Track-and-Trace Progress Benefits Supply-Chain Security Efforts

COVID-19 vaccines, approved under emergency use authorization, were not required to meet serialization requirements, but they have been properly labelled to meet US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requirements, he says, complete with 2D barcodes with GTIN, lot, and expiry date. The company decided to serialize its Diprovan anesthetic, a workhorse generic product, using radio frequency identification tags containing the four identifiers (2). "If an agent is handling your product on your behalf, they need to leverage GS1 Standards including GTINs for products [and] global location numbers (GLNs) for physical locations, and share data electronically using electronic product code information services (EPCIS) to capture events from manufacturing to serialization [and] capping to shipping.

Learning through radio and television during COVID-19: perspectives of K-12 stakeholders

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted traditional education, leading to the adoption of alternative methods, such as learning through radio and television for K-12 students. Television and radio became popularly adopted platforms to disseminate educational resources during the pandemic in developing countries, such as Nigeria. This study gathers the perspective of K-12 teachers and students during the crisis to find out the effectiveness of the utilized platforms, examine the challenges encountered, and suggest the way forward in case of future occurrence. The concerns-Based Adoption Model (CBAM) guided the study. A qualitative methodology of interpretivism was employed using 20 participants that comprise students and teachers across the five south-western states in Nigeria. Findings show that teachers adapted their lessons to be delivered through broadcasts, while school administrators have worked closely with broadcasters to develop and implement educational content. Students have had mixed experiences, with some finding radio and television engaging, while others face challenges with engagement and adaptability. In essence, the result shows that most of the respondents though acknowledged the effectiveness of the radio and television approach to learning but opined that the lessons are not detailed enough. Furthermore, educational television broadcast is preferable to radio lessons as the visual effect contributes significantly to learning. The study concludes that broadcasters have played a critical role in delivering educational content, partnering with schools, and developing programs that align with the curriculum during the pandemic. The study discussed its implication, followed by limitations, and gave direction for future studies.

Dual-band Air-Ground Radio Performance: Example Flight Test Results

We recently concluded a four-year University Leadership Initiative (ULI) project sponsored by NASA, which investigated multiple aviation communications technology areas aimed at enhancing future aviation safety. These areas were dual-band air-ground communications for air traffic management, detection and interdiction of small drones, and high-capacity terrestrial airport communications networking. In this paper we report on flight test results of our dual-band radios. These radios were designed to use a spectrally efficient multi-carrier modulation, filterbank multicarrier (FBMC), which we had previously shown to improve resilience to high-power distance measurement equipment (DME) adjacent-channel interference, in comparison to existing orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) schemes. In our NASA project, we designed the FBMC radios to extend performance even further, using the following techniques: (i) simultaneous dual-band transmission and reception;(ii) ground station (GS) spatial diversity;(iii) higher-order modulation for a factor of 5 capacity increase over QPSK;(iv) a Doppler-resilient option using a smaller number of subcarriers;and, (v) 5-MHz bandwidth C-band transmissions for an order of magnitude capacity increase over existing 500-kHz channel schemes. To our knowledge, these are novel achievements for civil aviation, and our flight test results attained a technology readiness level (TRL) of 5. In this paper we briefly describe the project history, in which we spent approximately one year working with Boeing to participate in one of their Eco-Demonstrator flight trials, and obtained special temporary authorizations to transmit in both the L-band and C-band, from the FAA, the FCC, and the DoD. When COVID-19 dispersed worldwide, Boeing was no longer able to support us, so we revised our plans and teamed with the South Carolina Civil Air Patrol (SC CAP) to conduct smaller-scale flight tests. This paper summarizes the radio designs and the novel features we employed, as well as analyses, computer simulations, and laboratory tests prior to terrestrial mobile testing, all of which culminated in our successful flight tests. We show example flight test results that serve as proof of concept for all the five aforementioned radio performance enhancements. Example results include signal-to-noise ratio and bit error ratio, diversity gains, and throughput gains through both higher-order modulation and wider bandwidth channels. We also report on some lessons learned, and some ideas for future advancement of our work. © 2023 IEEE.

