Metropolitan Housing Development in Urban Fringe Areas-A Case Study of Three Metropolitan Cities of South Africa: Johannesburg, Ekurhuleni and Tshwane

Purpose:The metropolitan cities of Johannesburg,Ekurhuleni and Tshwane play an important role in the economy of the Gauteng province in South Africa.The region constitutes to 22.4 percent of the total population of South Africa and has a strong presence and contributes in areas of manufacturing sector,financial and business services,retail and wholesale trade,etc.The rapid urban population,increase in the informal settlements and socio-economic opportunities has resulted in considerable urban sprawl in and around the urban fringe areas of these metropolitan cities.The urban fringe areas of these metros often come under the influence of rapid urbanization process and pressures.Coupled with the economical and potential land dynamics and lack of priority of spatial development guidelines,these areas attract rapid and haphazard development from communities and developers.Research Design/Methodology:This research is based on a qualitative approach through a comprehensive literature review that included content analysis of key documents on housing sector such as IDPs(Integrated Development Plans),Municipal Annual Reports,Growth Development Strategies,and among other sectoral documents on housing sector.Some of the key priority issues considered in the housing sector included:eradication of housing backlogs,spatial restructuring of housing,provision of choice in terms of location,tenure and housing typology.Findings:The current paper discusses the approaches of metropolitan housing development processes in three metropolitan cities of South Africa from Gauteng region,namely:Johannesburg,Ekurhuleni and Tshwane.The paper discusses the existing housing sectoral scenario along with the fringe areas in three cities with focus on:formal and informal settlements,housing segregation and the backlogs,current institutional arrangements,role of public private participation,and scope for alternate mechanisms.The paper concludes in discussion on sustainable development options for housing development in urban fringe areas.

Pro-Environmental Civic Participation in the USA: The Effects of Social Media, Pro-Environmental Lifestyle and Climate Experiences

This study addresses the link between social media use and pro-environmental civic participation considering the moderating effect of social media affordances (public realm) on one hand, and lifestyle behaviors and climate change experiences (personal realm) on the other. We combine communication theory and behavioral models and using a sample of USA individuals (N = 7225) based on the American Trends Panel to predict variations in pro-environmental behavior. We show that social networks rather than information are more effective in predicting pro-environmental behavior. Moreover, a pro-environmental lifestyle as well as climate change experiences at the community level increase the likelihood for pro-environmental participation. However, affordances related to socioeconomic variations generate variations to pro-environmental civic participation. We conclude that in order to capture the depth of pro-environmental civic participation, it is necessary to theoretically and empirically bridge between private and public expressions of pro-environmental awareness.

Cloud Computing: Purpose and Future

Cloud computing is the new norm within business entities as businesses try to keep up with technological advancements and user needs. The concept is defined as a computing environment allowing for remote outsourcing of storage and computing resources. A hybrid cloud environment is an excellent example of cloud computing. Specifically, the hybrid system provides organizations with increased scalability and control over their data and support for a remote workforce. However, hybrid cloud systems are expensive as organizations operate different infrastructures while introducing complexity to the organization’s activities. Data security is critical among the most vital concerns that have resulted from the use of cloud computing, thus, affecting the rate of user adoption and acceptance. This article, borrowing from the hybrid cloud computing system, recommends combining traditional and modern data security systems. Traditional data security systems have proven effective in their respective roles, with the main challenge arising from their recognition of context and connectivity. Therefore, integrating traditional and modern designs is recommended to enhance effectiveness, context, connectivity, and efficiency.

Can a polycentric structure affect travel behaviour?A comparison of Melbourne, Australia and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

This study models the impact of the shift from a monocentric private-car-oriented city to polycentric public-transport-oriented city. Metropolitan areas have suffered traffic problems in particular increase in travel time and travel distance. Urban expansion, population growth and road network development have led to urban sprawl in monocentric cities. In many monocentric cities, travel time and distance has steadily increased and is only expected to increase in the future. Excessive travel leads to several problems such as air pollution, noise, congestion, reduction in productive time, greenhouse emissions, and increased stress and accident rates. This study examines the interaction of land use and travel. A model was developed and calibrated to Melbourne and Riyadh conditions and used for scenario analysis. This model included two parts： a spatial model and a transport model. The scenario analysis included variations of residential and activity distribution, as well as conditions of public transport service.

