings were conducted. Practitioners' interactions with and reflections on these 3D visualizations were noted. Observational data from the three project types were matched with the five propositions to determine where benefits of 3D visualizations manifested themselves.FindingsPractitioners found that 3D visualizations had most merit in crowded urban environments when constructing rigid pipelines. All propositions were validated and evaluated as beneficial in subsurface utility projects of complexity level C3. It is shown that in urban projects with rigid pipelines (project with the highest complexity level), 3D visualization prevents misunderstanding or misinterpretations and increases efficiency of coordination. It is recommended to implement 3D visualization approaches in such complex projectsOriginality/valueThere is only limited evidence on the value 3D visualizations in managing utility projects. This study contributes rich empirical evidence on this value based on a six-month observation period at a subsurface contractor. Their merit was assessed by associating 3D approaches with project complexity levels, which may help utility contractors in strategically implementing 3D applications.

Gamification Based Blockchain Tournaments Between Miners

We have modelled mining resource and cryptocurrency-related relationships into a non-cooperative game. Then we took advantage of the traffic congestion results, set a native convention for the Nash equilibria, and created a short algorithm to find the equilibria. Next, we will make calculations for several system models whose variations follow the existing mining resources and have appropriately allocated according to the details of the mining complexity level that has defeated. In the included resources, the game's result is the allocation of resources as a feature of a normalized Nash equilibrium. In the model that has proposed, we provide a property structure of the type of equilibrium that exists, such as a condition where there are two or more mining infrastructures that will be active and another state that explains that no Miners get results in wanting a specific cryptocurrency, like bitcoin.

Teachers’ opinion about learning continuum in evolution based on the material complexity level

Evolution is one of biology topics which covers a wide range of material taught across education levels. Unfortunately, the material has not been arranged according to its complexity level and students’ development. This study aimed to collect teachers' opinions about the learning continuum of evolution material based on its complexity level. This descriptive research was conducted in Bantul and Yogyakarta Cities by distributing questionnaires. As many as 68 junior high school (JHS) teachers and 43 senior high schools (SHS) teachers were selected through convenience sampling. The data gained was analyzed using descriptive statistics to determine the mode of practitioner opinion. The results showed that the JHS teachers thought that evolutionary material had a complexity level of 3 (quite complex) to level 5 (very complicated) that could be taught in class VII & IX as well as at higher level (XII SHS). Furthermore, the SHS teachers argued that the evolution material from level 3 (quite complex) to level 4 (complex) could be taught in XII class. Further research needs to be carried out using more complete instruments with more detailed indicators.

Low Complexity Rotation Algorithm for Reducing PAPR in Partial Transmits Sequence

High peak to average power ratio (PAPR) is considered as a prime challenge in orthogonal frequency division multiplexing. The partial transmits sequence (PTS) technique is one of the most effective methods for restraining the PAPR pattern. This study proposes a novel approach for enhancing PAPR reduction performance in a PTS by partitioning each subblock into two parts then exchanging the first sample with the last selection in each part of the subblock to generate a new partitioning scheme. The proposed algorithm is analysed and applied to typical traditional segmentation schemes, namely, the adjacent, interleaving and pseudo-random schemes. Moreover, simulation is conducted with two scenarios in which the number of subcarriers is set to 128 and 256. In both systems, the improved segmentation schemes demonstrate PAPR reduction performance that is superior to that of the traditional strategies. Furthermore, the computational complexity level of the enhanced adjusted PTS scheme is low compared with that of the conventional schemes.

10 Jahre Handtraumatologie – eine epidemiologische, strukturelle und ökonomische Standortanalyse an einem Krankenhaus der Maximalversorgung

