Search results

The Internet is an open and global programming environment where applications and services mostly follow the traditional client/server model. The use of new programming paradigms based on mobile entities, such as mobile agents (MA), can accelerate the process of diffusion of new applications and services in the areas of e‐commerce, network and systems management, and mobile computing. However, the lack of security is one of the main obstacles to a wide diffusion of MA. On the one hand, mobility increases the potential of security breaches because of the injection of possibly malicious MAs; on the other hand, it introduces the new issue of protecting MAs against integrity and secrecy attacks from their execution environments. This paper discusses the security issues introduced by the MA technology and proposes a security architecture composed of a wide set of services and components, which adequately fulfil the requirements of several application areas. The implementation of the security framework in the secure and open MA system has provided the support for the development of a secure electronic marketplace prototype that demonstrates the effectiveness of adopting the MA technology in the Internet environment.

The Equal Pay Act 1970 (which came into operation on 29 December 1975) provides for an “equality clause” to be written into all contracts of employment. S.1(2) (a) of the 1970 Act (which has been amended by the Sex Discrimination Act 1975) provides:

This preliminary investigation aims to examine the psychological impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on patients and staff within a high secure service.

To discern the connection between COVID-19-related distress and multiple factors, the study involved 31 patients and 34 staff who completed assessments evaluating coping strategies, resilience, emotional reactivity, ward atmosphere and work-related aspects.

Results demonstrated that around a third of staff (31.2%) experienced COVID-19-related distress levels that met the clinical cut-off for possible post-traumatic stress disorder. Emotional reactivity, staff shortages, secondary traumatic stress and coping strategies were all positively correlated with COVID-19-related-distress. Resilience was negatively associated with distress, thus acting as a potential mitigating factor. In comparison, the prevalence of distress among patients was low (3.2%).

The authors postulate that increased staff burdens during the pandemic may have led to long-term distress, while their efforts to maintain minimal service disruption potentially shielded patients from psychological impacts, possibly lead to staff “problem-focused coping burnout”. This highlights the need for in-depth research on the enduring impacts of pandemics, focusing on mechanisms that intensify or alleviate distress. Future studies should focus on identifying effective coping strategies for crisis situations, such as staff shortages, and strategies for post-crisis staff support.

The authors postulate that the added burdens on staff during the pandemic might have contributed to their distress. Nonetheless, staff might have inadvertently safeguarded patients from the pandemic’s psychological ramifications by providing a “service of little disruption”, potentially leading to “problem-focused coping burnout”. These findings underscore the imperative for further research capturing the enduring impacts of pandemics, particularly scrutinising factors that illuminate the mechanisms through which distress is either intensified or alleviated across different groups. An avenue worth exploring is identifying effective coping styles for pandemics.