Integration of RFID strategic value attributes mechanism decision in apparel supply chain: fuzzy AHP-TOPSIS approach

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to identify the radio frequency identification (RFID) strategic value attributes (RFIDSVAs) mechanism selections preferences and also integration of RFID tags with technology coordination tools (IRTWTCTs) alternatives ranking performance decisions in supply chain management (SCM). RFID-enabled techno-economic feasibility decisions are enhancing the SC visibility in apparel supply chains (ASCs). The RFIDSVAs mechanism selections have performed significant agility to strategic competitive advantages, namely, inventory visibility, multi-tags ownership transfer within trusted third party, etc.Design/methodology/approachFuzzy analytical hierarchy process (FAHP) and FAHP-fuzzy Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (FTOPSIS) approaches have been used to evaluate the quantitative assessment of RFIDSVA mechanisms selection decision based on weight priority orders and IRTWTCTs alternatives selection in ASC networks. The comparison of FAHP and FAHP-FTOPSIS approaches to evaluate the integrated framework develop in RFIDSVAs mechanisms and IRTWTCTs alternatives selection decisions in Indian multi-tier ASC networks.FindingsThe result found that the FAHP-FTOPSIS approaches have used to prioritizing the RFIDSVA mechanism selection weights and also identify the IRTWTCTs alternatives ranking preferences order in apparel SCM. The comparison between the FAHP and FAHP-FTOPSIS approach to quantitative assessments from RFIDSVA mechanisms and IRTWTCTs alternatives selection decisions, which enable them SC agility potential across multi-tier visibility in ASC networks. ASC stakeholders can be benefited by techno-economic feasibility decisions, RFID-enabled shop floor activities, multi-tags ownerships transfer in SCs and knowledge-based cryptography tags/items separation in SCs.Research limitations/implicationsThe research work has considered only five RFIDSVA mechanisms and also three integration of RFIDTWTCTs alternatives in multi-tier ASC. The strategic competitive advantages are achieved by RFID-enabled break-even tags price decisions and also techno-economic feasibility decision by contractual design multi-tier SC stakeholder's involvements.Practical implicationsThe pilot project study explores that the quantitative assessment decision has based on RFID-enable techno-economic feasibility in ASCs. Stakeholders can be benefited by inventory control of the financial losses, reducing the inventory inaccuracies and multi-tags ownership transfer within trusted third-party traceability in ASC networks.Originality/valueThis study explores the RFID-enabled apparel SC process and activities visibility (natural fibre's fibre producer, fibre dyeing producer, yarn spinning producer, knitting and finishing producer).

Countering Counterfeiters and Diverters

[...]the anticounterfeiting packaging market is projected to grow at a 7.8% compound annual growth rate to USS189.9 billion (€158 billion) in 2026 (1). [...]in anticipation of a spike in counterfeiting, the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) has launched Operation Stolen Promise 2, to halt the production, distribution, and sale of illicit COVID-19 treatments and vaccines. The fact that the COVID-19 vaccines need to be shipped in stringent cold storage containers with radio frequency identification (RFID) temperature sensors along with specialized transportation methods will make it more difficult for counterfeiters to enter the supply chain, but not impossible." [...]Pitts predicts an increased focus on consumer engagement.

Bridging digital divide during COVID-19 pandemic with the remote learning program on community radio

This article explores the remote learning program conducted by community radios in Indonesia during the COVID-19 pandemic. The program was aimed at solving the increasing digital divide after the Indonesian government had enacted Study from Home policy. While some schools were able to carry out online learning, there were schools which encountered difficulties in doing the same due to digital divide. These schools had to look for alternative remote teaching methods. The research uses a qualitative multi-case research method by limiting research subjects to radio stations that once broadcast the remote learning program from mid 2020 until April 2021. This time limit was chosen with the assumption that these radios were able to provide in-depth information about how learning on community radios bridging the digital divide during the COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia. Researchers analyzed seven community radio stations in seven regions in Indonesia. Data was collected from interviews with community radio managers. The results revealed that the emergence of remote learning program in each community radio stations took place as a response to the obstacles faced by locals in accessing digital facilities such as internet access in blank spots areas, access to technological gadgets, and purchasing internet quota. Some areas might face two or even all these problems. Some remote learning initiatives came from the radio management and some other from local school. The programs initiated by the community radio management collaborated with the schools as main partner. Meanwhile, the program that was initiated by schools was managed independently. © 2023 Asian Media Information and Communication Centre.