The Relationship between College Graduate’s Dual Self-Consciousness and Job Search Clarity: The Mediating Role of Perceived Stress

The aim of the study was to explore the relationship between college graduates’dual self-consciousness,job search clarity and perceived stress,and reveal the mediating role of perceived stress between dual self-consciousness and job search clarity.In this study,467 college graduates were investigated using the Dual Self-Consciousness Scale,Job Search Clarity Scale,and Perceived Stress Scale.After controlling for gender,age,and region,the results revealed that:(1)private self-consciousness has a significant positive predictive effect on job search clarity;(2)perceived stress has a significant negative predictive effect on job search clarity;(3)perceived stress plays partial mediation effects between private self-consciousness and job search clarity;(4)perceived stress plays complete mediation effects between public self-consciousness and job search clarity;(5)perceived stress has suppressing effects between public self-consciousness and job search clarity.

Motivations and performance of public to private transactions： An international study

This article deals with the motivations and the different sources of value from public to private transactions in Europe, USA and Asia from 2000 to 2007. We determine eight main motivations （tax savings, incentive realignment, control, free cash flow, growth of prospects, transaction costs, takeover defence and undervaluation）. Then, we evaluate the shareholder wealth by measuring the offered premiums and the CAAR （cumulative average abnormal return）. Finally, we analyse the impact of public to private to the wealth shareholder. The main sources for firms from going private are incentive realignment, free cash flow （mostly for Asia）, the economy of cost transaction and undervaluation. Furthermore, taxation benefit is a source of wealth effects for Asia and family blockholder （for the control hypothesis） is significant for Europe. Premiums and CAAR are the most important for the USA and Asia. The main observation that we have made is that Asia gets the same behavior as the USA.

Food safety regulatory systems in Europe and China:A study of how co-regulation can improve regulatory effectiveness

Food safety has received a great deal of attention in both developed and developing countries in recent years. In China, the numerous food scandals and scares that have struck over the past decade have spurred significant food safety regulatory reform, which has been increasingly oriented towards the public-private partnership model adopted by the Europe Union＇s （EU） food safety regulatory system. This paper analyzes the development of both the EU＇s and China＇s food safety regu- latory systems, identifies the current challenges for China and additionally considers the role of public-private partnership. The success of co-regulation in the food regulatory system would bring significant benefits and opportunities for China. Finally, this paper recommends additional measures like training and grants to improve the private＇s sector effectiveness in co-regulating China＇s food safety issues.

Changes of Wage Structures in Chinese Public and Private Sectors： 1995-2007

Using CHIP （Chinese Household Income Project Survey） data and the sample selection bias corrected wage function model, this paper estimated changes in wage structure in China by ownership types （SOEs, COEs, FEs, and PEs） in 1995 and 2007. The major conclusions are as follows. First, effects of education on wage levels in SOEs and FEs become greater, while education effects decrease in SOEs and PEs under economic transition periods; firm-specific human capital becomes more important in the wage determination mechanism along with market-oriented reforms in SOEs, PEs, and FEs; age effect decreases in SOEs and COEs, but it becomes greater in PEs and FEs. Second, there exist wage structure differences between sectors by wage distributions. For example, in 2007, in SOEs, education return rates are higher for the low-wage and middle-wage groups, and the effect is the highest at the 40th percentile. However in COEs and FEs, education return rates are higher for the high-wage groups, and the effect is the highest at the 70th percentile in COEs and at the 70th percentile in FEs. Tenure effects are greater in the middle-wage groups （40th-80th） in SOEs, COEs, and FEs, and age effects are greater in the low-wage groups （5th-30th） in SOEs, FEs, and PEs.

