Search results for: women’s socio-economic empowerment

Authors: Isabell Koinig, Sandra Diehl

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In recent years, the health-care context has not been left unaffected by technological developments. In recent years, the Internet of Medical Things (IoMT)has not only led to a collaboration between disease management and advanced care coordination but also to more personalized health care and patient empowerment. With more than 40 % of all health technology being IoMT-related by 2020, questions regarding privacy become more prevalent, even more so during COVID-19when apps allowing for an intensive tracking of people’s whereabouts and their personal contacts cause privacy advocates to protest and revolt. There is a widespread tendency that even though users may express concerns and fears about their privacy, they behave in a manner that appears to contradict their statements by disclosing personal data. In literature, this phenomenon is discussed as a privacy paradox. While there are some studies investigating the privacy paradox in general, there is only scarce research related to the privacy paradox in the health sector and, to the authors’ knowledge, no empirical study investigating young people’s attitudes toward data security when using wearables and health apps. The empirical study presented in this paper tries to reduce this research gap by focusing on the area of digital and mobile health. It sets out to investigate the degree of importance individuals attribute to protecting their privacy and individual privacy protection strategies. Moreover, the question to which degree individuals between the ages of 20 and 30 years are willing to grant commercial parties access to their private data to use digital health services and apps are put to the test. To answer this research question, results from 6 focus groups with 40 participants will be presented. The focus was put on this age segment that has grown up in a digitally immersed environment. Moreover, it is particularly the young generation who is not only interested in health and fitness but also already uses health-supporting apps or gadgets. Approximately one-third of the study participants were students. Subjects were recruited in August and September 2019 by two trained researchers via email and were offered an incentive for their participation. Overall, results indicate that the young generation is well informed about the growing data collection and is quite critical of it; moreover, they possess knowledge of the potential side effects associated with this data collection. Most respondents indicated to cautiously handle their data and consider privacy as highly relevant, utilizing a number of protective strategies to ensure the confidentiality of their information. Their willingness to share information in exchange for services was only moderately pronounced, particularly in the health context, since health data was seen as valuable and sensitive. The majority of respondents indicated to rather miss out on using digital and mobile health offerings in order to maintain their privacy. While this behavior might be an unintended consequence, it is an important piece of information for app developers and medical providers, who have to find a way to find a user base for their products against the background of rising user privacy concerns.

Keywords: digital health, privacy, privacy paradox, IoMT

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Authors: Annie Singh, Ishaan Singh

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Background: Transgenders are people who have a gender identity different from their sex assigned at birth. Their gender behaviour doesn’t match their body anatomy. The community faces discrimination due to their gender identity all across the world. The term transgender is an umbrella term for many people non-conformal to their biological identity; note that the term transgender is different from gender dysphoria, which is a DSM-5 disorder defined as problems faced by an individual due to their non-conforming gender identity. Transgender people have been a part of Indian culture for ages yet have continued to face exclusion and discrimination in society. This has led to the low socio-economic status of the community. Various studies done across the world have established the role of discrimination, harassment and exclusion in the development of psychological disorders. The study is aimed to assess the frequency of stress and anxiety in the transgender population and understand the various factors affecting the same. Methodology: A cross-sectional survey of self consenting transgender individuals above the age of 18 residing in Delhi was done to assess their socioeconomic status and experiential ecology. Recruitment of participants was done with the help of NGOs. The survey was constructed GAD-7 and PSS-10, two well-known scales were used to assess the stress and anxiety levels. Medians, means and ranges are used for reporting continuous data wherever required, while frequencies and percentages are used for categorical data. For associations and comparison between groups in categorical data, the Chi-square test was used, while the Kruskal-Wallis H test was employed for associations involving multiple ordinal groups. SPSS v28.0 was used to perform the statistical analysis for this study. Results: The survey showed that the frequency of stress and anxiety is high in the transgender population. A demographic survey indicates a low socio-economic background. 44% of participants reported facing discrimination on a daily basis; the frequency of discrimination is higher in transwomen than in transmen. Stress and anxiety levels are similar among both transmen and transwomen. Only 34.5% of participants said they had receptive family or friends. The majority of participants (72.7%) reported a positive or neutral experience with healthcare workers. The prevalence of discrimination is significantly lower in the higher educated groups. Analysis of data shows a positive impact of acceptance and reception on mental health, while discrimination is correlated with higher levels of stress and anxiety. Conclusion: The prevalence of widespread transphobia and discrimination faced by the transgender community has culminated in high levels of stress and anxiety in the transgender population and shows variance according to multiple socio-demographic factors. Educating people about the LGBT community formation of support groups, policies and laws are required to establish trust and promote integration.

