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This paper explores a decision analysis on product integration of family security services and residential fire insurance in the London and Taiwan markets by using the proposed mathematical models for counting sustainable value. This paper shows the five main different results between London and Taiwan markets with ten different parameters of the family security market, to find out the optimal number of family security integrated services for each security company in London. The improvement of the risk aversion effect based on risk and financial management will enhance the market share of the private security industries in the London and Taiwan markets. The results of this research can serve as a reference for the decision-making of private security industries on product integration under sustainable value consideration. The research findings highlight the potential benefits for both the private security industry and the insurance industry in their design and negotiation for product integration to improve both of business operation and achieve corporate social responsibility goals to match the sustainability in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on the intra-EU movement of young adults from Finland, Poland, and Spain who have settled, short- or long-term, in London and its wider region. In our comparative analysis, we find that the 46 interviewees differ in the way in which they took the original decision to move to the UK. Study, work, career, life goals, and lifestyle are the main variables shaping, in various combinations, migration decisions and plans. We categorize the decision-making and subsequent trajectories into three groups based on migrants' life-stories. The first group, the planners, had a long-term plan to move abroad with well-defined objectives of what they hoped to achieve. The second group, the dreamers, had the idea to move abroad someday, but then decided to activate the idea rather suddenly. The third group, the accidental migrants, moved abroad almost by accident, having had no prior plans, but responded to the opportunity when it arose out of a chance event, and had no specific plans as to what they would do abroad. The boundaries between these groups are somewhat blurred and the mobile individual's attitudes and motivation towards migration may change over time. Examining the decision-making process of current migrants helps to estimate how inbound mobility to the UK from the EU might change in the new post-Brexit migration scenario. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Professionally a social worker has to pay attention to both the society’s values and to a client’s personal values. However, a social worker’s personal values are not the least of importance and can’t be ignored. Where could a sharp line be drawn between professional and private values and acting? The problem of decision-making has been pondered over since ancient times when Socrates contended that ‘everyone desires the good.’ Could it then be that for some the profession becomes a calling? This paper uses a collaborative autoethnographic approach with the narrative told by the first author, a female Swedish social worker. The story is about her meeting with a male drug addict living on the streets of London and about the decision she made. As it turned out, her decision would have consequences far beyond her and his imagination. The Introduction was written by the second author in order to provide the scientific framework embedding the first author’s story. Finally, the Discussion was written mutually as an interview. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article employs a qualitative, biographical approach, to explore the motivations and subjectivities behind migration of middle‐class Brazilians to London. It uses the concept of the geographical imagination to understand how migrants imagine not only their destinations and places of origin but also how their own identity is shaped by their imagined relationship to these places. The paper argues that for many middle‐class Brazilians, their motivation to migrate is couched in terms of "societal alienation": a feeling of distance from the place of origin resulting from a lack of identification and trust in its institutions and the very culture of the place itself. This is in contrast to the more popularly understood concept of migrating due to "material alienation": migrating to access a higher level of material consumption or to acquire financial capital to use "back home." For those who migrate due to "societal alienation" what is "fetishised" is the cultural and less material aspects of the 'quality of life' of the migration destination, which become a kind of commodity in their own right. It argues that social class which often intersects with regional and racial divisions within Brazilian society, is a key marker of difference in these two types of imaginary. This article employs a qualitative, biographical approach, to explore the motivations and subjectivities behind migration of middle‐class Brazilians to London. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Planning transport infrastructure development involves high levels of uncertainty due to socioeconomic, environmental, and technological changes. Methodologies currently used in transport planning often have minimal consideration for adaptiveness, leading to costly redesigns or cancellation of entire projects. Presented herein is the investigation of the applicability of dynamic adaptive policy pathways, which is a methodology predominantly used in the field of flood-risk planning, to long-term transport infrastructure planning. Specifically, the paper investigates whether this methodology could facilitate ongoing adaptation to variations in service demand and capacity. It demonstrates this by examining future demand and capacity of road and rail travel between Manchester, United Kingdom, and London using publicly available data and information sources. The study shows that dynamic adaptive policy pathways is useful for identifying periods of time of significant capacity vulnerability for the examined transport network in the coming decade. The method is demonstrated to be valuable for identifying the points in time when policy-makers will have to make decisions and for assessing the impact of transport mode switching. This can have implications of