Evaluation of Official Governmental (e-Government) Websites for Accessibility in the Middle East

World Wide Web (www), a digital platform providing access to information in an accessible and equitable manner offers immense opportunities to all categories of users. Its inclusivism enables people with physical challenges to access websites, identify, appreciate, navigate, utilize, interact and contribute to the web. This study evaluates the web accessibility features of 58 governmental websites of 17 countries in the Middle East by means of the manual and the automated testing methods with different benchmarks based on the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 (WCAG) and Section 508 standards for the website accessibility, for each to achieve a more comprehensive and efficient result for better analysis. The results of the findings are contrasting; from the manual evaluation based on specific criteria, countries such as United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Oman scored high percentages in majority of the criteria but scored very low in the automated evaluation

Задержки в диагностике и лечении у больных туберкулезом легких в период пандемии COVID-19 в г. Душанбе, Таджикистан, 2022

The objective: to study delays in provision of medical care to pulmonary tuberculosis patients above 15 years old with laboratory confirmation of the diagnosis before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in Dushanbe, Tajikistan.Subjects and Methods. A retrospective cohort study was conducted among new pulmonary tuberculosis patients above 15 years old with laboratory confirmation of the diagnosis registered by TB Control Centers in Dushanbe in 2019–2021. Information was collected from medical records, medical databases, and patient questionnaires. Two types of delays were detected during the provision of medical care: delays related to the patient (defined as >14 days between onset of tuberculosis symptoms and the first visit to a health unit); delays related to health system (defined as >3 days from the first visit to TB unit to the initiation of tuberculosis treatment).Results. Of the 472 patients enrolled in the study, 276 were registered during the COVID-19 pandemic (2020–2021) and 196 patients were registered before the pandemic (2019). Frequency of delays was similar (83% vs 82%, p=0.8) during and before the COVID-19 pandemic. The frequency of delay related to health system was statistically significantly lower during the pandemic versus the period before the pandemic (34% vs 44%, p=0.023). The median duration of delays associated to the patient before the pandemic (60 days, IQR: 15–541) and during the pandemic (60 days, IQR: 15–360, р=0.6) was also similar as well as delays related to health system (before the pandemic – 7 days, IQR: 4–336) and during the pandemic (7 days, IQR: 4–225, р=0.6).Conclusion. Contrary to the expected result, no significant difference in delays related to the patient before and during the pandemic was found, and the frequency of delay related to health system during the pandemic significantly reduced compared to the period before the pandemic.Цель исследования: изучить задержки при оказании медицинской помощи больным старше 15 лет с лабораторно подтвержденным туберкулезом легких до и в период пандемии CОVID-19 в г. Душанбе Республики Таджикистан.Материалы и методы. Проведено ретроспективное когортное исследование среди впервые выявленных лабораторно подтвержденных больных старше 15 лет с легочным туберкулезом, зарегистрированных в 2019–2021гг. в противотуберкулёзном центре г. Душанбе. Сведения получали из медицинских документов, медицинских баз данных и анкетирования пациентов. У больных при оказании медицинской помощи выявлялись задержки двух видов: задержка со стороны пациента (определялась как >14 дней между появлением симптомов туберкулеза и первым посещением медицинского учреждения); задержка со стороны системы здравоохранения (определялась как >3 дней от первого посещения противотуберкулезного учреждения до начала лечения туберкулеза).Результаты. Из 472 пациентов, включенных в исследование, 276 чел. были зарегистрированы во время пандемии COVID-19 (2020–2021 гг.) и 196 – до нее (2019 г.). Частота задержки со стороны пациентов была одинакова (83% против 82%, р=0,8) во время и до COVID-19. Частота задержки со стороны системы здравоохранения была статистически значимо реже в период пандемии, чем до неё (34% против 44%, p=0,023). Продолжительность задержек со стороны пациентов по медиане до пандемии (60 дней, IQR: 15–541) и во время (60 дней, IQR: 15–360, р=0,6) были сопоставимы также, как и задержки со стороны системы здравоохранения (до пандемии – 7 дней, IQR: 4–336) и во время (7 дней, IQR: 4–225), р=0,6.Заключение. Вопреки ожидаемому результату, существенной разницы в задержках со стороны пациентов до- и во время пандемии не установлено, а частота задержки со стороны системы здравоохранения во время пандемии значимо уменьшилась в сравнении с периодом до нее

Methods of Increasing Employment Efficiency in the Service Sector

In this article are researched the formatiyon of service economy and  appreciating  methodi and types developing the efficiency of the activity of service enterprises and also appoaches on direcnted definition to the resource-expenses and goal

The Challenges of e-Parliament Adoption and its Mitigation

The Legislature a fundamental aspect of democratic governance in any nation provides an interactive, participatory and consultative platform for citizens’input in the decision‐making process by harnessing Information and Communication Technology (ICT) tools for improving parliamentary processes, services and functions. In this study, we investigate the extent of the application of ICT in parliament, particularly in emerging economies, making distinctions while identifying the most important requirements, technical challenges and proposing solutions to addressing the challenges. Some of the major challenges explored included limited resources available to parliaments, insufficient technical knowledge among legislative staff, little citizen engagement and lack of standardized software in addition to security issues. Solutions proposed include the introduction of s-parliament concept for a smarter parliament through better utilization of big data and Internet of Things (IoT), better document management and storage systems, use of XML-based standardized software, improved ICT security, increasing public trust and enhance citizen participation in the decisionmaking process

Factors Influencing the Provision of Employment in the Field of Consumer Services in Rural Areas

This article provides an in-depth study by the authors of the factors influencing employment in the field of consumer services in rural areas, and provides suggestions and recommendations

Factors Affecting the Crisis in Central Asia (From Ancient Times to the Middle Ages)

This article describes the dynasties and states that ruled Central Asia and the factors that led to the disintegration or collapse of state governance. The period covered in the article focuses on the dynastic states with a centralized state system in the Central Asian region from antiquity to the middle ages.&nbsp

An introduction to impact of bio-resonance technology in genetics and epigenetics

According to the WHO, chronic diseases have major economic and social impacts. Despite the increasing scientific efforts to identify the etiology and mechanisms of chronic diseases and to treat them, the prevalence of these diseases in the world is expanding. One concept describing the etiology and mechanisms of chronic diseases is based on "Epigenetic Changes". Epigenetic changes are permanent changes in gene expression due to Chromatin conformation changes that do not involve any change in DNA sequence. Depending on the time-scale these changes can be persistent through DNA replication. In the eukaryotic nucleus, the nuclear chromatin cluster has electric oscillation capacity. The natural frequency of an oscillating chromatin region is determined by the physical properties of DNAprotein complexes in that region, which can be changed by its epigenetic state and associated protein factors. These changes can be detected using Bio-resonances method and therefore be used to early detection of chronic diseases. It works on the basis of spectral analysis of magnetic fields of living organisms which enables therapist to differentiate normal from abnormal conditions. It is proposed that the electromagnetic waves as epigenetic factors could effect on chromatin dynamic changes and activate or suppress biochemical processes in organism and play a critical role in development or treatment of chronic diseases. This chapter has attempted to demonstrate the opinions of the authors on this issue and its relationship with genetic, epigenetic and also its application in medicine. © Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2015