Keywords: transgender, gender, stress, anxiety, mental health, discrimination, exclusion

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Authors: Rania S. Hussein

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This research mainly focuses on examining engagement in social media brand communities. Engagement in social media has become a main focus in literature affirming that the role of social media in our daily lives is growing. (Akman and Mishra, 2017;Prado-Gascó et al., 2017). Social media has also become a key medium for brand communication and brand building relationships(Frimpong and McLean,2018;Dimitriu and Guesalaga, 2017). Engagement on social media has become a main focus of many researchers who tried to understand this concept further and draw a link between engagement and various social media activities (Cvijikj and Michahelles;2013), Andre,2015; Wang et al., 2015). According to Felix et al. (2017), the internet and social media have provided better digital resources to improve brand loyalty and customer interactions, thus leading to social media engagement within brand communities. The aim of this research is to highlight the importance of social media and why it is important to maintain engagement within social media. While the term ‘engagement’ is widely used in scholarly literature, there isn’t a common consensus about what the term exactly entails, according to Kidd, (2011). On one hand, it was seen as something that includes factors such as participation, activation, empowerment, devotion, trust, and productivity (Zhang et al, andBenyoucef, M. (2016), ). Other scholars held different viewpoints. For example, Lim et al. (2015) has chosen to break down engagement into three types: operational engagement, emotional engagement, and relational engagement. Chandler and Lusch (2015) further studied engagement as a means to measure commitment to a brand. Fernandes&Remelhe (2016) had a more technical view, measuring engagement through comments, following, subscribing, sharing, enjoying, writing, etc., in the social media context. ustomer engagement has become a research focus for understanding how consumer relationships are developed, retained, and improved within a digital context. Based on previous literature, it is evident that many customer engagement related studies are limited to the interaction between firms and consumers on social media. There is a clear gap in the literature regarding consumer-to-consumer interaction and user-generated content and its significance. While some researchers, such as Alversia et al. (2016), touched upon the importance of customer-based engagement, a gap still remains: there is no consistent and well-tested method for defining the factors that affect consumer interaction. Moreover, few scholarly research papers such as (Case, 2019; Riley, 2020;Habibi, 2014) provided to assist businesses understand their customers' interaction habits as well as the best ways to develop customer loyalty. Additionally, the majority of research on brand pages concentrated on the drivers of Consumer engagement, with just a few studies example, Lamberton, Cc(2016), Poorrezaei, (2016). (Jayasingh, 2019), looking into the implications. This study focuses on understanding the concept of engagement and its importance, specifically engagement within social media brand communities. It examines drivers as well as consequences of engagement, including brand knowledge, brand trust, entertainment, and brand page interactivity. Brand engagement is also expected to affect brand loyalty and word of the mouth.

