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This article presents a 2-year study on how quickly Texas library staff members greeted a library patron after eye contact. Results from 140 library visits found a mean of nearly 4 min, but a mean of 9 s after removing outliers. The study also calculated the perceived customer value by measuring the service, quality, image, and price of the customer service experience. Findings suggest that each patron/staff interaction may alter a patron's perceived Return on Investment (ROI). Given libraries are primarily supported by tax dollars, poor patron service experiences may impact the perceived values of library programs and services, jeopardizing future funding. The article highlights the importance for libraries to retain satisfied employees and build trust within their communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One question that needs to be asked in understanding the consequences of humour in service encounters is whether the prevalent bivariate approaches capture the full range of humour consequences. Therefore, this study examines the influence of frontline employees' (FLEs) combined use of affiliative and self-defeating humour on customers' perceptions of service quality in 268 service encounters. Bivariate results show that the positive effect of affiliative humour is much stronger than the negative effect of self-defeating humour. On the contrary, response surface analyses show that bad may be stronger than good. FLEs' humour use is particularly advantageous with customers who appreciate humour, while for those who do not, there is an optimal margin effect when affiliative humour exceeds self-defeating humour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract In order to solve the network congestion problem caused by burst service flows in heterogeneous cognitive radio networks (Het‐CRN), a two‐stage dual‐threshold random early detection (TD‐RED) control mechanism is proposed here. Meanwhile, a three‐state Markov modulated Poisson process (MMPP‐3) is used to model the burst service to analyze its arrival in depth. Moreover, a performance evaluation system (PES) is proposed to quantify the interference of burst services to different classes of services and their quality of service, which can comprehensively evaluate the performance enhancement of the TD‐RED control mechanism for each service. The system examines performance metrics such as packet loss rate, average delay, average captain etc. PES simulation results show that TD‐RED significantly reduces the packet rejection rate and transmission delay compared to the no congestion control (NCC) and random early detection (RED) methods, thus providing superior quality of service to all services. thereby providing a superior quality of service to cognitive users. Its lower average captain fully proves that TD‐RED can effectively alleviate congestion.

By considering the limited energy of Internet of Things (IoT) devices. We take the resource allocation to guarantee the stringent Quality of Service (QoS) depending on the joint optimization of power control and finite blocklength of channel. To achieve large volumes of arrival rates, we propose Adversarial Training based Generative Adversarial Networks (AT-GANs), which utilize a significant number of extreme events to provide high reliability and adjust real data in real-time. Simulation results show that Deep-Reinforcement Learning (Deep-RL) for AT-GAN could eliminate the transient training time. As a result, the AT-GAN keeps the reliability higher than 99.9999%.

Abstract Increasing and heterogeneous service demands have led to traffic increase, and load imbalance challenges among network entities in the Internet of Things (IoT) environments. It can affect Quality of Service (QoS) parameters. By separating the network control layer from the data layer, Software-Defined Networking (SDN) has drawn the interest of many researchers. Efficient data flow management and better network performance can be reachable through load-balancing techniques in SDN and improve the quality of services in the IoT network. So, the combination of IoT and SDN, with conscious real-time traffic management and load control, plays an influential role in improving the QoS. To give a complete assessment of load-balancing strategies to enhance QoS parameters in SDN-based IoT networks (SD-IoT), a systematic review of recent research is presented here. In addition, the paper provides a comparative analysis of the relevant publications, trends, and future areas of study that are particularly useful for the community of researchers in the field.

Abstract With technological developments, the resolution of the display systems is increasing, causing image data to increase. Several technologies are aiding in optimizing these data during transmission and storage while maintaining quality. Still, the internal data transmission for accessing the memory sub‐system during reading and writing cycles consumes significant power while requiring large memory for storage, which is inefficient, especially for portable displays. Hence, this work investigates the feasibility of reducing data through approximation for images in different formats and resolutions for human and computer vision based applications. Different image quality assessment metrics are utilized for performance evaluations with optimum image quality assessment selection according to application requirements. In addition, the feasibility analysis is conducted for three different applications as examples of computer vision. The experimental analysis highlights theoretical and industrial importance by showing that image data can be reduced from 25.0% to 62.5%, while satisfying requirements for HVS‐based and computer vision‐based applications.

