• Title/Summary/Keyword: Community Information Centres

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Feasibility of Community Information Centres and The Implications for Technological Innovations in Afikpo, Ebonyi State, Nigeria

  • Kingsley N. Igwe;Elizabeth O. Ndubuisi-Okoh;Patience Odenigbo
    • International Journal of Knowledge Content Development & Technology
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    • v.13 no.2
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    • pp.7-22
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    • 2023
  • The development of rural areas is expected to be holistic covering all essential infrastructure. Community information centres (CICs) are agen- cies that should be part of the infrastructures for rural development. Unfortunately, these centres are hardly seen in rural communities in Nigeria, including Afikpo in Ebonyi State. Thus, this study was conceived to explore the perceptions of citizens towards the establishment of CICs in the locality. It adopted survey research method with questionnaire as instrument for data collection, which was self-developed and validated by experts with a pre-texted reliability index of 0.72. A total of 399 copies of the questionnaire were distributed, out of which 267 copies were properly completed, representing 67% and were used for analysis. Findings revealed that the citizens have overall positive perception to- wards establishing the CICs; they are also knowledgeable of the benefits of such centres. Furthermore, there are workable suggestions on ways of establishing, funding and managing CICs in Afikpo. In addition, about 65% of the respondents indicated interest to assist and support the funding and management of the CICs when established. However, the challenges of inadequate funding and support as well as the possible politics of where to site/locate the CICs in Afikpo, are likely impediments to the project. The study concluded that citizens have strong and positive disposition towards establishing CICs in Afikpo. The implications of such CICs for technological innovations were analysed. The study recom- mends, among others, that government should see the establishment of CICs as priority projects that would significantly contribute to the growth and development of rural communities in Nigeria; communities in Afikpo should explore self-help approach to development; and political representatives from Afikpo should take advantage of establishing CICs as constituency projects for the citizens.

A Landscape of Diversity : Science and Scientific Information in Germany (다양성을 전망한다 : 독일의 과학과 과학정보)

  • Christel, Mahnke
    • Journal of Information Management
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    • v.32 no.2
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    • pp.72-89
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    • 2001
  • This article takes a look at current developments of science organization and the distribution of scientific information in Germany. In the information age, libraries and information centres become centres of knowledge management for the science community, as well as for the industry and for the public. Suitable solutions for a fair trade of information are necessary. Information professionals set up digital libraries and new metadata systems. The government's updated science policy and public-initiatives accelerate the development.

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Depression and suicidal ideation in community-dwelling older adults in Korea

  • Kwon, So-Hi;Sohn, Myungji
    • Journal of the Korean Data and Information Science Society
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    • v.25 no.3
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    • pp.655-663
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    • 2014
  • This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of depression and suicidal ideation in community-dwelling older adults in Korea, as well as identify factors associated with their occurrence, including cognitive impairment. A cross-sectional study of 484 residents was conducted at a senior centre utilising the PHQ-9K and K-MMSE. Demographic data were also collected for analysis. Of the respondents, 38.1% had symptoms of mild to severe depression. Further, 16.7% reported having suicidal ideation, with 5% of respondents having thoughts of suicide every day. The majority of participants had 'normal' scores on the K-MMSE (88.0%), though significant differences were observed in PHQ-9K scores between cognitive-acceptable and cognitive-impaired groups. Depressive symptoms and suicidal ideation were very prevalent in community-dwelling older adults in Korea. This study indicates the need for the development of community-based mental health programs tailored to older adults, and demonstrates the viability of promoting early detection of depressive symptoms through senior centres.

Mitigating TCP Incast Issue in Cloud Data Centres using Software-Defined Networking (SDN): A Survey

  • Shah, Zawar
    • KSII Transactions on Internet and Information Systems (TIIS)
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    • v.12 no.11
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    • pp.5179-5202
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    • 2018
  • Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) is the most widely used protocol in the cloud data centers today. However, cloud data centers using TCP experience many issues as TCP was designed based on the assumption that it would primarily be used in Wide Area Networks (WANs). One of the major issues with TCP in the cloud data centers is the Incast issue. This issue arises because of the many-to-one communication pattern that commonly exists in the modern cloud data centers. In many-to-one communication pattern, multiple senders simultaneously send data to a single receiver. This causes packet loss at the switch buffer which results in TCP throughput collapse that leads to high Flow Completion Time (FCT). Recently, Software-Defined Networking (SDN) has been used by many researchers to mitigate the Incast issue. In this paper, a detailed survey of various SDN based solutions to the Incast issue is carried out. In this survey, various SDN based solutions are classified into four categories i.e. TCP Receive Window based solutions, Tuning TCP Parameters based solutions, Quick Recovery based solutions and Application Layer based solutions. All the solutions are critically evaluated in terms of their principles, advantages, and shortcomings. Another important feature of this survey is to compare various SDN based solutions with respect to different performance metrics e.g. maximum number of concurrent senders supported, calculation of delay at the controller etc. These performance metrics are important for deployment of any SDN based solution in modern cloud data centers. In addition, future research directions are also discussed in this survey that can be explored to design and develop better SDN based solutions to the Incast issue.