Properties of GSW and Their Applications

In CRYPTO' 13,Gentry et al.proposed a fully homomorphic encryption scheme,called GSW.We find that the scheme has three special properties,which are not sufficiently recognized and applied in current literatures.Property 1:Noise grows asymmetrically in multiplication.Property 2:Small noise in MultConst(C,α).Property 3:Fixed noise bound when a is a power of 2 in MultConst(C,α).We made use of property 1 to the Yi's private searching on streaming data protocol,called YBVX.Compared with YBVX,the four mainly aspects of efficiency in our protocol had been improved,the computation complexity of the sever decreased from O(ml^2 +μ)multi.+O(ml^2 +μ)add.+O(μd) enc.+O(μ)ADD.to O(m+μ)multi.+O(m+μ)add.+O(μd)enc.+O(μ) ADD;the space complexity decreased from O(ml^2+μd) to O(m+μd);the communication complexity decreased from O(ml)+O(d|D|k) to O(m)+O(d|D|k);the computation complexity of the client decreased from O(ml)dec.+O(d|D|) enc to O(m)dec.+O(d|D|)enc.what's more,the above three properties can have a variety of applications,ranging from improving the property of cryptographic prototypes to protocol building.

Comparative study of China and USA public private partnerships in public transportation

As an effective alternative approach to provide goods and services for public infrastructure, the Public Private Partnership （PPP） has been studied extensively over the past few decades. On a global scale, China and the United States have developed cooperation on PPP projects in various areas. To perform a comparative study, this paper analyzes how PPP projects work in both countries for public transportation. The basic features, types, and phases of PPPs in public transportation are introduced first, fol- lowed by a thorough discussion on their advantages and challenges. This paper adopts a case study method to analyze the achievements and problems of PPP projects in both countries and then proposes important findings and suggestions for future research.

Financing of sanitation services in the slums of Kampala and Dar es Salaam

This paper presents an assessment of the extent and conditions under which private financing can be a realistic approach for sanitation in slums. It is based on a cross-sectional study comparing two slum communities in East Africa, where 250 households from Bwaise III in Kampala, Uganda and 379 households from Temeke in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania were interviewed in 2010. Also, 10 key-informant interviews and 8 focus group discussions were conducted in addition to field observations. Findings show that majority (85%) of households used unimproved, private-shared pit latrines. These privately owned latrines had many structural shortfalls besides poor operation and maintenance while the public latrines provided by third-party were structurally sound but were under-utilized in residential slum neighorhoods. This is attributed to the presence free or at least cheaper alternatives which the community members preferred instead of paying per-visit user-fees. For the few who were willing to pay, willingness to pay was positively associated with the presence of a facility User committee and having been sensitized. In this context, a combination of these factors made cost recovery as well as operation and maintenance very minimal. The poor status of privately owned shared pit latrines matched the limited income levels of households. Similarly, cost recovery for public facilities was dependent on the number of users who were willing to pay: the more the users, the more the cost recovery. A combination of private and public financing is thus necessary to fund different but complementary aspects of sanitation in slums.

Day of Surgery Cancellation in Urology at a Public Tertiary Hospital and a Private Specialist Hospital