Keywords: engagement, social media, brand communities, drivers

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Authors: Dharshini Selvarajah, Karen Kong

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Background: Uterine fibroids are a common benign gynaecologic neoplasm in reproductive-aged women. Fibroids may become symptomatic in a vast majority of nulliparous women. Their diagnosis and management are often coordinated between gyneacologists, radiologists and urologists depending on the anatomical location, growth, size and the fibroids' sarcomatous evolvement. Some patients may develop obstructive uropathy symptoms, either uni or bilateral secondary urethral obstruction causing hydronephrosis. Uterine artery embolization (UAE) has previously been shown to effectively resolve symptoms as well as relieve urethral obstruction and resolve hydronephrosis. UAE has now established itself as an organ-preserving and minimally invasive procedure in the management of symptomatic uterine fibroids. It is a safe and effective alternative to hysterectomy for resolving fibroid-related pressure symptoms. The case presented examines the clinical manifestations and impact of uterine fibroids on the urinary tract system. The therapeutic options to relieve the urological symptoms as well as preserve fertility are explored and presented. Case: The case is a 29-year-old Nepalese female admitted to the hospital with recurrent urosepsis with multiresistant organisms. This was on a background of an enlarged uterus (measuring 17cm x11cm) with multiple subserosal, intramural and exophytic fibroids- causing external ureteric compression. She had bilateral ureteric stents in situ and required bilateral right and left nephrostomies during repeated episodes of urosepsis and bilateral ureteric obstruction. The left nephrostomy was removed a month prior to admission, and her most recent CT KUB demonstrated hypofunctioning ureteric stents with bilateral hydronephrosis. Options of hysterectomy versus uterine artery embolization (UAE) were extensively explored. The patient was keen to preserve fertility. Risks associated with UAE, such as the expulsion of the submucosal component of the fibroids and the possibilities of sepsis in the setting of ongoing ureteric colonisation were particularly high. The patient opted to trial UAE even though the risks of recurrent hospital admissions with urosepsis were going to be particularly high. In the event, the uterus fails to shrink adequately enough to relieve the obstructed ureters, a hysterectomy would inevitably be required in the future. Day 3 post-UAE the patient developed fevers, was hypotensive and tachycardic post-receiving prophylactic meropenem and fluconazole pre emoblisation. She was noted to have a CRP of 293 with the most recent urine culture during this time growing Candida albicans. The patient was recommenced on oral fluconazole and IV meropenum, with good effect. Her repeat renal tract ultrasound post-UAE showed ongoing marked left hydronephrosis relatively unchanged from the scan one month prior to the procedure; however, the right-sided hydronephrosis had resolved. The patient was discharged on a 2-week course of antibiotics. The patient will have a repeat renal tract ultrasound and MRI of the ureters to re-evaluate the degree of hydronephrosis and progress- this was unavailable at the time of abstract submission and will be presented at the conference. Conclusion: Fibroids are a common benign tumor of the uterus and can frequently impact the lower urinary system resulting in significant uropathy. They often enlarge and compress the urinary bladder, urethra and lower end of the ureters. The effectiveness of the UAE as a fertility-preserving option is described.

Keywords: uterine artery embolisation for fibroids, urological complications from fibroids, uropathy of fibroids, obstructive fibroid management

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Authors: Alisha Fisher

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Sex trafficking is a worldwide crisis that requires trauma-informed and survivor-centered media attention to accurate disseminate information. Much of the previous literature on sex trafficking tends to focus on the frequency of incidents, intervention, and support strategies for survivors, with few of them looking to how the media is conducting their reporting on sex trafficking cases to the public. Utilizing data of reports from the media of cases of sex trafficking in the two Canadian provinces with the highest cases of sex trafficking, Ontario and Nova Scotia, the authors sought to analyze the similarities and differences of how sex trafficking cases were being reported. A total of twenty articles were examined, with ten based within the province of Ontario and the remaining ten from the province of Nova Scotia. The authors coded in two processes, first, who the article was about, and second, the framing and content inclusion. The results suggest that there is high usage and reliance of voices and images of authority, with male people of color being shown as the perpetrators and white women being shown as the survivors. These findings can aid in the expansion of trauma-informed, survivor-centered media literacy of reports of sex trafficking to provide accurate insights and further developing robust methods to intersectional approaches to reporting cases of sex trafficking.

