Çevrimiçi Gizlilik ve E-Sadakat Eğilimi İlişkisi Üzerine Ülkeler Arası Bir İnceleme: Türkiye ve Rusya Arasında Bir Karşılaştırma A Cross-Country Investigation of Online Privacy and E-Loyalty Intentions Relationship: A Comparison Between Turkey and Russia

E-ticaret, günümüz müşteri ve kurumlarının davranış ve işleyişlerini radikal bir biçimde değiştirmiştir. Öte yandan, gitgide artan çevrimiçi alışveriş zemininde müşterilerin sadakatini sağlamak zor bir hedeftir. Literatürdeki araştırmalar, müşterilerin e-sadakat eğilimlerini etkileyebilecek çeşitli faktörler önermişlerdir ki bunlar arasında arka planda kalmış bir kavram çevrimiçi gizliliktir. Bu bakımdan, çevrimiçi gizliliğin e-sadakat eğilimleri üzerindeki etkisini incelemek hem teorik hem pratik açıdan fayda sağlayacaktır. Bununla birlikte önceki araştırmalar, müşterilerin ehizmet sağlayıcıları ile ilgili tutum ve davranışlarının bağlı bulundukları ülkesel ve kültürel koşullardan da etkilenebileceğini belirtmiştir. Bu doğrultuda araştırmamız, çevrimiçi gizlilik ve e-sadakat eğilimleri arasındaki ilişkiyi, e-ticaretin az tercih edildiği Türkiye ve Rusya kapsamında test etmektedir. Toplam 325 katılımcıdan elde edilen veri ile yapılan analizler doğrultusunda, çevrimiçi gizliliğin e-sadakat eğilimi üzerinde ememnuniyet aracılığıyla dolaylı bir etkisi olduğu bulunmuş, çevrimiçi gizlilik ve ememnuniyet ilişkisinin Türkiye’ye nazaran özellikle Rusya’da daha güçlü olduğu gözlemlenmiştir. Sonuçlarla ilgili hem teorik hem de pratik çıkarımlar ele alınmıştır. E-commerce has dramatically changed the way customers and organizations behave and function today. Nevertheless, ensuring customer loyalty in online mediums is a challenging task. Extant literature suggests various factors that affect customers’ online loyalty intentions including online privacy, which has been an understated concept. Thus, it is critical to investigate the effect of online privacy on e-loyalty intentions. Studies have also mentioned that customers’ attitudes and behaviors in online might be affected by country and culture specific characteristics. Therefore, our study examines the relationship between online privacy and e-loyalty intentions in the context of two countries with limited e-commerce use, Turkey and Russia. Findings based on data collected from 325 participants confirm an indirect relationship between online privacy and e-loyalty intentions through e-satisfaction while online privacy - esatisfaction association has been found to be stronger in Russia than Turkey. Our study further discusses theoretical and practical implications

Mycobacterium tuberculosis Cluster with Developing Drug Resistance, New York, New York, USA, 2003–2009

In 2004, identification of patients infected with the same Mycobacterium tuberculosis strain in New York, New York, USA, resulted in an outbreak investigation. The investigation involved data collection and analysis, establishing links between patients, and forming transmission hypotheses. Fifty-four geographically clustered cases were identified during 2003–2009. Initially, the M. tuberculosis strain was drug susceptible. However, in 2006, isoniazid resistance emerged, resulting in isoniazid-resistant M. tuberculosis among 17 (31%) patients. Compared with patients with drug-susceptible M. tuberculosis, a greater proportion of patients with isoniazid-resistant M. tuberculosis were US born and had a history of illegal drug use. No patients named one another as contacts. We used patient photographs to identify links between patients. Three links were associated with drug use among patients infected with isoniazid-resistant M. tuberculosis. The photographic method would have been more successful if used earlier in the investigation. Name-based contact investigation might not identify all contacts, particularly when illegal drug use is involved