Background: There is a high variability in the reasons for cancellation of elective urological surgery cases. Case cancellation rate is expected to be high in the Public Health System with perceived inefficiencies compared to private facilities in the same developing economy. Aims and Objectives: This comparative analysis was to determine the case cancellation rate and the reasons for cancellation of elective urological surgeries in a public tertiary hospital and a private specialist hospital in Accra. This is intended to form a basis for interventions aimed at reducing the case cancellation rate. Methods: This was a retrospective analysis of prospectively collected data on Day of Surgery cancelled elective urological cases from September 2014 to October 2015 at the urology unit of the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH), a public Tertiary Hospital and the Trust Specialist Hospital (TSH), a privately managed hospital in Accra. The reasons for case cancellation were categorized into structural factors, patient factors and process factors. Results: There was no significant difference between the case cancellation rate for elective urological cases at KBTH and the TSH which were 20.8% and 17.1% respectively (p = 0.317). For KBTH, the reasons for cancellation of elective urological cases were due to structural factors in 11/117 (9.4%), patient factors in 15/117 (12.8%) and process factors in 91/117 (77.8%) which was due mainly to surgery running late. At the TSH, the reasons were due to structural factors in 1/29 (3.4%), patient factors in 27/29 (93.1%) mainly due to patient not turning up and process factors in 1/29 (3.4%). Conclusion: The case cancellation rate of elective urological surgeries in both the Public Tertiary Hospital and the Private Specialist Hospital were high with no significant difference between the two. However, in the Public Tertiary Hospital, process factors predominated as the cause of these cancellations while patient factors were the predominant cause in the privately managed facility. Exposure of theater managers in public facilities to management practices in privately run facilities should be encouraged to help improve the efficiency of the public facilities.

E2E KEEP: End to End Key Exchange and Encryption Protocol for Accelerated Satellite Networks

Accelerating methods are used to enhance TCP performance over satellite links by employing Performance Enhancement Proxies (PEPs). However, providing a secure connection through the PEPs seems to be impossible. In this paper an appropriate method is proposed in order to provide an accelerated secure E2E connection. We show an efficient secure three-party protocol, based on public key infrastructure (PKI), which provides security against spiteful adversaries. Our construction is based on applying asymmetric cryptography techniques to the original IKE protocol. Security protocols use cryptography to set up private communication channels on an insecure network. Many protocols contain flaws, and because security goals are seldom specified in detail, we cannot be certain what constitute a flaw. Proofing security properties is essential for the development of secure protocol. We give a logic analysis of the proposed protocol with the BAN-logic and discuss the security of the protocol. The result indicates that the protocol is correct and satisfies the security requirements of Internet key exchange. Based on the results of this preliminary analysis, we have implemented a prototype of our security protocol and evaluated its performance and checked safety properties of security protocol, and the results show that the protocol is robust and safe against major security threats.

Investigation of Factors Affecting Preparedness of Reporting Adverse Drug Reactions among Nurses in Public and Private Hospitals in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania

The current study assessed preparedness among nurses about reporting adverse drug reactions in public and private hospitals. Nurses in hospitals are among health providers very close to patients and are involved in the process of administering medications especially to inpatients. A cross sectional study was conducted among nurses in public and private hospitals in Dar es Salaam city in Tanzania to compare their preparedness on reporting adverse drug reactions (ADRs). A total of 384 nurses were involved in this study, of which 50% were drawn from public hospitals and 50% from private hospitals. Majority of respondents (75.25%) in public and 84.73% in private hospitals said they have not received any training about reporting ADRs. Of the few trained nurses, 85.43% and 96.55%, in public and private hospitals, respectively, said they have been trained in a seminar only once, after they started working as nurses. Respondents in public (19.17%) and private (32.8%) hospitals reported to stock ADRS forms (Yellow cards). Less than 50% of respondents agreed to have access to reference materials such as a text books named “Good Dispensing Practice” and a “List of Registered Medicines”. Further results showed more than two third of all respondents in private (74.25%) and public (73.5%) hospitals reported that lack of training affects the process of reporting ADRs in terms of ability and tendency. In this study we found training, availability of Yellow cards and presence of a focal person are among important contributing factors to preparedness of reporting ADRs among nurses in public and private hospitals.