Keywords: sex trafficking, media coverage, Canada sex trafficking, content analysis

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Authors: Elaine Lima Da Fonseca, Eliomar Pereira Da Silva Filho

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The modeling of areas susceptible to soil loss by hydro erosive processes consists of a simplified instrument of reality with the purpose of predicting future behaviors from the observation and interaction of a set of geoenvironmental factors. The models of potential areas for soil loss will be obtained through binary logistic regression, artificial neural networks, and support vector machines. The choice of the municipality of Colorado do Oeste in the south of the western Amazon is due to soil degradation due to anthropogenic activities, such as agriculture, road construction, overgrazing, deforestation, and environmental and socioeconomic configurations. Initially, a soil erosion inventory map constructed through various field investigations will be designed, including the use of remotely piloted aircraft, orbital imagery, and the PLANAFLORO/RO database. 100 sampling units with the presence of erosion will be selected based on the assumptions indicated in the literature, and, to complement the dichotomous analysis, 100 units with no erosion will be randomly designated. The next step will be the selection of the predictive parameters that exert, jointly, directly, or indirectly, some influence on the mechanism of occurrence of soil erosion events. The chosen predictors are altitude, declivity, aspect or orientation of the slope, curvature of the slope, composite topographic index, flow power index, lineament density, normalized difference vegetation index, drainage density, lithology, soil type, erosivity, and ground surface temperature. After evaluating the relative contribution of each predictor variable, the erosion susceptibility model will be applied to the municipality of Colorado do Oeste - Rondônia through the SPSS Statistic 26 software. Evaluation of the model will occur through the determination of the values of the R² of Cox & Snell and the R² of Nagelkerke, Hosmer and Lemeshow Test, Log Likelihood Value, and Wald Test, in addition to analysis of the Confounding Matrix, ROC Curve and Accumulated Gain according to the model specification. The validation of the synthesis map resulting from both models of the potential risk of soil erosion will occur by means of Kappa indices, accuracy, and sensitivity, as well as by field verification of the classes of susceptibility to erosion using drone photogrammetry. Thus, it is expected to obtain the mapping of the following classes of susceptibility to erosion very low, low, moderate, very high, and high, which may constitute a screening tool to identify areas where more detailed investigations need to be carried out, applying more efficient social resources.

Keywords: modeling, susceptibility to erosion, artificial intelligence, Amazon

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Authors: S. Ishak, M. G. Nasuruddin

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Traditional Malay performances are carried out for both entertainment and curing purposes. In curing rituals, the men and women serving as shamans, communicates with the spirits and beings from the nether world to facilitate the curing process. The dependency on engaging with these other-worldly beings however, have raised religious issues of being syirik, namely practicing in rituals which are religiously forbidden. This study aims to observe how ritual leaders attempt to negotiate the fine balance between what has been religiously forbidden and the psychological and sociological needs of the patient. Two curing rituals, the main peteri and the malibobou were chosen to exemplify the communication between the physical and spiritual realities. In both rituals, the healers engaged in procedures of curing as they attempted to diagnose sicknesses and proffer cures with the help of the spirits. The main peteri was conducted by a male shaman, the tuk teri whereas the malibobou was conducted by a female ritual specialist, the bobohizan. Main peteri and the malibobou both ended with ritually thanking and sending off the spirits back to their nether, invisible domains. These curing rituals heal not only the sick individual, but by extension, the village community. Therefore, there is a need to reconcile these rituals with religious tenets, beliefs and sociological-political-cultural dimensions.