Cervical Screening Using Visual Inspection with Acetic Acid (VIA) and Treatment with Cryotherapy in Fiji

  • Fong, James;Gyaneshwar, Rajaneshwar;Lin, Sophia;Morrell, Stephen;Taylor, Richard;Brassil, Ann;Stuart, Anne;McGowan, Catherine
    • Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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    • v.15 no.24
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    • pp.10757-10762
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    • 2015
  • The purpose of this study was to demonstrate the feasibility of VIA screening with cryotherapy and to record normative values for indicators anticipated in similar low resource settings. Women aged 30-49 years were targeted, resulting in 1961 women screened and treated at two primary health care (PHC) centres near Suva, Fiji. Recruitment was through provision of information, education and communication (IEC). Referrals to a gynaecology outpatient department (OPD) at a referral hospital occurred throughout the screening pathway. Participation was 32% (95%CI 31-33%), higher in iTaukei (Melanesians) women (34%, 95%CI 33-36) compared to Fijians of Indian descent (26%, 95%CI 24-28). Regression analysis, adjusted for confounders, indicated significantly lower participation in those of Indian descent, and age groups 35-39 and 45-49 years. Of those examined by VIA, 190 were positive with aceto-white lesions (9.9%), within the expected range of 8-15%, with minor geographic and ethnic variation. Positive VIA results were more common in the peri-urban area, and in those aged 35-39 years. Of women aged 30-49 years, 59 received cryotherapy (none of whom had significant complications), 91 were referred to OPD, two cervical carcinomas were identified and eight cervical intra-epithelial neoplasms (CIN) II-III were diagnosed. These results provide normative findings from a community-based VIA screening program for other similar low resource settings.

Perception of Health Center Staff on Health Promotion Programme Using Traditional Korean Medicine (보건소 한방공공보건사업에 대한 사업담당자의 인식)

  • Lee, Sang-Jae;Yoon, Tae-Hyung;Song, Ki-Min;Kim, Young-Soo;Han, Dong-Woon
    • The Journal of Korean Medicine
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    • v.28 no.3 s.71
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    • pp.1-12
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    • 2007
  • Objectives : The purpose of this study was to explore the perceptions of health promotion programmes using traditional Korean medicine among public health centre staff in charge of running such programmes. To do so, we examined and analysed the current situation of implementing the programmes in the public health centre. Methods : A survey was designed to collect information on perception of the health promotion programmes using traditional Korean medicine by public health centre staff in charge of running such programmes. The survey, using a structured questionnaire designed for this study, was conducted on 161 public health centre staff attending an annual meeting to presenting the results of activity evaluation related to public health programmes using traditional Korean medicine in public health centres. The participants were asked about the most successful programme, the benefits of the programmes, the positive aspects of the programmes, the most desirable outcomes of the programmes and so on. The data were analysed using SPSS system 12.0 for Windows. Results : Of the 161 questionnaires, 121 were analysed. The main findings of this research were as follows. Of the health promotion programmes using traditional Korean medicine implemented in public health centres, qigong and stroke preventive health promotion programmes were perceived as the most successful. The major benefits of the programmes were having merit for health promotion and expecting a positive performance outcome. The major positive aspects of the programmes for health promotion were cultivating community citizen's support and showing consistency between the philosophy of the programmes and the direction of existing health promotion programmes. The most desirable outcomes of the programmes were spreading community understanding of the programme and establishing an effective and unique health promotion model for implementing the programme. Two major causes of implementation difficulties were lack of material resources such as manpower, facility, and equipment, and methods of performance evaluation. One of the most urgent needs for activating the implementation of programmes was continuing financial and technical support from the central government. Conclusions : To promote the role of traditional Korean medicine in the public health sector in order to integrate traditional medicine into the public health system, government should develop some measures for solving the identified causes of implementation difficulties and coping with the most urgent needs for activating the implementation of programmes.