A Modified and Secured RSA Public Key Cryptosystem Based on “n” Prime Numbers

Cryptography is the study that provides security service. It concerns with confidentiality, integrity, and authentication. Public key cryptography provides an enormous revolution in the field of the cryptosystem. It uses two different keys where keys are related in such a way that, the public key can use to encrypt the message and private key can be used to decrypt the message. This paper proposed an enhanced and modified approach of RSA cryptosystem based on “n” distinct prime number. This existence of “n” prime number increases the difficulty of the factoring of the variable “N” which increases the complexity of the algorithm. In this approach, two different public key and private key generated from the large factor of the variable “N” and perform a double encryption-decryption operation which affords more security. Experiment on a set of a random number provided that the key generation time, analysis of variable “N”, encryption and decryption will take a long time compared to traditional RSA. Thus, this approach is more efficient, highly secured and not easily breakable.

Performance and capital structure of IPOs in Pakistan from 2000 to 2015

Background:When a privately owned firm or privatized government entity raises capital by selling its stocks for the first time to general public,is known as initial public offering(IPO).The underpricing phenomenon and ownership structure are important characteristics of IPO process that significantly affect the short-run and long-run performance of private firm and privitized entity.This study compares the short-and long-run performance,and factors affecting these performances for both private IPOs and privatized IPOs in Pakistan.It further investigates the relationship between capital structor and initial underpricing for both group of IPOs.Methods:Event study methodology is used to compares short-and long-run performance spanning from March 2000 to June 2015 of two categories of IPOs issued in the Karachi Stock Exchange(KSE).Multivariate regression analysis is applied to examine the factors that affect the short-run and long-run performance as well as for investigating the relationship betwen underpricing and ownership structure for both group of IPOs.Results:We find that both categories outperform in IPOs at which they are offered to investors on first day of trading,although differences in mean are insignificant.Over a five-year buy-and hold strategy,privatizing IPOs outperform and private IPOs underperform returns on the benchmark KSE 100 Stock Index.The results reveal that the size of the private firm or government entity,aftermarket risk of IPOs,and subscription ratio are significantly associated with the underpricing of IPO shares brought to market.First-day returns,market volatility and retained ownership are associated with higher five-year performance.We find that the concentration of ownership is similar,for both categories of IPOs;and significantly positive related to underpricing.The size of the firm/entity,aftermarket risk,return on assets and subscription ratio also affect ownership concentration.Conclusions:Same level of underpricing in both private and privatized IPOs reveals that Pakistan’s government is committed to its privatization policies as they developed capital markets by underpricing of IPOs.To make dispersion in ownership structure and to involve more small investors,the regulatory authorities such as Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan(SECP are required to take some steps to minimize concentration in ownership structure).There is a need of some specific range of underpricing by issuers and SECP.

Impact of Rapid Urbanization and Changing Housing Patterns on Urban Open Public Spaces of Amman, Jordan: A GIS and RS Perspective

Rapid urbanization and population growth of the Amman Area were combined with land resource degradation when the city was heading for mounting urbanization from the early 1950s. The deterioration of natural resources and green areas, was coupled with the creation of different urban public open spaces in the city. The transformation from large single-family houses to dense residential apartments was associated with social and behavioral changes among the inhabitants living in the dense apartments. Consequently, a large private sector has been developed to provide public and social spaces. Photo-interpretation and satellite images were used to map and characterize land use/cover changes have been occurred in the Amman area between 1953 and 2017. Maximum Likelihood Classification method was employed to identify land use/cover changes between 1986 and 20017, and GIS was utilized also to map examples of the recently emerged socio-economic open spaces. Excessive urban development in the last two decades, and the adoption of neo-liberal privatization policies by the government, enhanced social stratification and residential segregation. So, instead of encouraging outdoor activity and social interaction among all groups of Amman residents, the freedom of accessibility to major open spaces has been restricted within the same urban fabric, thus, the “two Ammans” paradigm, a “tale of two cities”, has been recently acknowledged.