Keywords: traditional healing, trance, spirits, main peteri, bobohizan

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Authors: P. H. Mfengwana, S. S. Mashele, L. Verschaeve, R. Anthonissen, I. T. Manduna

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Gunnera perpensa is traditionally used mostly by women for the treatment of different gynaecological related conditions due to its proven uterine contractility effects. The uses of this plant include menstrual pain relief, treatment of infertility and promotion of easy labour. However, even though this plant species has been reported to possess numerous medicinal properties, to author’s best knowledge, its safety has not been investigated. Thus, this study was aimed at investigating the genotoxicity and antigenotoxicity of Gunnera perpensa aqueous, methanol and dichloromethane extracts. The in vitro toxicity of the plant extracts was assessed with the neutral red uptake (NRU) test. Genotoxic and antigenotoxic properties of Gunnera perpensa were investigated using high-throughput assays: bacterial Vitotox test and the alkaline comet assay with and without S9 activation on human C3A cells. Ethyl Methanesulfonate (EMS) and 4-nitroquinoline-oxide (4-NQO) were used as positive controls, respectively. All extracts showed toxicity in a dose-dependent manner; however, that does not mean they were all genotoxic. Methanol extract did show genotoxicity with S9 (metabolism) only at the highest concentration of 500 µg/ml due to increased DNA damage observed, however, no genotoxicity was observed from other concentrations. Therefore, the results show that Gunnera perpensa extracts are genotoxic and not safe for human use.

Keywords: antigenotoxicity, comet test, genotoxicity, Gunnera perpensa, vitotox assay

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Authors: Mikel W. Cole, Stephanie M. Madison, Adam Henze

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Since 2004, the U.S. immigrant detention system has imprisoned more than five million people. President John F. Kennedy famously dubbed this country a “Nation of Immigrants.” Like many of the nation’s imagined ideals, the historical record finds its practices have never lived up to the tenets championed as defining qualities.The United Nations High Commission on Refugees argues the educational needs of people in carceral spaces, especially those in immigrant detention centers, are urgent and supported by human rights guarantees. However, there is a genuine dearth of literacy research in immigrant detention centers, compounded by a general lack of access to these spaces. Denying access to literacy education in detention centers is one way the history of xenophobic immigration policy persists. In this conceptual exploration, first-hand accounts from detained individuals, their families, and the organizations that work with them have been shared with the authors. In this paper, the authors draw on experiences, reflections, and observations from serving as volunteers to develop a conceptual framework for the ways in which literacy practices are enacted in detention centers. Literacy is an essential tool for accessing those detained in immigrant detention centers and a critical tool for those being detained to access legal and other services. One of the most striking things about the detention center is how to behave; gaining access for a visit is neither intuitive nor straightforward. The men experiencing detention are also at a disadvantage. The lack of access to their own documents is a profound barrier to men navigating the complex immigration process. Literacy is much more than a skill for gathering knowledge or accessing carceral spaces; literacy is fundamentally a source of personal empowerment. Frequently men find a way to reclaim their sense of dignity through work on their own terms by exchanging their literacy services for products or credits at the commissary. They write cards and letters for fellow detainees, read mail, and manage the exchange of information between the men and their families. In return, the men who have jobs trade items from the commissary or transfer money to the accounts of the men doing the reading, writing, and drawing. Literacy serves as a form of resistance by providing an outlet for productive work. At its core, literacy is the exchange of ideas between an author and a reader and is a primary source of human connection for individuals in carceral spaces. Father’s Day and Christmas are particularly difficult at detention centers. Men weep when speaking about their children and the overwhelming hopelessness they feel by being separated from them. Yet card-writing campaigns have provided these men with words of encouragement as thousands of hand-written cards make their way to the detention center. There are undoubtedly more literacies being practiced in the immigrant detention center where we work and at other detention centers across the country, and these categories are early conceptions with which we are still wrestling.

