Knowledge and awareness of infection control practices among nursing professionals:A cross-sectional survey from South Asia and the Middle East

BACKGROUND The proficiency of nursing professionals in the infection prevention and control(IPC)practices is a core component of the strategy to mitigate the challenge of healthcare associated infections.AIM To test knowledge of nurses working in intensive care units(ICU)in South Asia and Middle East countries on IPC practices.METHODS An online self-assessment questionnaire based on various aspects of IPC practices was conducted among nurses over three weeks.RESULTS A total of 1333 nurses from 13 countries completed the survey.The average score was 72.8%and 36%of nurses were proficient(mean score>80%).43%and 68.3%of respondents were from government and teaching hospitals,respectively.79.2%of respondents worked in<25 bedded ICUs and 46.5%in closed ICUs.Statistically,a significant association was found between the knowledge and expertise of nurses,the country’s per-capita income,type of hospitals,accreditation and teaching status of hospitals and type of ICUs.Working in high-and upper-middleincome countries(β=4.89,95%CI:3.55 to 6.22)was positively associated,and the teaching status of the hospital(β=-4.58,95%CI:-6.81 to-2.36)was negatively associated with the knowledge score among respondents.CONCLUSION There is considerable variation in knowledge among nurses working in ICU.Factors like income status of countries,public vs private and teaching status of hospitals and experience are independently associated with nurses’knowledge of IPC practices.

Simulation of the role of emphasis on scheduling in the optimal incentive scheme for marine engineering employee’s routine job and information security compliance

In the organizational context of marine engineering,employee individual often prefers to concentrate herself to the day-to-day routine job,but to shirk the responsibilities of the Information Security Policies(ISPs)compliance,after she has been delegated by the employer to perform the two different tasks in the same time period.This would lead to negative influences on the security of marine information systems and the employee’s routine job performance.In view of the task structures of employee’s routine job and marine ISPs compliance,the variables of emphasis on scheduling are incorporated into a multi-task principal-agent model to explore the optimal incentive scheme to motivate and control the employees to select appropriate effort levels for conducting the two highly structured tasks.The role of emphasis on scheduling on the incentive intensities for the two tasks have been clarified through modeling and simulation,and the corresponding incentive tactics are suggested.The new two-task incentive scheme is expected to provide useful insight for understanding and controlling marine engineering employee’s routine job and ISPs compliance behavior.

Central Bank Digital Currencies and Their Use by Tax Administrations

Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) may offer transformativeopportunities for tax policy and administration, particularly if features like program-mability and enhanced transparency are implemented. Automating fiscal transferscould streamline government payments and reduce administrative burdens, whileprogrammable tax enforcement could simplify compliance and recovery processes.Limited privacy capabilities may help address tax evasion and llicit financial flowsby creating a transparent and traceable audit trail. However, implementing CBDCsinvolves balancing these benefits with challenges such as privacy protection anddata security. Wide adoption requires a secure and trusted digital currency system that safeguards personal and financial information, preventing unauthorized access and cyberat-tacks. Additionally, CBDCS present risks like disintermediation and“digital dollarization”, whichrequires careful design to mitigate. Cross-border use of CBDCS could reduce transaction costsand promote economic integration among Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) jurisdictions, but coordi-nation on standards is essential to prevent regulatory competition. CBDCs have the potential toreshape financial and tax systems, being thus important to explore their design and governance.