Theory of Risk in Conventional Public Finance and Islamic Finance

The research objective of the article is to extend the theoretical basis of risk management in the public and Islamic finance. The author hypothesizes that the existing theories of finance, the public choice theory, and the concept of New Public Management create insufficient conditions for risk management in the public finance sector entities and associated international structures of public-private partnership. As shown by the experience of recent years, the theory of financial markets as regards its operators has not yet developed a widely accepted model of risk management. In addition, the public choice theory and the concept of New Public Management do not fully illustrate the essence of risk management in the public sector, especially in capital structures where a private entity （Islamic investor） partners a public one. In Islamic finance, Sharia complaint instruments cannot be based on gharar, which is usually translated as risk, deception, delusion, and excessive uncertainty. The research methods mostly used in the article are analysis and critique of scientific literature with respect to risk of operation of public entities and risk in Islamic finance as well as public-private partnerships. The basic conclusion is that the adopted interpretations of risk in selected theories of conventional finance and the foundations of Islamic economy indicate that joint projects related to infrastructure are feasible.

From Raccontami to I Medici, From Karol to Luisa Spagnoli： Narrative Formats and Collective Memory in Italian Fiction

This paper rethinks critically the Italian serial production of fiction, in recent years, placing it in relation to the dynamics of collective memory. The analysis starts from two Italian fiction： Raccontami, the history of a family returns the great changes of the 60s＇; I Medici dedicated to the biography of the great Florentine Renaissance banker family, exemplified by similar international productions （including the Borgia） and subject to strong promotion by Rai 1. Around these two lines of address is also the analysis of some miniseries among these biopics dedicated to figures of the national imagination such as pontiffs, doctors, partisans, entrepreneurs. If the twentieth century was defined as the ＂century of testimony＂ this is also due to the massive and pervasive presence of media that are often at the center of the processes of transformation and transition of the public and cultural life of societies. Television, in particular, confirms itself as the real, symbolic and rhetorical place in which historical events unfold, to be, on some occasions, a substitute simulacrum. Fiction, as a form of popular narrative and reworking, is an intermediary and central element in the processes of building the social imagery and collective memory, responding to the need for a typical tale of every society.

Implementation of Tuberculosis and Human Immune-Deficiency Virus Programs Collaborative Services in Public-Private Mix Direct Observed Therapy Short Course Facilities in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: Cross Sectional Facility Based Mixed Method

Background: Ethiopia is one of the countries with the highest Human Immune-deficiency Virus (HIV) and Tuberculosis (TB) infection rates in the world. To improve TB/HIV Programs outcomes through Public Private Partnership Mix (PPM) approach was in place since 2006. But the status of its implementation has never been assessed. Methods: In this cross sectional study we employed mixed methods;we interviewed 272 tuberculosis patients, reviewed their records, and facilitated six in-depth interviews and four focus group discussions. The survey was conducted from January through March 2014 in Addis Ababa. Result: Among the interviewees 51.5% were males and the mean age was (32.7 ± SD 12.4) years. PPM facilities were offering HIV counseling for all TB patients;whereas 87.5% of TB patients have received HIV testing services. The TB/HIV co-infection rate was 45.4%. And only 72.2% TB/HIV patients were enrolled into chronic disease care services, 64.8% were put on Cotrimoxazol Preventive Therapy (CPT) and 50% were put on standard highly active anti-retro viral therapy (HAART) services. All PPM facilities don’t have IPT (Isoniazid Prophylaxis Therapy). The TB/HIV collaborative services strongly linked with the public health sector which was documented by developing inclusive work plan which create access to supplies and conducting joint supportive supervisions. However, the majorities of PPM facilities don’t have Multi-Disciplinary Team and lacks some essential supplies. The predictor for uptake of CPT were: being females TB patients was 86% lower than their counter part males (AOR = 0.14;95% CI = 0.04 - 0.92 P = 0.002), patients who has attended their TB/HIV care at private for the profit facilities were 84% lower than those attend in private not for profit facilities (AOR = 0.16;95% CI = 0.49 - 0.55, P = 0.003). Conclusions: The TB/HIV collaborative services at program level are stronger but only half of patients didn’t get the comprehensive TB/HIV collaborative services to achieve recommended quality of care. Strengthening the services and ensuring the availability of essential supplies was highly recommended.