Keywords: detention centers, education, immigration, literacy

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Authors: Tanzil Ansari

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A dictionary is often considered as a list of words, arranged in alphabetical orders, providing information on a language or languages and it informs us about the spelling, the pronunciation, the origin, the gender and the grammatical functions of new and unknown words. In other words, it is first and foremost a linguistic tool. But, the research across the world in the field of linguistic and lexicography proved that a dictionary is not only a linguistic tool but also a cultural product through which a lexicographer transmits the culture of a country or a linguistic community from his or her ideology. It means, a dictionary does not present only language and its metalinguistic functions but also its culture. Every language consists of some words and expressions which depict the culture of its language. In this way, it is impossible to disassociate language from its culture. There is always an ideology that plays an important role in the depiction of any culture. Using the orientalism theory of Edward Said to represent the east, the objective of the present research is to study the representation of Indian culture through the lexicographical discourse of Hindi-French Dictionary of Federica Boschetti, a French lexicographer. The results show that the Indian culture is stereotypical and monolithic. It also shows India as male oriented country where women are exploited by male-dominated society. The study is focused on Hindi-French dictionary, but its line of argument can be compared to dictionaries produced in other languages.

Keywords: culture, dictionary, lexicographical discourse, stereotype image

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Authors: Nur Rafeeda Daut

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The significance of this paper is to provide an insight on the role of social movement in building stronger ethnic relations in Malaysia. In particular, it focuses on how the BERSIH movement have been able to bring together the different ethnic groups in Malaysia to resist the present political administration that is seen to manipulate the electoral process and oppress the basic freedom of expression of Malaysians. Attention is given on how and why this group emerged and its mobilisation strategies. Malaysia which is a multi-ethnic and multi-religious society gained its independence from the British in 1957. Like many other new nations, it faces the challenges of nation building and governance. From economic issues to racial and religious tension, Malaysia is experiencing high level of corruption and income disparity among the different ethnic groups. The political parties in Malaysia are also divided along ethnic lines. BERSIH which is translated as ‘clean’ is a movement which seeks to reform the current electoral system in Malaysia to ensure equality, justice, free and fair elections. It was originally formed in 2007 as a joint committee that comprised leaders from political parties, civil society groups and NGOs. In April 2010, the coalition developed as an entirely civil society movement unaffiliated to any political party. BERSIH claimed that the electoral roll in Malaysia has been marred by fraud and other irregularities. In 2015, the BERSIH movement organised its biggest rally in Malaysia which also includes 38 other rallies held internationally. Supporters of BERSIH that participated in the demonstration were comprised of all the different ethnic groups in Malaysia. In this paper, two social movement theories are used: resource mobilization theory and political opportunity structure to explain the emergence and mobilization of the BERSIH movement in Malaysia. Based on these two theories, corruption which is believed to have contributed to the income disparity among Malaysians has generated the development of this movement. The rise of re-islamisation values propagated by certain groups in Malaysia and the shift in political leadership has also created political opportunities for this movement to emerge. In line with the political opportunity structure theory, the BERSIH movement will continue to create more opportunities for the empowerment of civil society and the unity of ethnic relations in Malaysia. Comparison is made on the degree of ethnic unity in the country before and after BERSIH was formed. This would include analysing the level of re-islamisation values and also the level of corruption in relation to economic income under the premiership of the former Prime Minister Mahathir and the present Prime Minister Najib Razak. The country has never seen such uprisings like BERSIH where ethnic groups which over the years have been divided by ethnic based political parties and economic disparity joined together with a common goal for equality and fair elections. As such, the BERSIH movement is a unique case where it illustrates the change of political landscape, ethnic relations and civil society in Malaysia.