In cloud computing environment, the workflow allocation mainly focuses on task assignment to satisfy the quality-of-service (QoS) standards and workload balancing by the best use of the demanded resources as a service on pay per use basis to optimize objectives from service level agreements. In secured workflow allocation (SWA), the intermediate data transfers in sensitive workflow tasks demand security requirements during the execution across the virtual machines. Security-aware workflow execution challenges result in a significant share of security overhead which affects the QoS performance. The aim of this work is to facilitate the researcher's selection of suitable SWA approaches from the existing approaches in the literature. To achieve this, we have comprehensively reviewed the current state-of-the-art approaches of the SWA models in cloud computing environments. Also, a secured workflow allocation challenges taxonomy by describing the security overhead model and QoS objectives and constraints is presented. Finally, it determines and discusses the existing open issues, challenges, and future research direction in the SWA model based on the study's literature review. The study will help researchers in the domain with current security challenges for SWA research trends. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to solve the network congestion problem caused by burst service flows in heterogeneous cognitive radio networks (Het‐CRN), a two‐stage dual‐threshold random early detection (TD‐RED) control mechanism is proposed here. Meanwhile, a three‐state Markov modulated Poisson process (MMPP‐3) is used to model the burst service to analyze its arrival in depth. Moreover, a performance evaluation system (PES) is proposed to quantify the interference of burst services to different classes of services and their quality of service, which can comprehensively evaluate the performance enhancement of the TD‐RED control mechanism for each service. The system examines performance metrics such as packet loss rate, average delay, average captain etc. PES simulation results show that TD‐RED significantly reduces the packet rejection rate and transmission delay compared to the no congestion control (NCC) and random early detection (RED) methods, thus providing superior quality of service to all services. thereby providing a superior quality of service to cognitive users. Its lower average captain fully proves that TD‐RED can effectively alleviate congestion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: It has been confirmed that the aerial intelligent reflecting surface (AIRS) can dramatically improve the coverage and quality of service of wireless communication systems. This paper proposes to exploit an AIRS to enhance the physical layer security (PLS) of wireless communication systems. In particular, the AIRS flies at convenient positions for enhancing legitimate channel gain and reducing eavesdropping channel gain. Moreover, the worst‐case security is determined where the legitimate user is affected by hardware impairments (HIs) while the eavesdropper hardware is ideal (ID). The analytical expression of secrecy outage probability (SOP) of the considered systems (referred to as the AIRS‐HI systems) is derived over realistic Nakagami‐ m channels recommended for application in the fifth and beyond generations (5G & B5G). To clarify the behaviors of the considered systems, the asymptotic expressions of signal‐to‐distortion‐plus‐noise ratio (SDNR) at the legitimate user, signal‐to‐noise ratio (SNR) at the eavesdropper, and SOP are also provided. Monte‐Carlo simulations are employed to confirm the accuracy of the derived theorem. Numerical results confirm that the SOP of the AIRS‐HI systems is dramatically higher than the SOP of the AIRS‐ID systems. In other words, a strong effect of HIs on the SOP of the AIRS‐HI systems is clearly indicated. Consequently, utilizing the high transmit power is not an effective solution to improve the secrecy performance of the AIRS‐HI systems. In contrast, it is essential to employ an appropriate transmit power tailored to the specific system parameters. Furthermore, the considerable advantages of incorporating AIRS are demonstrated through a comparison between the SOPs of AIRS‐HI systems and HI systems lacking AIRS. Additionally, a comprehensive examination of AIRS‐HI system behaviors is conducted by varying various system parameters, including the predefined secrecy rate, HI level, the number of reflecting elements (REs) in AIRS, WiFi network frequency, AIRS altitude, bandwidth, and channel fading order. These observations lead to the identification of numerous recommended solutions for enhancing the SOP performance of the considered AIRS‐HI systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Flying ad hoc networks (FANETs) are a class of highly dynamic mobile ad hoc networks in which flying UAVs coordinate among themselves for delivering the data to the applications. Data routing in FANETs has been a challenge due to the inherent mobile and unpredictable movement of UAV nodes. This paper proposes a quality of service‐aware routing protocol (QARP) for FANETs which incorporates hybrid nature‐inspired heuristics to identify optimized routes to the destination UAVs. The routing mechanism operates in two phases. In the first phase, the neighbour discovery initializes the adapted firefly algorithm to identify nodes with least packet delivery delay to the destination. In the second phase, the Gaussian quantum‐behaved particle swarm optimization meta‐heuristic algorithm is utilized to identify the most optimal nodes to create a route for data delivery to destination. The proposed protocol has been tested to perform better in terms of delay, routing overhead, throughput and packet delivery ratio in comparison to MA‐DP‐AODV, MDA‐AODV and MDRMA routing protocols. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The composition of Web services represents a critical challenge in the development of business process. It consists of creating new functionalities by selecting individual services from a set of abstract activities and merging them into massive services. With the increasing number of available similar functionalities, the quality-of-service parameters, provided by Web services, have become criteria for selecting a composite web service plan that provides best possible service quality values among other possible compositions. As, the problem of Web service selection is a time-consuming optimization problem, we present, in this work, an enhanced version of the Balanced Teaching-Learning-Based optimization algorithm, called Discrete Balanced Teaching-Learning-Based optimization algorithm 'DBTLBO', which supports the discrete nature of the web service selection problem, by selecting a specific composition of web services from a set of candidate services, while meeting user needs and QoS preferences. several experiments were performed in a simulated environment. The obtained results were compared with those of TLBO, GA and PSO algorithms under the same conditions and clearly demonstrated the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm compared to the other algorithms mentioned above. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scheduling workload is a demand response strategy for data centers to reshape electricity usage, which provides an opportunity for them to utilize renewable energy. Enhancing the flexibility of workload scheduling would promote the data center to integrate renewable energy. Considering that the improvement of flexibility in workload scheduling is tightly related to the Quality of Service (QoS) required by IT consumers (ITCs), it becomes desirable for the data center to collaborate with them to further facilitate renewable energy integration in demand response programs. This paper proposes a QoS‐based bi‐level demand response model for the data center, where game theory is adopted to resolve the conflict of interest in the collaboration between the data center and ITCs. At the upper level, the data center is a leader who provides differential monetary incentives to ITCs while dispatching workload to integrate renewable energy. At the lower level, ITCs act as followers who adjust the workload's QoS to enhance the flexibility of workload scheduling. Simulation results show that the proposed model can decrease the operating cost of the data center while increasing the utilization of renewable energy. © 2024 Institute of Electrical Engineer of Japan and Wiley Periodicals LLC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study draws on data provided to the Covid-19 & Church-21 Survey by 826 'non-ministering' Anglicans living in England in order to explore why some people gave up worshipping online or in church during the Covid-19 lockdown in 2021. Nearly a quarter of the participants had given up online worship, attending offline services in church, or both: 15 per cent had given up on online worship, 13 per cent had given up on going to church, and 5 per cent had given up on both. Giving up was significantly correlated with negative experience of services. Those under the age of forty and Anglo-Catholics were most likely to give up online worship. Women and extraverts were most likely to give up on socially distanced services in church. The results indicate the sorts of people who might drift from the church post-pandemic and what the Church could concentrate on to prevent this process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of markets for private for‐profit care homes often raises concerns about the quality of services provided by these care homes. To address the fundamental needs of their residents, governments introduce quality regulations and, through mandatory licensing, allow private care homes to enter the market. However, in some countries, evidence reveals that many private care homes operate without a mandatory licence; information about the basic characteristics of these unlicensed care homes (UCHs) and their operations is often unavailable because they try to remain 'invisible'; they have also received little research attention. This article fills this gap using the case of Poland. The study employs a unique dataset combining inspection reports produced during public monitoring of UCHs and in‐depth interviews with owners of such care homes. This article explores how the regulation of markets for private care homes does not lead to the comprehensive licensing of such care homes. The findings show that the regulation enabled UCHs to remain 'partially visible' to many parties, including public sector entities. The findings contribute to a wider debate about the marketisation of long‐term care, particularly regarding the noncompliance of private providers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In addition to their food security and ecological benefits, urban community gardens support human well-being in numerous non-material ways. In this paper, we investigate whether experience of these cultural ecosystem services (CES) shapes how gardeners choose to manage the garden ecosystem, which may influence the ability of these multifunctional green spaces to provide other local ecosystem services (ES). Using questionnaires, in-depth interviews, and plant community analysis, we assess the relationship between perception of CES by community gardeners, the management practices they utilize, and the agroecological characteristics of their garden plots, such as presence and prevalence of species that provide regulating and supporting ES. We find that while almost all survey participants report sociocultural benefits of gardening, experience of these CES varies significantly between gardeners, with garden structure influencing which group of benefits is most perceived. Experience of some CES was also correlated with local ecological knowledge and use of certain sustainable garden management practices, such as utilizing integrated pest management strategies and planting a wide variety of species, but not with observed non-provisioning plant agrobiodiversity. These results provide important insights into the complex role that CES play in encouraging environmental stewardship and shaping ecological outcomes in collectively managed urban green spaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The