Automated Contactless Attendance System

Attendance marking in a classroom is a tedious and time-consuming task. Due to a large number of students present, there is always a possibility of proxy. In recent times, the task of automatic attendance marking has been extensively addressed via the use of fingerprint-based biometric systems, radio frequency identification tags, etc. However, these RFID systems lack the factor of dependability and due to COVID-19 use of fingerprint-based systems is not advisable. Instead of using these conventional methods, this paper presents an automated contactless attendance system that employs facial recognition to record student attendance and a gesture sensor to activate the camera when needed, thereby consuming minimal power. The resultant data is subsequently stored in Google Spreadsheets, and the reports can be viewed on the webpage. Thus, this work intends to make the attendance marking process contactless, efficient and simple. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

Radio and Social Media as A Two-Way Communication Tool in Conflict- and Pandemic-Affected Communities in Burkina Faso

The article draws on the concepts of "felt needs” and "politics of listening” widely used in community development and applies them more broadly to the humanitarian crisis suffered by internally displaced persons in Burkina Faso. It investigates the two-way communication stream between radio journalists and listeners drawing on feedback collected remotely from 153 representatives of internally displaced and host communities in Burkina Faso during COVID-19. It argues that while a voice must be given to marginalised communities, it must also be listened to and acted upon. Rather than radio journalism being a loudspeaker for top-down messaging, the study argues that alternative approaches should be adopted in conflict- and pandemic-affected areas. It finds that a balance is needed between the information that listeners feel they need in their new extreme circumstances and the information that radio journalists, drawing on their expertise, feel would be strategically empowering. © 2023 The Author(s). Co-published by Unisa Press and Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

Ablation for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)

Ablation includes ethanol injection, radiofrequency ablation (RFA), microwave ablation (MWA), etc. Ablation can be potentially curative, minimally invasive and easily repeatable for recurrence. RFA has been the most widely used ablation technique for liver tumors. The new-generation MWA system incorporating antenna cooling and high-power generation has attracted attention. It can create a more predictable ablation zone and a larger ablation volume in a shorter procedure time. Many high-volume centers have introduced new-generation MWA in Japan. However, many studies failed to show that new-generation MWA is superior to RFA in terms of local control and overall survival. In MWA, clinical data have been insufficient compared with those of RFA. There has been keen competition between surgical resection and ablation for almost 40 years since the era of ethanol injection. In 2021, SURF trial revealed that overall survival and recurrence-free survival were not significantly different between surgical resection and RFA. SURF trial was a multicenter randomized controlled trial in which 49 major centers in Japan enrolled patients with good hepatic function (Child-Pugh scores <= 7) and primary HCC of largest diameter <= 3 cm, and <= 3 nodules during the 6-year period of 2009-2015. The registered patients were followed for at least 5 years. As the result of SURF trial and other comparative studies, the revised Japanese clinical practice guidelines in 2021 treats hepatic resection and ablation equally for patients with <= 3 lesions, <= 3 cm in diameter. Recently, the combination of systemic and locoregional therapies has been attracting much attention. Systemic therapy using molecular targeted agents or immune checkpoint inhibitors is used for advanced HCC which cannot be treated by surgery or ablation. On the other hand, some locoregional therapies, such as hepatectomy and ablation, are potentially curative, but they cannot be indicated for advanced HCC. Combination of both therapies is an approach to improve the prognosis of advanced HCC, which is not indicated for curative treatment. Systemic therapy is used to shrink the tumor, and then locoregional therapies are performed to eradicate it. The combination may build a new strategy for advanced HCC. Ablation is highly operator-dependent. The skills and outcomes are very different from operator to operator. Before the pandemic of COVID-19, we held domestic and international training programs for intermediate and advanced doctors and hands-on seminars for young doctors. These were activities to exchange knowledge and experience and standardize the procedure. During the pandemic, we cannot get together. Since August 2020, we have conducted Japan Ablation Webinar 8 times with a total of 1,566 participants. We have also conducted International Ablation Webinar 4 times with a total of 1,272 participated doctors. Education is important to acquire skills and knowledge for successful ablation. We have established Japan Academy of Tumor Ablation (JATA) this year. There are two triggers. One is that SURF trial revealed that there is no difference between hepatectomy and ablation. The other is that ablation for lung, bone and soft tissue and kidney cancers has become reimbursed with health insurance since this September.

Are smart contracts too smart for Supply Chain 4.0? A blockchain framework to mitigate challenges: IMS