Keywords: ethnic relations, Malaysia, political opportunity structure, resource mobilization theory and social movement

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Authors: Christo Swart, Lidia Pottas, David Maree

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Background: It is a sine qua non that the South African educational system finds itself in a profound crisis and that traditional school leadership styles are outdated and hinder quality education. New thinking is mandatory to improve the status quo and school leadership has an immense role to play to improve the current situation. It is believed that the servant leadership paradigm, when practiced by school leadership, may have a significant influence on the school environment in totality. This study investigates the private school segment in search of constructive answers to assist with the educational crises in South Africa. It is assumed that where school leadership can augment a supportive and empowering environment for teachers to constructively engage in their teaching and learning activities - then many challenges facing by school system may be subjugated in a productive manner. Aim: The aim of this study is fourfold. To outline the constructs of servant leadership which are perceived by teachers of private schools as priorities to enhance a successful school environment. To describe the constructs of organizational climate which are observed by teachers of private schools as priorities to enhance a successful school environment. To investigate whether the participants perceived a link between the constructs of servant leadership and organizational climate. To consider the process to be followed to introduce the constructs of SL and OC the school system in general as perceived by participants. Method: This study utilized a qualitative approach to explore the mediation between school leadership and the organizational climate in private schools in the search for amicable answers. The participants were purposefully selected for the study. Focus group interviews were held with participants from primary and secondary schools and a focus group discussion was conducted with principals of both primary and secondary schools. The interview data were transcribed and analyzed and identical patterns of coded data were grouped together under emerging themes. Findings: It was found that the practice of servant leadership by school leadership indeed mediates a constructive and positive school climate. It was found that the constructs of empowerment, accountability, humility and courage – interlinking with one other - are prominent of servant leadership concepts that are perceived by teachers of private schools as priorities for school leadership to enhance a successful school environment. It was confirmed that the groupings of training and development, communication, trust and work environment are perceived by teachers of private schools as prominent features of organizational climate as practiced by school leadership to augment a successful school environment. It can be concluded that the participants perceived several links between the constructs of servant leadership and organizational climate that encourage a constructive school environment and that there is a definite positive consideration and motivation that the two concepts be introduced to the school system in general. It is recommended that school leadership mentors and guides teachers to take ownership of the constructs of servant leadership as well as organizational climate and that public schools be researched and consider to implement the two paradigms. The study suggests that aspirant teachers be exposed to leadership as well as organizational paradigms during their studies at university.

Keywords: empowering environment for teachers and learners, new thinking required, organizational climate, school leadership, servant leadership

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Authors: Rasheed A. Saliu, Sunday E. Ogundipe, Oluwaseun A. Adefila

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Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in recent time has transformed the means by which we inform ourselves, with world events and areas of personal interests, and further our learning. Today, for many, books and journals are no longer the first or primary source of information or learning. We now regularly rely on images, video, animations and sound to acquire information and to learn. Increased and improved access to the internet has accelerated this phenomenon. We now acquire and access information in ways fundamentally different from the pre-ICT era. But to what extent is academic staff in colleges of education, having access to and the utilising of ICT devices in their lecture deliveries especially in School of Science and Vocational and Technical? The main focus of this paper is to proffer solution to this salient question. It is essentially an empirical study carried out in five colleges of education in south-west zone of Nigeria. The target population was the academic staff in the selected institution. A total number of 150 male and female lecturers were contacted for the study. The main instrument was questionnaire. The finding reveals that male lecturers are much more ICT inclined than women folk in the academics. Some recommendations were made to endear academics to utilizing ICT at their disposal to foster qualitative delivery in this digital era.

