A Comprehensive Security Assessment Toolkit for HealthCare Systems

This research identifies the critical need for conducting a comprehensive information security assessment of any healthcare system. This effort is vital to establish and maintain compliance of security and privacy in healthcare organizations. The paper presents a novel framework and toolkit for security assessment to establish and maintain regulatory compliance. Furthermore, the paper lays out the design of a comprehensive, automated tool set to gain insight about electronic healthcare information system vulnerabilities in the system. The research then investigates various mitigation techniques to secure a healthcare information system and its electronic health records. Furthermore, as validation the proposed toolkit is evaluated in a real-world HIMSS 6 [1] healthcare organization and their over 20 partnering clinical practices

A Sporting Chance: Do the Olympic Games Always Have a Positive Impact on the Host Country?

Mega sporting events, such as the Olympic Games, are commonly believed to have a universally positive impact on their host cities and countries as a result of economic growth, job creation, increased patriotism, and significant press coverage. Colleagues from UCF Rosen College of Hospitality Management, Dr. Asli D. A. Tasci, Dr. Jeannie Hahm and Dr. Deborah Breiter Terry, investigate how the country image and destination image of the host country Bazil and the perceived image of the Olympics changed after the 2016 Summer Olympic Games. The researchers report that not all is as we might expect

Developing an online direct-assessment competency-based Masters of Healthcare Administration: Insights, challenges, and lessons learned

In response to the increasing complexity in healthcare delivery environments, there is evidence from literature and the healthcare industry to indicate healthcare employers are seeking graduates in healthcare administration programs who have strong core competencies and proven problem solving skills. The purpose of this article is to describe the unique challenges and opportunities related to developing a direct-assessment, competency-based online Master’s in Healthcare Administration program. The United States Department of Education (2013) provided general guidelines for direct-assessment programs noting that, instead of measuring student learning via credit hours, learning is measured via direct assessment measures like “projects, papers, examinations, presentations, performances, and portfolios” (para. 4). In this model, credit hour or seat-time measurements are no longer used as proxies for learning. Instead, a single proxy is used: demonstration of competence through direct assessments. Direct assessments are not directly linked with course material or credit hour. Instead, learners demonstrate competency or mastery at their own pace, and progress through the academic program when they have demonstrated the ability to do so. The authors collaborated with employers, university faculty, and subject matter experts to develop a direct-assessment, competency-based Master’s in Healthcare Administration program for an online university that utilizes direct-assessment—allowing students to learn at their own pace and progress forward upon demonstrated mastery. The new program is aligned with healthcare employers’ need for graduates who have core professional competencies in the healthcare field, the educational requirements of the Association of University Programs in Health Administration (AUPHA) and the National Center for Healthcare Leadership (NCHL), and core professional competencies promoted by the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE). This program will seek accreditation from the Commission of Accreditation of Healthcare Management Education (CAHME) once all criteria for accrediting online programs are evaluated and assessed by Walden University. Within this article, the authors have summarized the history of competency-based education in healthcare administration and shared their insights regarding the future of this direct-assessment model

Understanding Conformational Regulation of the Integrin I-domain for Design of Chimeric Protein Switches

Within all complex biological processes intricate proteins are expressed to complete every niche and necessary task. Many express multiple allosterically regulated conformational states, with protein function regulated by effector molecules and other ligands. One such protein is the LFA-1 surface integrin protein and its inserted domain, the I-domain. We Isolated the I-domain for investigation of determining binding properties and understanding conformational regulations of affinity changes to its target ligand ICAM-1, for further use in chimeric protein switch design. A large change in binding affinity was found through the deletion of a sub-sequence of amino acids in I-domain known as the α7 helix. Our investigation shows that, when the α7 helix is deleted, I-domain converts into a permanent high affinity state in which binding affinity to ICAM-1 was increased, and this state can be reversed by co-expression with soluble α7 helix peptide. These results conclude that the α7 helix stabilizes the I domain in its low affinity conformation in a ligand-like manner, allowing relaxation to the high affinity conformation upon disruption of α7 helix interaction. While deletion of the α7 helix yields higher binding affinity in I-domain it cannot be applied in design of chimeric protein switches due to its permanent conformational state. Because of this, our switch design has a focus of allosterically regulating the I-domain and α7 helix through utilizing on/off switching of conformational states. I-domain is fused with EF3 and EF4 hands of calmodulin, which then regulates binding affinity to ICAM-1 through interaction with α7 helix, when the EF hands’ natural ligand peptides are present. Currently, mutant switches are being developed to alter EF hand binding specificity which, when bound to new target ligands, will cause an increase in I-domain-ICAM-1 binding affinity in switch molecules. The results of these allosteric regulations highlight the potential of chimeric protein switches for design of environmentally responsive targeting agents and suggest that, through directed evolution, regulated binding to a range of novel targets could be achieved for therapeutic intervention

Ancient Religious Sites as Tools for Sustainable Tourism Development: An Empirical Study in the North of Bali

Bali, a thousand temple island, is an ideal destination for spiritual tourism with magnificent temples containing a variety of unique religious carvings, statues, and ornaments. The beauty of Bali’s religious rituals, social and cultural events, and cultural performances underpin its spiritual tourism. An emerging body of literature has reported spiritual tourism and spiritual tourism is one of the pillars of sustainable tourism development (UNWTO, 2015). Religious tourism is a growing segment with significant economic impacts, however, limited research focuses on developing spiritual tourism and none of this in the North of Bali. This research takes a qualitative case study approach to investigate the potential of ancient religious sites in the North of Bali for religious tourism, and its use as a tool for sustainable development. Data were obtained through observations, documentation and in-depth interviews. This research involved twenty qualitative interviews with Bali tourism stakeholders, including community leaders, spiritual leaders and tourism officers. The research was guided by questions about the history of the temples; their ancient artefacts; the rules of the temple that tourists have to adhere to; how spiritual tourism could be developed in the North of Bali, and; how the local economy might benefit by the development of spiritual tourism. The findings show that the ancient religious sites in the North of Bali can be divided into three clusters based on the geography and the age of the temples: (1) the west cluster, which includes Pulaki Temple, Pemuteran Temple, Melanting Temple, Pabean Temple and KertaKawat Temple; (2) the center cluster which includes Pemulungan Agung Gobleg Temple and Labuan Aji Temple; and (3) the east cluster, which includes Puncak Sinunggal Temple and Ponjok Batu Temple. This study contributes to the emerging field of spiritual tourism by providing the historical aspect of each site, photos documentation, and an explanation of the history and spirit of the destination based on lontar (ancient manuscripts written on palm leaves). Finally, the paper provides recommendations on a strategy to develop spiritual tourism in the North of Bali and improve the livelihoods of local communities