cost-saving and improved service delivery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The COVID-19 vaccination programme is intended to protect public health (particularly those at increased risk of developing severe disease with COVID-19) and to relieve the pressures on the National Health Service. This paper discusses the uptake and attitudes of staff working in a London teaching hospital towards receiving the COVID-19 vaccine while considering measures to support informed decision making. Methods: An online survey was used to collect demographic information and opinions of staff across all divisions of the Royal National Ear, Nose and Throat and Eastman Dental Hospitals. Results: Vaccine safety, long-term effects and information on social media were frequently reported concerns from staff choosing to decline a COVID-19 vaccine at this time. Addressing misinformation, conspiracy theories and inequality surrounding the pandemic should be central in supporting population groups in receiving the benefits of vaccination. Focus groups and tailored clinics to discuss vaccine concerns have provided a safe environment for staff at the trust to address these concerns. Conclusions: Success of a vaccine programme depends on public confidence and willingness to participate. There is a need to ensure that population groups are adequately educated about the safety of approved vaccines in order to support informed decision making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) is a well-founded and popular method in the Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) field. AHPSort, a recently introduced sorting variant, uses crisp class-assignment of alternatives. This can sometimes be misleading, especially for alternatives near the border of two classes. This paper aims at making the class assignment process in AHPSort more flexible by using fuzzy sets theory, which facilitates soft transitions between classes and provides additional information about the membership of alternatives in each class that can be used to fine-tune actions beyond the crisp sorting process. This essentially complements the ordinal information of its crisp variant with cardinal information as to the degree of membership of an alternative to each class. The applicability of the proposed approach is illustrated in a case study that regards the classification of London boroughs according to their safety levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Trigeminal neuralgia (TN) is a relatively rare condition which has a profound impact not only on the patient but also on those around them. There is no cure for TN, and the management of the condition is complex. The most effective forms of treatment are either through medication, neurosurgery, or combination of the two. Each option has risks and implications for the patient. As with all clinical decisions, it is important for patients to understand and be fully informed of the treatments available to them. A London UK unit adopted a joint-consultation clinic approach where the patient meets with both physician and neurosurgeon at the same time to discuss treatment options. The purpose of this evaluation is to understand patients' level of satisfaction with the joint-consultation clinic and evaluate utilisation of a clinical decision-making tool. Method: Patients who had attended the joint-consultation clinic over a period of 12 months were invited to participate in a telephone or paper survey (N = 55). Responses were analysed using descriptive statistics and thematic analysis. Results: Forty-one patients (77% response rate) participated in the survey, and the results were overwhelmingly positive for the joint-consultation clinic regarding satisfaction. The benefits were broad ranging including increased understanding, collaboration and confidence in decision-making. Conclusions: A joint-consultation clinic comprising a neurosurgeon and a physician for the treatment of TN is valued by patients who become better informed and able to make decisions about their care. Positive application of clinical decision-making aids in this situation offers potential across specialities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The water industry presents several structures in different countries and also within countries. Hence, several studies have been conducted to evaluate the presence of economies of scope and scale in the water industry leading to inconclusive results. The lack of a common methodology has been identified as an important factor contributing to divergent conclusions. This paper evaluates, for the first time, the presence of economies of scale and scope in the water industry using a flexible technology approach integrating operational and exogenous variables of the water companies in the cost functions. The empirical application carried out for the English and Welsh water industry evidenced that the inclusion of exogenous variables accounts for significant differences in economies of scale and scope. Moreover, completely different results were obtained when the economies of scale and scope were estimated using common and flexible technology methodological approaches. The findings of this study reveal the importance of using an appropriate methodology to support policy decision-making processes to promote sustainable urban water activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Brinton (1914) wrote the first 'Design Style Guide' in the form of rules more than 100 years ago, yet no one really studies nor uses them. Organizations like Google and London City Intelligence recently extended their design systems to include standards specifically for data visualization. This speaks to the growing importance of using data and metrics in an organization's decision making and the value of branding them appropriately. In 2014, Amy Cesal created one of the first actual Data Visualization Style Guides for the Sunlight Foundation. Since then, many other organizations have created style guides of their own, however, Data Visualization texts have only recently begun to cover style guides. In this paper we argue that more widespread use of data visualization style guides by organizations would bring consiste brand identity, readability and accessibility to their data visualization work, and that incorporating data visualization into university curricula will be instrumental in encouraging widespread adoption of these