PurposeSmart contracts are self-executing computer programmes that have the potential to be used in several applications instead of traditional written contracts. With the recent rise of smart systems (e.g. Internet of things) and digital platforms (e.g. blockchain), smart contracts are gaining high interest in both business and academia. In this work, a framework for smart contracts was proposed with using reputation as the system currency, and conducts currency mining through fulfilling the physical commitments that are agreed upon.Design/methodology/approachA game theory model is developed to represent the proposed system, and then a system dynamics simulator is used to check the response of the blockchain with different sizes.FindingsThe numerical results showed that the proposed system could identify the takeover attacks and protect the blockchain from being controlled by an outsider. Another important finding is that careful setting of the maximum currency amount can improve the scalability of the blockchain and prevent the currency inflation.Research limitations/implicationsThis work is proposed as a conceptual framework for supply chain 4.0. Future work will be dedicated to implement and experiment the proposed framework for other characteristics that may be encountered in the context of supply chain 4.0, such as different suppliers' tiers, different customer typologies and smart logistics applications, which may reveal other challenges and provide additional interesting insights.Practical implicationsBy using the proposed framework, smart contracts and blockchains can be implemented to handle many issues in the context of operations and supply chain 4.0, especially in times of turbulence such as the COVID-19 global pandemic crisis.Originality/valueThis work emphasizes that smart contracts are not too smart to be applied in the context of supply chain 4.0. The proposed framework of smart contracts is expected to serve supply chain 4.0 by automating the knowledge work and enabling scenario planning through the game theory model. It will also improve online transparency and order processing in real-time through secured multitier connectivity. This can be applied in global supply chain functions backed with digitization, notably during the time of the pandemic, in which e-commerce and online shopping have changed the rules of the game.

The promotion of tourism on radio waves

Consumers in tourism are increasingly demanding, looking to base their travel decision-making on relevant and credible tourist information. Media are an important vehicle for information and communication and may positively or negatively influence the image that the potential consumer has of a tourist destination or service. In recent years, new media have gained significant prominence in terms of increasing use by consumers and tourism organizations;however, traditional media such as radio continue to play an important role, not only through the dissemination of news but also through the diversity of information they convey about places, communities, events, and cultural heritage. The aim of this chapter is to understand the role radio plays in the transmission of sound spaces within tourist content. The results of the study indicate that in Portugal there are programmes on public radio characterized by informative and/or promotional tourism purposes and a prevailing focus on cultural heritage. This study will also point out how radio's potential is not being fully exploited by tourism markets, particularly in terms of sound capture and on-the-spot contact with tourism agents. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021.

Role of Coronavirus Outbreak on Adoption of Electronic Education in New Bussa, Niger State, Nigeria

This study was carried out in New Bussa, Niger state, Nigeria to test the infallibility of the contention that coronavirus outbreak and suspension of physical educational services that accompanies its outbreak will positively or negatively affect demand for and adoption of electronic education (e-education) by students of various educational institutions in Nigeria. The study adopted an online survey made available via Google form to residents of the study area. Furthermore the online survey was accompanied by personal interview of school administrators and tertiary institution students. The survey questionnaire was made accessible to participants that were encouraged to fill the questionnaire online between 18th of October and 10th of November, 2020. The data retrieved were analysed using descriptive statistics and t-test. It was found that demand for and adoption of e-education through software resources was not significantly affected by coronavirus outbreak (μduring=3.90, μbefore=3.72, p>0.05), while e-education through radio and television broadcast was found to be significantly affected by coronavirus outbreak (μduring=4.83, μbefore=4.53, p<0.05). Level of income (as such, high cost of data) was found to have effect on demand for and adoption of e-education software resources. Furthermore, social media channels and generalised software applications (with reduced or no cost of data) were found to be the most adopted software resources at the expense of proprietary e-education software resources. It is therefore recommended that Nigerian government should find a way to reduce internet access cost to enable effective adoption of electronic education through mobile and website applications.

QACM: Quality Aware Crowd Sensing in Mobile Computing

Mobile computing is one of the significant opportunities that can be used for various practical applications in numerous fields in real life. Due to inherent characteristics of ubiquitous computing, devices can gather numerous types of data that led to innovative applications in many fields with a unique emerging prototype known as Crowd sensing. Here, the involvement of people is one of the important features and their mobility provides an exclusive opportunity to collect and transmit the data over a substantial geographical area. Thus, we put forward novel idea about Quality of Information (QOI) with unique parameters with opportunistic uniqueness of people's mobility in terms of sensing and transmission. Additionally, we propose some of the viable improved ideas about the competent opportunistic data collection through efficient techniques. This work also considered some of the open issues mentioned by previous related works.