Tuberculosis Outbreak Investigations in the United States, 2002–2008

To understand circumstances of tuberculosis transmission that strain public health resources, we systematically reviewed Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) staff reports of US outbreaks in which CDC participated during 2002–2008 that involved >3 culture-confirmed tuberculosis cases linked by genotype and epidemiology. Twenty-seven outbreaks, representing 398 patients, were reviewed. Twenty-four of the 27 outbreaks involved primarily US-born patients; substance abuse was another predominant feature of outbreaks. Prolonged infectiousness because of provider- and patient-related factors was common. In 17 outbreaks, a drug house was a notable contributing factor. The most frequently documented intervention to control the outbreak was prioritizing contacts according to risk for infection and disease progression to ensure that the highest risk contacts were completely evaluated. US-born persons with reported substance abuse most strongly characterized the tuberculosis outbreaks in this review. Substance abuse remains one of the greatest challenges to controlling tuberculosis transmission in the United States

Interventions to improve contact tracing for tuberculosis in specific groups and in wider populations: an evidence synthesis

Background The tracing and screening of people who have had contact with an active case of tuberculosis (TB) is an important element of TB control strategies. Objectives This study aimed to carry out a review of evidence regarding TB contact tracing, with a particular emphasis on research that was applicable to TB contact tracing in specific population groups in the UK. Design An evidence synthesis of literature of any study design on TB contact tracing in developed countries was carried out. Setting Any setting. Population Individuals found to have active TB disease, and people who have come into contact with them. Interventions Contact-tracing investigations. Main outcome measures Any outcome related to TB infection, contact investigations and/or the views of staff, people with TB disease, or their contacts. Data sources Searches for research published 1995 onwards were undertaken in the following databases: MEDLINE via Ovid SP, EMBASE via Ovid SP, EconLit via Ovid SP, PsycINFO via Ovid SP, Social Policy and Practice via Ovid SP, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature via EBSCOhost, Science and Social Science Citation Indices via Web of Science and The Cochrane Library via Wiley Online Library. Review methods The study comprised a review of TB contact tracing in specific population groups and a review in wider populations. A narrative synthesis was completed and a logic model was developed from the literature. Results There were 112 articles in the review: 23 related to specific populations and 89 related to wider populations. The literature was of limited quality, with much general description of investigations. We identified only two (uncontrolled) studies that could be considered evaluative. Although the limitations of the evidence should be recognised, the review suggested the following: the value of a location-based approach, working with local communities and the media, partnership working, using molecular epidemiological testing, ensuring adequate systems and addressing fear of stigma. The literature on investigations for specific populations has much concordance with that reporting findings from wider population groups. The recognised limitations of conventional investigation methods may, however, be exacerbated in specific populations. Limitations The English-language inclusion criterion may have limited the breadth of countries represented. A meta-analysis was not possible owing to the nature of the literature. Relevant studies may have been missed by our searches, which used terminology relating to contact tracing rather than to active case finding or screening. Conclusions The review identified a sizeable volume of literature relating to contact investigations. However, it is currently predominantly descriptive, with little evaluative work underpinning investigations in either specific or wider populations. Our findings are, therefore, based on limited evidence. Further research is required if robust conclusions are to be made. Future work Research should further explore the development of measures that can be used to compare the effectiveness of different contact investigations, in studies using evaluative designs