medical humanity issue presents a significant obstacle to the healthcare profession, raising concerns about the ethical standards, compassion, and empathy that are vital aspects of patient-centered care. Amidst the prevalence of technological progress and a focus on measurable results, there is a rising apprehension that healthcare providers are becoming increasingly detached from their patients, viewing them as just medical cases rather than individuals who deserve comprehensive care. The erosion of medical humanity not only weakens the bond between patients and healthcare providers but also has consequences for patient outcomes and the overall quality of service. Healthcare organizations must prioritize activities focused on cultivating a culture of empathy, providing training in communication skills, and promoting mindfulness practices among healthcare staff. To tackle this problem and guarantee the provision of compassionate care that respects the dignity and well-being of every patient, we need to shift our attention towards humanistic ideals and recognize the significance of emotional intelligence in medical practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The urban rail transit network has gradually realized grid operation with the increase in the coverage rate. Therefore, the stopping schemes in accordance with the trend of the passenger flow are more conducive to improving the attractiveness of the rail transit and improving the sharing rate of the urban public transit. Traditional data from a single source may not be sufficient to describe the overall trend of the passenger flow in a period of time, and the error is possible in the case of insufficient data. Based on the multisource data, the spatial weight function is introduced to fuse the point of interest data and real estate information data, from which one obtains the residential index and office index, and the cluster analysis is conducted to obtain the potential stop scheme. Then, the optimization model of the train operation plan is established, aiming at minimizing the passenger travel time and the generalized system cost, and is constrained by a series of driving conditions. Compared with the single data source, multisource data can better reflect passenger flow trends and land use characteristics. Compared with the traditional all-station stopping scheme, a reasonable setting of crossing stations and running express-local trains can better satisfy the demands of the passenger flow. Finally, the optimization of Changchun rail Transit Line 1 shows that the model can reduce the travel time of passengers and the operating cost of the rail transit company and improve the quality of service, so as to achieve a win-win situation between passengers and the rail transit company. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ambulatory medical care has undergone more than 20 years of development in China, gradually improving into a medical model that provides diagnosis and treatment services throughout the 24-hour hospitalization process. In the past decade, under the guidance of relevant national policies, the development scale and speed of ambulatory medical care have further expanded, providing more patients with efficient and low-cost diagnostic and treatment services, and playing a leverage role in the high-quality development of public hospitals. However, the development of ambulatory medical care is also facing challenges brought about by various factors such as the support of medical insurance policies, performance evaluation, and homogeneous development. Under the new situation and concepts of promoting the high-quality development of public hospitals and improving the medical service experience, the ambulatory medical service model has played a greater role in medical value. However, how to promote the stable and long-term development of ambulatory medical care is a valuable topic for discussion. The article aims to provide ideas for the further development of ambulatory medical care in the future by reviewing the development process and overview of ambulatory medical care in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One Stop Crisis Center (OSCC) is a multi-sectorial center aimed to provide medical, social, legal, police and shelter services to survivors of domestic violence, rape, sexual assault, sodomy and child abuse. Although OSCCs have been established for almost three decades in different parts of the world including in Malaysia, there is a lack of a validated instrument to measure the service quality rendered in OSCCs. A validated instrument known as OSCC-Qual was developed using a 5-stage approach where (1) in stage 1, group discussions were conducted among all authors to identify potential items for the instrument; (2) in stage 2, content validation was performed by 13 experts using content validity index and modified kappa; (3) in stage 3, exploratory factor analysis was performed by 141 healthcare staff with experience in managing OSCC cases to validate the items as well as to identify the number of factors in the instrument; (4) in stage 4, confirmatory factor analysis was performed by 110 domestic violence survivors to ascertain the validity of the factors and items retained in stage 3 and (5) in stage 5, forward and backward translation into local Malay and Chinese languages was performed. Results: In stage 1, a total of 42 items were identified. No item was deleted in stage 2. In stage 3, a total of 7 factors (i.e., "information provision", "competency of staff", "professionalism", "supportive environment", "attitude of staff", "multi-sectorial coordination" and "tangibles") were identified. Four items were deleted due to poor factor loading. In stage 4, another 3 items were iteratively removed due to poor factor loading. Discriminant validity was good. Conclusion: With the availability of the 7-factor and 35-item OSCC-Qual instrument, it is hoped that the efficiency of OSCC in achieving its philosophical objectives after three decades of implementation can be unraveled and remedial actions can be taken, if necessary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]