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A study on the actual conditions of oral health education for the elderly in some communities (일부 지역사회 노인의 구강보건교육 실태에 관한 연구)

  • Kim, Young;Lee, Eun-Ju;Kim, Min-Kyung;Lim, Yeong-Mi;Shin, Youn-Ju;Jung, Jung-Ock;Youn, Hye-Jeong;Lee, Kyeong-Hee
    • Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
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    • v.12 no.5
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    • pp.921-932
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    • 2012
  • Objectives : The purpose of the this study was to obtain necessary source data for development of oral health improvement and promotion programs for the elderly by investigating the actual situations of oral health education related experience and needs that senior citizens had in Korea. Methods : In this study, convenience sampling was conducted in 430 senior citizens aged 65 years who lived in Seoul and Gyeonggi-do in Korea, for about six months from December 2011 to May 2012. For data collection, the structured questionnaire was used. Community-based senior citizens' welfare facilities and centres, as well as nearby churches were visited to inform them of the information on this study. Then, the senior citizens who agreed to participate in this study were given the questionnaire sheets. Excluding 33 copies of inadequately completed questionnaire sheets, 397 copies (92.3% of the entire collected data) were analyzed. Results : 1. In terms of the experience with oral health education, the number of elderly respondents who have not received oral health education was 202 (50.9%), whereas the number of those who have received oral health education was 195 (49.1%), which indicates that the latter shows a slightly higher proportion. 2. Examining the necessity for oral health education, the overall mean was 3.67 points based on 5 points as full marks, which suggests that senior citizens have high awareness of the necessity for oral health education. 3. Regarding the willingness to participate in oral health education, the number of those who answered that if any opportunity to receive oral health education is given, they would be willing to receive such the education was 211 (53.1%). Conclusions : Based upon the results mentioned above, we conclude that it is required to develop more systematic and sustained, life-long oral health education programs at the levels of senior citizen's welfare facilities and centres, in order to guide senior citizens to desirable oral health care practice.

A Survey of the Current Information Activities in the Advanced Developing Countries (중진국의 정보유통체제 연구)

  • Choi Sung-jin
    • Journal of the Korean Society for Library and Information Science
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    • v.7
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    • pp.89-195
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    • 1980
  • The advanced developing countries including Korea are assumed to have reached a developmental stage which necessitates them to formulate and implement a plan for a national information network. Most of the governments in the advanced developing countries are well aware of the necessity for such a plan and some of them have actually commenced their studies on the feasibility of a national network of their own hoping to achieve maximum utility of their limited information resources. Two urgent problems facing planners in the design of a national information network are identified. One is lack of an optimum organisational model to enable them to meet their own situations, and the other is lack of a guideline to help designers evaluate the alternative structures and models when they are available. In resolving these two problems, network planners in the advanced developing countries would benefit from the achievement of the objectives of the present study. The major objective is to elicit and describe common information needs, desires and value of the people using information, and other common factors which are responsible for the present information services in the advanced developing countries and which have implications for the basic structure of the national information network. The value of this study is to aid administrators in Korea and those in the other advanced developing countries who are responsible for making national policies and who are now beginning to recognise the need for information services with the planning of economic and social development so as to enable all the groups in the community to have access to the information which are essential for decision making, research work, studies and even for recreational reading. This recognition will hopefully give them a rational basis for formulating right policies on information services. The methodology utlised for collecting the required data in this study falls under the category of observation and largely consists of the two techniques: literature review and postal questionnaire. Background information on the individual advanced developing: countries was gathered from monographic and periodical literature. and country reports presented at the various international conferences were analysed for other relevant data. For most of the data needed for the present study, a questionnaire on 'Library and Information Services as They Are Available in the Selected Countries' was formulated. This questionnaire was designed to be completed without help, by an expert who was well informed of the library and information services in his or her country. The questionnaire was intended to look in details at what information services in the advanced developing countries were doing-whom they were serving, in what way, and how well and establish to what extent they were meeting the nation's information requirements. It was also intended to ascertain the respondents' ideas on possible future developments in information provision in their countries, that is, in the advanced devanced developing countries. The questionnaire was posted to a total of 63 natinal librarians, directors of national information centres and those of other major libraries or information centres in 21 selected countries. Complete usable responses were received from 34 persons in 14 countries. In order to identify common characteristics of the information needs and desires in the advanced developing countries and the present situation of the information services to meet them, and the requirements and constraints peculiar to those countries which bought to be considered in the design of a national information network for advanced developing countries, an individual report on the current status of information activities for each of the fourteen countries chosen for this study, was presented. The procedure used was to arrange the data acquired in the questionnaire responses and other sources, in the form of fifteen country reports to be summarised by cross-section characteristics later.

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