Comparison and implementation of OpenStack installation mechanisms

Bakalaura darbā “OpenStack instalācijas mehānismu salīdzinājums un ieviešana” tiek apskatīti dažādi atvērtā pirmkoda risinājumi OpenStack instalācijas veikšanai. Tēma ir aktuāla, jo var novērot, ka mākoņpakalpojumu lietošana kļūst aizvien populārāka, un OpenStack ir neatņemama mākoņu tehnoloģiju daļa. Izvēlēta detalizētāka oficiālo OpenStack instalācijas mehānismu izpēte, jo tie ir visbiežāk sastopamie un ir brīvi pieejami. Šī darba mērķis ir izpētīt OpenStack instalācijas mehānisma izvēles kritērijus, to uzbūvi un lietošanas īpatnības, izdarot secinājumus, kādos gadījumos būtu ieteicams izvēlēties attiecīgos risinājumus.The bachelor paper “Comparison and implementation of OpenStack installation mechanisms” looks at various open-source solutions for OpenStack installation. This topic is important, because nowadays cloud technologies are becoming more and more popular and OpenStack plays an important role in these technologies. A more detailed study of official OpenStack installation solutions has been selected because they are the most common and are freely available. The aim of this work is to explore the selection criteria for the OpenStack installation tools, their design and the nature of their use, by drawing conclusions in which cases it would be advisable to select according solutions

Successful implementation of electronic disease reporting in Georgia

ObjectiveThe objective of this study was to evaluate several aspects of theelectronic disease reporting system and its abilities used in Georgia.Also, the study assessed if the system abilities are tailored to thenational surveillance requirements. User attitudes (system strengthand weaknesses) toward the system was also surveyed.IntroductionThe Ministry of Health of Georgia accepted the ElectronicIntegrated Disease Surveillance System (EIDSS) as an officialdisease reporting system in 2012. The Georgian government adoptedelectronic reporting for both veterinary and human diseases in2015. We conducted a comparative assessment of progress in theimplementation of electronic reporting.MethodsA face-to-face initial survey was conducted in 2012, a follow-upsurvey (through telephone interviews) was performed in 2016. Theinitial survey was conducted in regions that had EIDSS installedand the follow-up survey was conducted in all regions. Standardizedquestionnaires were used and data was analyzed in Epi Info.ResultsOut of 450 trained EIDSS users, 32% were interviewed in theinitial survey and 25% (of 550) EIDSS trained users were interviewedin the follow-up survey. Of 147 respondents in the initial survey and138 in the follow-up survey, 44% and 79%, believed that they wereusing EIDSS effectively, respectively. The follow-up survey showeda 23% increase in respondents who acknowledge an improvement ofthe electronic reporting; acceptance of EIDSS increased from 80.3%to 97.8%. Of those interviewed in the follow-up survey, 19.7%mentioned that the main success in development of the system is dueto improved collaboration between institutes. However, 17.36% of therespondents in the follow-up survey reported non-sufficient qualitydata.ConclusionsOur study suggests that the acceptance and use of EIDSS hasnoticeably improved, indicating the successful implementation ofelectronic reporting. Recommendations have been made to furtherimprove the data quality by conducting regular data cleaning andadditional user training. We recommend the continuation of EIDSStraining

Prospective evaluation of a complex public health intervention: lessons from an initial and follow-up cross-sectional survey of the tuberculosis strain typing service in England.

BACKGROUND: The national tuberculosis strain typing service (TB-STS) was introduced in England in 2010. The TB-STS involves MIRU-VNTR typing of isolates from all TB patients for the prospective identification, reporting and investigation of TB strain typing clusters. As part of a mixed-method evaluation, we report on a repeated cross-sectional survey to illustrate the challenges surrounding the evaluation of a complex national public health intervention. METHODS: An online initial and follow-up questionnaire survey assessed the knowledge, attitudes and practices of public health staff, physicians and nurses working in TB control in November 2010 and March 2012. It included questions on the implementation, experience and uptake of the TB-STS. Participants that responded to both surveys were included in the analysis. RESULTS: 248 participants responded to the initial survey and 137 of these responded to the follow-up survey (56% retention). Knowledge: A significant increase in knowledge was observed, including a rise in the proportion of respondents who had received training (28.6% to 67.9%, p = 0.003), and the self-rated knowledge of how to use strain typing had improved ('no knowledge' decreased from 43.2% to 27.4%). Attitudes: The majority of respondents found strain typing useful; the proportion that reported strain typing to be useful was similar across the two surveys (95.7% to 94.7%, p = 0.67). Practices: There were significant increases between the initial and follow-up surveys in the number of respondents who reported using strain typing (57.0% to 80.5%, p < 0.001) and the proportion of time health protection staff spent on investigating TB (2.74% to 7.08%, p = 0.04). CONCLUSIONS: Evaluation of a complex public health intervention is challenging. In this example, the immediate national roll-out of the TB-STS meant that a controlled survey design was not possible. This study informs the future development of the TB-STS by identifying the need for training to reach wider professional groups, and argues for its continuation based on service users' perception that it is useful. By highlighting the importance of a well-defined sampling frame, collecting baseline information, and including all stakeholders, it provides lessons for the implementation of similar services in other countries and future evaluations of public health interventions

