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Quality of service (QoS) middleware is a core technology that will drive the next paradigm in distributed computing. It underlies how computer researchers are addressing the technical demands caused by the exponential growth of Internet activity, the demand for intensive computing in terms of multimedia and distributed applications, and the unpredictability of constantly changing Internet traffic patterns. CORBA represents a class of middleware that has incorporated many QoS features.

Several risk factors have been identified in ongoing efforts by the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to mitigate high rates of homelessness among veterans. To date, no studies have examined the relationship of rurality and distance to nearest VA facility to risk of homelessness. Due to challenges in accessing available services, the hypothesis was that rural-residing veterans are at greater risk for homelessness. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

The cohort consisted of veterans who had separated from the military between 2001 and 2011. The authors used a forwarding address provided by the service member at the time of separation from the military to determine rurality of residence and distance to care. The authors examined differences in the rate of homelessness within a year of a veteran’s first encounter with the VA following last military separation based on rurality and distance to the nearest VA facility using multivariable log-binomial regressions.

In the cohort of 708,318 veterans, 84.3 percent were determined to have a forwarding address in urban areas, 60.4 and 88.7 percent lived within 40 miles of the nearest VA medical center (VAMC), respectively. Veterans living in a rural area (RR=0.763; 95 percent CI=0.718-0.810) and those living between 20 and 40 miles (RR=0.893; 95 percent CI=0.846-0.943) and 40+ miles away from the nearest VAMC (RR=0.928; 95 percent CI=0.879-0.979) were at a lower risk for homelessness.

The unique data set allowed the authors to explore the relationship between geography and homelessness. These results are important to VA and national policy makers in understanding the risk factors for homelessness among veterans and planning interventions.

This paper reports on a systematic review of the published literature on the effectiveness of whole‐school behavioural interventions, which aim to promote emotional and social well‐being among young people in secondary education. The findings are based on 27 studies of varying designs with some limitations. The results suggest that the literature is not well developed, and has a substantial skew towards interventions conducted in the United States. However, it does suggest that conflict resolution training is successful in promoting pro‐social behaviours in the short term, and that the use of peer mediators may be effective for longer‐term outcomes. The evidence relating to preventing bullying and disruptive behaviour is more varied, with evidence of mixed effectiveness being identified for the roles of the community, teachers, young people, external agencies and parents.

Three residential colleges located in a university campus at the capital city of Kuala Lumpur and built in different decades were selected for landscape studies with respect to species and position of the trees, as well as the effects of the current landscapes as a shelter in reducing solar radiation on buildings, as a pre-assessment for the Low Carbon Cities Framework (LCCF) and assessment system. These landscape designs were carefully studied through on-site observation. The name and location of the matured plants were redrawn and visualised with standard normal photographs. The studies revealed that the old residential college landscape is dominated by tropical forest trees which are able to provide a significant shade to the buildings and offered a potential to achieve sustainable development due to a higher rate of carbon sequestration. While, palm and hybrid fruit plants were most extensively cultivated in the landscape of new residential colleges due to low maintenance and being fast growing.

The rising awareness of the significance of protecting the environment and reducing the carbon footprints of buildings has led to the development of sustainable or green office buildings that are believed to be more energy-efficient and environmentally friendly. Despite this, not many have studied the extent of impacts between green classification and rental depreciation in Malaysia, besides the other traditional causes. Therefore, the primary purpose of this study is to identify the relationship of building characteristics and location factors, namely, green building classifications (BCLs), location and site (LOT), building engineering and services (BES) and building appearance and design (BAD) that contribute to rental depreciation in the Golden Triangle Area of Kuala Lumpur.

A survey using a questionnaire was used in the data collection targeting the selected Kuala Lumpur commercial purpose built office building property managers. To establish the significance and relevance of the model, this study employed the PLS algorithm and bootstrapping procedures.

This research suggests that there were significant impacts of LOT, BAD, and BES towards rental depreciation. On the contrary, sustainable classifications were found insignificant towards rental depreciation.

The novelty of this study is that it proposes the sustainable classifications as one of the components in analysing the commercial property depreciation.

This chapter is a comprehensive discussion of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) across the globe (e.g., United States, China, Brazil, Japan and Turkey). Topics that are discussed include the following: diagnostic criteria and approaches; international perspectives of ASD; western and eastern assessment practices; cultural considerations of assessment of ASD; educational and medical interventions; behavioral and emotional interventions; complementary and alternative medical interventions; variations in educational services among countries; early intervention practices; adult services; national and international resources; and current needs and future directions.

Television in General The viewing of television has changed, and is continuing to change our lives. When television first arrived on the scene less than 50 years ago, few people could have foreseen the drastic effects that it would have on the public during their waking hours. As of September 1, 1981, 158.3 million television sets have penetrated 98 percent of American households and hardly anyone can legitimately claim never to have seen a TV set or viewed a TV program.

Investors have done sin stocks exclusion in the portfolio as negative screening of socially responsible investment. The impact of sin stock exclusion has brought different results for an investment portfolio; therefore, the investment manager fully decided on sin stocks investment. This research observes the relationship between sin stock proportion and fund managers’ education background. An investment manager’s educational background influences both financial performance and socially responsible behavior. Equity funds are chosen since they made up most of the Indonesian investment market. Proportion is used as a calculation of investment managers’ characteristics. The fixed effect model is applied in the panel data regression method. The study finds a significant negative relationship between sin stock proportion in asset allocation and investment managers’ education level. The research contributes to the literature on sin stocks in Indonesia concerning investment managers’ education background and among the first that observe all holdings in financial reports.

This chapter provides an overview of affect, personality, and job satisfaction, focusing on library employees. A reliable and valid measure for each construct is suggested, and an assessment model is provided. The purpose of the study conducted was to examine the three constructs among library employees, how these constructs relate to each other and to work experience, and whether they differ based on library type or department. The Positive and Negative Affect Schedule, Big Five Inventory, and Brief Index of Affective Job Satisfaction were administered at the various libraries of a research university. Data were analyzed using statistical software. Library employees scored high in positive affect and job satisfaction, and low in negative affect, and were introverted, agreeable, conscientious, emotionally stable, and open to experiences. Across all libraries, public services employees had higher positive affect and job satisfaction, and lower neuroticism, than technical services employees. In both service areas, positive affect was positively correlated with extroversion and job satisfaction, and negative affect with neuroticism. Work experience was correlated with positive affect only among technical services employees. The assessment model may be applied at libraries of any type and size to assess staff and customize resources for employees to meet their unique needs. Several ideas and applications are provided. This study addresses a gap in the literature by exploring how affect, personality, and job satisfaction are all related among library employees. The free measures may be used in any work setting, facilitating intra- and inter-professional comparisons.