style guides.. We present a historical analysis of these style guides from Brinton's 1914 edition to today's examples from 2014 through today to contextualize data visualization style guides for instructional purposes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Health service reconfigurations are of international interest but remain poorly understood. This article focuses on the use of evidence by senior managerial decision-makers involved in the reconfiguration of stroke services in London 2008-2012. Recent work comparing stroke service reconfiguration in London and Manchester emphasises the ability of senior managerial decision-makers in London to 'hold the line' in the crucial early phases of the stroke reconfiguration programme. In this article, we explore in detail how these decision-makers 'held the line' and ask what the broader power implications of doing so are for the interaction between evidence, health policy and system redesign.Methods: The research combined semi-structured interviews (n = 20) and documentary analysis of historically relevant policy papers and contemporary stroke reconfiguration documentation published by NHS London and other interested parties (n = 125). We applied a critical interpretive and reflexive approach to the analysis of the data.Results: We identified two forms of power which senior managerial decision-makers drew upon in order to 'hold the line'. Firstly, discursive power, which through an emphasis on evidence, better patient outcomes, professional support and clinical credibility alongside a tightly managed consultation process, helped to set an agenda that was broadly receptive to the overall decision to change stroke services in the capital in a radical way. Secondly, once the essential parameters of the decision to change services had been agreed, senior managerial decision-makers 'held the line' through hierarchical New Public Management style power to minimise the traditional pressures to de-radicalise the reconfiguration through 'top down' decision-making.Conclusions: We problematise the concept of 'holding the line' and explore the power implications of such managerial approaches in the early phases of health service reconfiguration. We highlight the importance of evidence for senior managerial decision-makers in agenda setting and the limitations of clinical research findings in guiding politically sensitive policy decisions which impact upon regional healthcare systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, there has been a transformation in the value chain of different industrial sectors, like the electricity networks, with the appearance of smart grids. Currently, the underlying knowledge in raw data coming from numerous devices can mark a significant competitive advantage for utilities. It is the case of the Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI). Such technology gets user consumption characteristics at levels of detail that were previously not possible. In this context, the terms big data and data analytics become relevant, which are tools that allow using large volumes of information and the generation of valuable knowledge from raw data that can support data-driven decisions for operating on the grid. This paper presents the results of the big data implementation and data analytics techniques in a case study with smart metering data from the city of London. Implemented big data and data analytic techniques to show how to understand user consumption patterns on a broader horizon, the relationships with seasonal variables identify behaviors related to specific events and atypical consumptions. This knowledge helps support decision making about improving demand response programs and, in general, the planning and operation of the Smart Grid. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quantitative efforts to understand the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic need to be viewed through the lens of social construction. I begin by comparing the efforts to quantitatively measure the plague in London in 1665. Then I develop five propositions for studying the social construction of statistics: (1) facts are social constructions; (2) measuring involves making decisions, (3) counting is not straightforward; (4) all comparisons involve choices; and (5) social patterns shape numbers. After examining how these propositions affect what we know about COVID-19, I consider their implications for moving beyond mathematics when approaching numeracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following the airplane attacks of September 11th, 2001 it is claimed that many Americans, dreading a repeat of these events, drove instead of flying, and that, consequently, there were extra car accidents, increasing the number of fatalities directly caused by the attacks by 1,500. After the Madrid train bombings of March 11th, 2004, Spaniards, like Americans, avoided the attacked mode of travel, but no increase in car travel or fatal accidents resulted. Here we analyze behavioral concomitants of the July 7th 2005 bomb attacks on public transport in London. We find reduced underground train travel and an increase in rates of bicycling and, over the 6 months following the attacks, 214 additional bicyclist road casualties -- a 15.4% increase. Nevertheless we found no detectable increase in car accidents. We conclude that, while fear caused by terrorism may initiate potentially dangerous behaviors, understanding the secondary effects of terrorism requires consideration of the environmental variables that enable fear to manifest in dangerous behaviors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The impact of the UK Coalition government's cuts has catastrophically impacted advisory and support services to refugee young people. Many bespoke refugee services have ceased with the alternative being conventional information sources that lack specialist knowledge of the unique situation of refugees. Taking an autonomy approach, this qualitative research study discusses the benefits of the now obsolete refugee advisory service, the Refugee Integration and Employment Service, with current sources of welfare-to-work programmes. In conclusion, it argues that without targeted sources of information, advice and support refugee young people will struggle to make informed strategic decisions about their future careers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]