Successful implementation of electronic disease reporting in Georgia

ObjectiveThe objective of this study was to evaluate several aspects of theelectronic disease reporting system and its abilities used in Georgia.Also, the study assessed if the system abilities are tailored to thenational surveillance requirements. User attitudes (system strengthand weaknesses) toward the system was also surveyed.IntroductionThe Ministry of Health of Georgia accepted the ElectronicIntegrated Disease Surveillance System (EIDSS) as an officialdisease reporting system in 2012. The Georgian government adoptedelectronic reporting for both veterinary and human diseases in2015. We conducted a comparative assessment of progress in theimplementation of electronic reporting.MethodsA face-to-face initial survey was conducted in 2012, a follow-upsurvey (through telephone interviews) was performed in 2016. Theinitial survey was conducted in regions that had EIDSS installedand the follow-up survey was conducted in all regions. Standardizedquestionnaires were used and data was analyzed in Epi Info.ResultsOut of 450 trained EIDSS users, 32% were interviewed in theinitial survey and 25% (of 550) EIDSS trained users were interviewedin the follow-up survey. Of 147 respondents in the initial survey and138 in the follow-up survey, 44% and 79%, believed that they wereusing EIDSS effectively, respectively. The follow-up survey showeda 23% increase in respondents who acknowledge an improvement ofthe electronic reporting; acceptance of EIDSS increased from 80.3%to 97.8%. Of those interviewed in the follow-up survey, 19.7%mentioned that the main success in development of the system is dueto improved collaboration between institutes. However, 17.36% of therespondents in the follow-up survey reported non-sufficient qualitydata.ConclusionsOur study suggests that the acceptance and use of EIDSS hasnoticeably improved, indicating the successful implementation ofelectronic reporting. Recommendations have been made to furtherimprove the data quality by conducting regular data cleaning andadditional user training. We recommend the continuation of EIDSStraining

Pulmonary tuberculosis in prisons of the ex-USSR state Georgia: results of a nation-wide prevalence survey among sentenced inmates

SETTING: The penitentiary system of the ex-USSR state of Georgia. OBJECTIVES: To measure the prevalence of active pulmonary tuberculosis and drug-resistant disease among prisoners. To identify factors associated with active tuberculosis and multidrug resistance (MDR). DESIGN: A comprehensive multiphasic screening survey for tuberculosis. RESULTS: The prevalence of smear- or culture-positive tuberculosis was 5995 per 100,000 prisoners (n = 448 cases among 7473 inmates). Of all the strains, 215 (77.9%) were resistant to at least one drug and 37 (13.0%) were MDR. Independent risk markers associated smear- or culture-positive tuberculosis with included prison stay of 2 years or more, body mass index <20 kg/m2, accommodation in a large size prison, previous anti-tuberculosis treatment, cough of 2 weeks or more and loss of appetite. Risk markers associated with MDR were a prison stay of less than 2 years and being over 25 years of age. CONCLUSIONS: In Georgia, the excess risk for tuberculosis among prisoners is unprecedented, suggesting that prisons represent a significant reservoir of tuberculosis. Only a comprehensive strategy for tuberculosis control in prisons, including prison reform, control of anti-tuberculosis drugs, and prompt and efficient diagnosis and treatment of patients can have an impact on the tuberculosis burden in the prison system