Radio Advertising in Italy at the Time of the Pandemic

The article focuses on a specific form of advertising – radio advertising – at a time when it was called upon to change itself, namely during the first phase of the Coronavirus pandemic. Taking into consideration a corpus of radio advertisements broadcast during the programme La Zanzara, on air on Radio24, the main rhetorical, morpho-syntactic and lexical aspects are considered. The linguistic profile that emerges is not particularly lively, nor do the adverts show that they have fully adapted to the pandemic. Copyright (©) 2022 Giuseppe Sergio

Using IoT-Enabled RFID Smart Cards in an Indoor People-Movement Tracking System with Risk Assessment

As the COVID-19 pandemic ravaged the planet at a standstill, remote employment seemed inescapable. Still, for some businesses that rely on the on-site presence of employees, this was a lethal blow. As time passed, restrictions got looser and allowed people to strike a balance between on-site and remote work. Thus, tracking people's indoor movements for purposes involving activity inference, security, and contact tracing is more crucial than ever before. This research explores the applicability of (Radio Frequency Identification) RFID contactless smart cards in tracking people's movement within an enclosed establishment by building a proof-of-concept prototype that allows the mentioned purposes. Furthermore, the system underwent multiple test phases to verify that the system meets the functional and non-functional requirements listed to ensure the system's operational success. Consequently, the test results prove that: 1) the system is behaving as intended;2) the system is secure from known high-risk vulnerabilities;and 3) the system satisfies user requirements and standards, thus fulfilling the functional and non-functional requirements for a human-tracking movement system. © 2023 by the authors.

Digital transformation for shipping container terminals using automated container code recognition

Keywords: Character isolation Character recognition Container codes recognition Histogram of oriented gradients Support vector machine Due to the sweeping waves of global industry development, the number of containers passing through terminal ports increases every day. [...]it is essential to automate the identification process for the container codes to replace the manual identification for more efficient logistics and safer workplace. [...]this requires high labor costs and leads to human errors due to fatigue from repetitive work. [...]the repeated manual identification process at terminal ports has hindered us from moving forward to a more efficient logistics system. [...]SVMs are deployed to determine isolated characters.

Managing Events: The IoT Way

The concept of IoT in the current world where speed, accuracy and efficiency are of a high importance, can do wonders if implemented in a structured manner, into a machine, project, hardware, idea which can improve technology. So, IoT has its application in the Events. Events can be of many types and there is a need of man power to handle the events efficiently. People gather in huge numbers if there is a political event, whereas there is limited audience in a cultural show or less people in a marriage function. Any of such events, if handled smartly, can ease the tasks of humans, as well as provide speed and accuracy and ensure proper event management and organization. This project demonstrates a hardware for the entry-exit of people for any event, through the technology of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi), and main heart as ESP 8266 Controller. The software simulation in Cisco Packet Tracer shows a general event organization related to a hotel or government-based area, where different sections are integrated to control and handle the event in a smart way. The use of RFID indicates the contactless operation for monitoring the attendee entry-exit, due to the current COVID-19 protocols. So, such systems are safe and smart to execute. © 2022 IEEE.

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on blood services operations: Korean experience

The coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) pandemic had a profound impact on blood services operations in Korea. Blood collection was affected due to decrease in donor availability caused by avoidance of public places, social distancing policies, and cancellation of blood drives. The negative impact on blood collection was more pronounced with the COVID-19 pandemic than with other outbreaks experienced previously such as the influenza (H1N1) outbreak or the Middle East respiratory virus (MERS) pandemic. To cope with the blood shortage, campaigns to appeal for blood donation, raise public awareness on the importance of blood donation and gain donor's confidence in safe blood donation were implemented using mass communication media such as TV and radio broadcasting as well as postings on various social media platforms. Upon Korean Red Cross Blood Services's (KRCBS) request, the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MoHW) approved the relaxation of the geographical restrictions regarding indigenous malaria thus enabling collection of more than 23,000 units of whole blood. To mitigate even a theoretical risk of transfusion-transmission of SARS-CoV-2 via blood donation from pre-symptomatic COVID-19 donors, the KRCBS received the data on COVID-19 identified cases from the Korean Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) from the early get-go of the pandemic for cross referencing to donors for further recipient investigation and recall of blood products not transfused. Communication with donors, staff members, national health authorities, hospital customers and other stakeholders was and remains of utmost importance to respond to this unprecedented situation which is still ongoing.Copyright © Annals of Blood. All rights reserved.

Impact of mass media on the population as a precautionary prevention from COVID-19 in Iraq

The aim of this study was to identify the impact of both traditional mass media and social digital media on the population to prevent the Corona virus disease-19 (COVID-19). Three hundred twenty participants were included. A questionnaire was prepared consisting of socio-demographic characteristics and the effect of traditional mass media and mobile digital media on the population. The sources used for information included TV (72.8 %), Facebook (71.2 %), health professionals (64.4 %), Instagram (28.1 %), Twitter (16.8 %), Radio (14.4 %) and mobile Apps (Viber and WhatsApp being 30.9 %). Social Media could be blamed for aiding the spread of stress and hysteria among people.Copyright © 2021 Health Biotechnology And Biopharma. All Rights Reserved.