Zusammenfassung Hintergrund Die handchirurgische Versorgung in Deutschland unterliegt einem Strukturwandel, der viele Abteilungen in ein Spannungsfeld zwischen Medizin und Ökonomie bringt. Einerseits kommt es zu einer Umverteilung elektiver handchirurgischer Eingriffe aus dem stationären in den ambulanten Sektor, andererseits konzentrieren sich – so unser Eindruck – stationär zu behandelnde handchirurgische Notfälle mehr und mehr an großen Kliniken. Vor diesem Hintergrund fehlen Daten zur Versorgungsrealität von handchirurgischen Notfällen, die diese Arbeit durch eine 10-Jahresanalyse handtraumatologischer Fälle unter epidemiologischen, strukturellen und ökonomischen Aspekten an einer Klinik der Maximalversorgung erhebt und zur Diskussion stellt. Material und Methoden Anhand einer Datenbankabfrage über ICD-Codes wurden handtraumatologische (Hauptdiagnose), stationär behandelte Fälle zwischen 2009 und 2018 identifiziert und im Hinblick auf epidemiologische und wirtschaftliche Kennzahlen (Alter, Geschlecht, Komorbiditäten, Case-Mix-Index, Erlös, Verweildauern, OP-Zeiten) unter verschiedenen Aspekten über PIVOT-Tabellen analysiert. Ausgeschlossen wurden Patienten unter 16 Jahren, Unterarmfrakturen sowie intensivmedizinische Patienten. Ergebnisse Im untersuchten Zeitraum und Zentrum war der typische handchirurgische Traumapatient männlich und durchschnittlich 44 Jahre alt. Der Patient Clinical Complexity Level war in 80 % aller Fälle 0. Der Anteil an Arbeitsunfällen lag durchschnittlich bei ca. 25 %. Die 3 Top-DRGs waren die I32F (18,5 %), X01B (11,3 %) sowie die I32A (7,2 %). Auffällig war über die Jahre ein massiver Fallzahlanstieg von ca. 300 auf über 1000 Fälle/Jahr. Gleichzeitig wurde die Versorgung handchirurgischer Notfälle in 4 von 5 anderen Kliniken in einem Umkreis von 100 km zurückgefahren. Insbesondere außerhalb der Kernarbeitszeit kam es hierdurch zu einer Mehrbelastung. Die mittlere Verweildauer lag bei ca. 4–5 Tagen, die durchschnittliche Schnitt-Naht-Zeit unter 60 Minuten und der durchschnittliche CMI bei 1,23. Damit erlösten diese Patienten im Jahr 2018 4370 €, wobei die BG-Erlöse durchschnittlich 387 € niedriger lagen. Schlussfolgerung Ausgehend von einer höchstwahrscheinlich mehr oder weniger gleichgebliebenen Zahl handchirurgischer Notfälle führen wir den deutlichen Fallzahlanstieg in der Handtraumatologie in unserer Klinik nicht auf eine Zunahme der Verletzungen zurück, sondern auf eine zunehmende Konzentration dieser Fälle in wenigen handchirurgischen Zentren, da aus wirtschaftlichen Gründen die Versorgung von Notfällen an kleineren Häusern zunehmend reduziert wird und dies, obwohl unter wirtschaftlichen Aspekten Handverletzungen interessant sind; lassen sich doch mit wenig Aufwand verhältnismäßig gute Erlöse erzielen, die bei Überschreiten einer kritischen Patientenzahl die Vorhaltekosten einer Dienst-Versorgung amortisieren. Dort, wo sich die Versorgung handtraumatologischer Fälle konzentriert, kommt es insbesondere außerhalb der Kernarbeitszeit zu einer Mehrbelastung, unter Umständen mit negativen Auswirkungen auf die elektive Handchirurgie.

Variation of Daily Care Demand in Swiss General Hospitals: Longitudinal Study on Capacity Utilization, Patient Turnover and Clinical Complexity Levels (Preprint)

BACKGROUND Variations in hospitals’ care demand relies not only on the patient volume but also on the disease severity. Understanding both daily severity and patient volume in hospitals could help to identify hospital pressure zones to improve hospital-capacity planning and policy-making. OBJECTIVE This longitudinal study explored daily care demand dynamics in Swiss general hospitals for 3 measures: (1) capacity utilization, (2) patient turnover, and (3) patient clinical complexity level. METHODS A retrospective population-based analysis was conducted with 1 year of routine data of 1.2 million inpatients from 102 Swiss general hospitals. Capacity utilization was measured as a percentage of the daily maximum number of inpatients. Patient turnover was measured as a percentage of the daily sum of admissions and discharges per hospital. Patient clinical complexity level was measured as the average daily patient disease severity per hospital from the clinical complexity algorithm. RESULTS There was a pronounced variability of care demand in Swiss general hospitals. Among hospitals, the average daily capacity utilization ranged from 57.8% (95% CI 57.3-58.4) to 87.7% (95% CI 87.3-88.0), patient turnover ranged from 22.5% (95% CI 22.1-22.8) to 34.5% (95% CI 34.3-34.7), and the mean patient clinical complexity level ranged from 1.26 (95% CI 1.25-1.27) to 2.06 (95% CI 2.05-2.07). Moreover, both within and between hospitals, all 3 measures varied distinctly between days of the year, between days of the week, between weekdays and weekends, and between seasons. CONCLUSIONS While admissions and discharges drive capacity utilization and patient turnover variation, disease severity of each patient drives patient clinical complexity level. Monitoring—and, if possible, anticipating—daily care demand fluctuations is key to managing hospital pressure zones. This study provides a pathway for identifying patients’ daily exposure to strained hospital systems for a time-varying causal model.

A CORPUS OF RUSSIAN TEXTBOOK MATERIALS FOR FOREIGN STUDENTS AS AN INSTRUMENT OF AN EDUCATIONAL CONTENT ANALYSIS

В статье описан опыт сбора, разметки и использования корпуса текстов из учебников РКИ, RuFoLa. Такая коллекция текстов является удобным инструментом получения объективных данных о содержании современных учебников РКИ как в исследовательских, так и в практических целях. В качестве примеров задач, решаемых на материале корпуса RuFoLa, приведены два исследования. Во-первых, произведен расчет языковых признаков постепенного усложнения учебных материалов по РКИ по шкале уровней CEFR от А1 до С1. Во-вторых, приведены примеры частотного анализа лексики учебников и ее сравнение с содержанием лексических минимумов по РКИ – такие данные могут оказаться ценны при проверке соответствия учебника заявленному уровню или при обновлении минимума. The paper describes the experience of collecting, marking up and utilising the corpus of texts from textbooks of Russian as a foreign language, RuFoLa. Such a collection of texts is an effective tool for getting objective information about the content of modern RFL textbooks for both research and practical purposes. Two studies are given as examples of tasks solved on the basis of the RuFoLa corpus. First, we calculated the data on linguistic features of the complexity level of educational materials on the CEFR scale from A1 to C1. Secondly, we showed examples of frequency analysis of textbook vocabulary and its comparison with the RFL vocabulary lists – it provides valuable information for evaluating textbook content and for vocabulary lists updating.