Protecting mobile money customer funds in civil law jurisdictions

The provision of financial services through mobile phones is a powerful tool to foster financial inclusion, and thus economic growth, in developing countries. However, it raises important regulatory issues. Given the vulnerability of most potential customers of these services, the protection of customer funds is important. In common law countries, trust accounts are an effective response to these concerns. In civil law jurisdictions however, in the absence of trusts, protection of customer funds is more difficult. This paper identifies the theoretical and practical problems that regulators in civil law jurisdictions might face when trying to protect customer funds and explores how fiduciary contracts, mandate contracts and direct regulation might be used to achieve this goal. It offers a series of practical recommendations for policymakers in developing countries that provide a range of regulatory options that combine private law and regulation

Preoperative Education Needs in Ear, Nose, & Throat Clinic: A Patient Perspective

A medical center specializing in ear, nose, and throat (ENT) services noted an increase in the number of postoperative ENT complications compared to the national average. The purpose of this mixed-methods project study was to examine ENT patients\u27 preoperative patient education (PPE) needs regarding postoperative care. Grounded in Knowles\u27s model of learning, core adult learning principles were applied as guidelines in facilitating patients\u27 PPE learning. Data were collected from 58 ENT patients who were selected using a convenience sampling method and who responded to a PPE survey using a 5-point Likert scale and open-ended questions. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Qualitative data were analyzed using content analysis for emergent themes. The quantitative findings included patients\u27 perceived needs for preoperative and postoperative information regarding ENT care and surgery complications. The qualitative findings included patients\u27 perceptions of PPE in ENT and recommendations for how to use PPE before and after surgery. Implications for positive social change include an awareness of patients\u27 perceptions of PPE needs in ENT by hospital administrators, doctors, and nurses. A better understanding of PPE by patients could result in lower levels of postoperative complications in ENT

Optimized LTE Data Transmission Procedures for IoT: Device Side Energy Consumption Analysis

The efficient deployment of Internet of Things (IoT) over cellular networks, such as Long Term Evolution (LTE) or the next generation 5G, entails several challenges. For massive IoT, reducing the energy consumption on the device side becomes essential. One of the main characteristics of massive IoT is small data transmissions. To improve the support of them, the 3GPP has included two novel optimizations in LTE: one of them based on the Control Plane (CP), and the other on the User Plane (UP). In this paper, we analyze the average energy consumption per data packet using these two optimizations compared to conventional LTE Service Request procedure. We propose an analytical model to calculate the energy consumption for each procedure based on a Markov chain. In the considered scenario, for large and small Inter-Arrival Times (IATs), the results of the three procedures are similar. While for medium IATs CP reduces the energy consumption per packet up to 87% due to its connection release optimization

Running beyond ALPs: shift-breaking and CP-violating effects

We compute the renormalization group equations (RGEs) of the Standard Model effective field theory (EFT) extended with a real scalar singlet, up to dimension-five and one-loop accuracy. We compare our renormalization results with those found in the shift-symmetry preserving limit, which characterizes axion-like particles (ALPs). The matching and running equations below the electroweak scale are also obtained, including the mixing effects in the scalar sector. Such mixing leads to interesting phenomenological consequences that are absent in the EFT at the renormalizable level, namely new correlations among the triplet and quartic Higgs couplings are predicted. All RGEs obtained in this work are implemented in a new Mathematica package - ALPRunner, together with functions to solve the running numerically for an arbitrary set of UV parameters. As an application, we obtain the improved electric dipole moment constraints on particular regions of the singlet parameter space, and quantify the level of shift-breaking in these regions.Comment: 35 pages, 5 figures, 5 table

Escola livre de teoria musical

A Escola Livre de Teoria Musical pretende enfrentar a falta de oferta de conhecimentos qualificados em música na região de Foz do Iguaçu. Num contexto de forte estratificação social, o conhecimento musical é oferecido apenas em escolas particulares ou associações, que os fornecem preferencialmente aos seus membros. Pretende-se, com o presente projeto, difundir o conhecimento musical na comunidade, atrair possíveis alunos para a UNILA e auxiliar, nessa atividade extracurricular, alunos com dificuldades, dispondo-os como monitores ou mesmo como alunos do projeto. Para tanto, neste semestre, duas turmas foram abertas, uma durante a semana, no período noturno, e outra com aulas aos sábados, no período vespertino, com duração ampliada, o que possibilita atender a diferentes segmentos da comunidade, com dinâmicas de aprendizado e disponibilidade de tempo variada. Ambas as turmas são de nível básico e entre os alunos nota-se forte diversidade, incluindo desde discentes da UNILA que não cursam música, bem como da comunidade trinacional, incluindo músicos práticos que não possuíam instrução formal sobre a música, oriundos de grupos religiosos. Nota-se também faixa etária significativamente ampla entre os matriculados nos cursos da Escola. Com o exposto, parece adequado afirmar que a Escola Livre de Teoria Musical vem cumprindo com seus objetivos iniciais, apoiando a democratização do acesso ao conhecimento musical de qualidade junto à comunidade de Foz do Iguaçu e região e atuando como ponte entre academia e sociedade

Surface and Complex Representation of Diverse Intimate Relationships: Insights from a Content Analysis of Marriage and Family Therapy Resources

Searching online for health information plays a vital role in the decision-making process to seek mental healthcare for relationship and sexual issues, especially among people with marginalized identities. The landscape of intimate arrangements in the U.S. is rapidly changing, yet it is unclear whether diverse intimate relationships are discussed in popular relationship-focused mental health resources. In the present research, we sought to understand how six diverse intimate relationships were represented in a set of online mental health resources focused on relationship and sexuality issues. We conducted a content analysis of 23 mental health articles; articles were coded for surface-level (1) and complex (2 through 5) representation: (1) the frequency at which six diverse relationship types were mentioned, (2) awareness of stigma (prejudicial experiences based on relationship type), (3) unique situations (experiences that are specific to a relationship type), (4) clinical recommendations (suggestions made for a specific relationship type) and (5) inclusive language. Overall, the frequency at which relationships were mentioned (surface-level representation) greatly varied: monogamous relationships (82.61%), singles (39.13%), blended families/stepfamilies (26.09%), same-sex/queer relationships (21.74%), multi-racial/cultural relationships (21.74%), and consensually non-monogamous relationships (0%). Complex representations, including stigma, unique situations, and recommendations for each diverse relationship type were infrequently mentioned (\u3c 14% and, in many cases, never mentioned). These results illustrate that relationships other than monogamy were infrequently mentioned and, if mentioned, content related to diverse relationships lacked relevant and inclusive details, including clinical recommendations