Keywords: education, gender, ICT, Nigeria

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Authors: Laxuman Thakuri

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Despite the large number of in-depth case studies focused on policy analysis, institutional arrangement, and collective action of common property resource management; how the local institutions take the pricing decision of forest products in community forest management and what kinds of effects produce it, the answers of these questions are largely silent among the policy-makers and researchers alike. The study examined how the local institutions take the pricing decision of forest products in the lowland community forestry of Nepal and how the decisions affect to equitable distribution of benefits and livelihood improvement which are also objectives of Nepalese community forestry. The study assumes that forest products pricing decisions have multiple effects on equitable distribution and livelihood improvement in the areas having heterogeneous socio-economic conditions. The dissertation was carried out at four community forests of lowland, Nepal that has characteristics of high value species, matured-experience of community forest management and better record-keeping system of forest products production, pricing and distribution. The questionnaire survey, individual to group discussions and direct field observation were applied for data collection from the field, and Lorenz curve, gini-coefficient, χ²-text, and SWOT (Strong, Weak, Opportunity, and Threat) analysis were performed for data analysis and results interpretation. The dissertation demonstrates that the low pricing strategy of high-value forest products was supposed crucial to increase the access of socio-economically weak households, and to and control over the important forest products such as timber, but found counter productive as the strategy increased the access of socio-economically better-off households at higher rate. In addition, the strategy contradicts to collect a large-scale community fund and carry out livelihood improvement activities as per the community forestry objectives. The crucial part of the study is despite the fact of low pricing strategy; the timber alone contributed large part of community fund collection. The results revealed close relation between pricing decisions and livelihood objectives. The action research result shows that positive price discrimination can slightly reduce the prevailing inequality and increase the fund. However, it lacks to harness the full price of forest products and collects a large-scale community fund. For broader outcomes of common property resource management in terms of resource sustainability, equity, and livelihood opportunity, the study suggests local institutions to harness the full price of resource products with respect to the local market.

Keywords: community, equitable, forest, livelihood, socioeconomic, Nepal

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Authors: Musatafa Abbas Abbood Albadr, Masri Ayob, Sabrina Tiun, Fahad Taha Al-Dhief, Mohammad Kamrul Hasan

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Breast Cancer (BC) is considered one of the most frequent reasons of cancer death in women between 40 to 55 ages. The BC is diagnosed by using digital images of the FNA (Fine Needle Aspirate) for both benign and malignant tumors of the breast mass. Therefore, this work proposes the Online Sequential Extreme Learning Machine (OSELM) algorithm for diagnosing BC by using the tumor features of the breast mass. The current work has used the Wisconsin Diagnosis Breast Cancer (WDBC) dataset, which contains 569 samples (i.e., 357 samples for benign class and 212 samples for malignant class). Further, numerous measurements of assessment were used in order to evaluate the proposed OSELM algorithm, such as specificity, precision, F-measure, accuracy, G-mean, MCC, and recall. According to the outcomes of the experiment, the highest performance of the proposed OSELM was accomplished with 97.66% accuracy, 98.39% recall, 95.31% precision, 97.25% specificity, 96.83% F-measure, 95.00% MCC, and 96.84% G-Mean. The proposed OSELM algorithm demonstrates promising results in diagnosing BC. Besides, the performance of the proposed OSELM algorithm was superior to all its comparatives with respect to the rate of classification.

Keywords: breast cancer, machine learning, online sequential extreme learning machine, artificial intelligence

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Authors: Arlinda Memetaj

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A sound system of administrative justice represents a vital element of democratic governance. The proper control of public administration consists not only of a sound civil service framework and legislative oversight, but empowerment of the public and courts to hold public officials accountable for their decision-making through the application of fair administrative procedural rules and the use of appropriate administrative appeals processes and judicial review. The establishment of both effective public administration and administrative justice system has been for a long period of time among the most ‘important and urgent’ final strategic objectives of almost any country in the Balkans region, including Macedonia, Albania and Kosovo. Closely related to this is their common strategic goal to enter the membership in the European Union, which requires fulfilling of many criteria and standards as incorporated in EU acquis communautaire. The latter is presently done with the framework of the Stabilization and Association Agreement which each of these countries has concluded with the EU accordingly. To above aims, each of the three countries has so far adopted a huge series of legislative and strategic documents related to any aspects of their individual administrative justice system. ‘Changes and reforms’ in this field have been thus the most frequent terms being used in any of these countries. The three countries have already established their own national administrative judiciary, while permanently amending their laws on the general administrative procedure introducing thereby considerable innovations concerned. National administrative courts are expected to have crucial important role within the broader judiciary systems-related reforms of these countries; they are designed to check the legality of decisions of the state administration with the aim to guarantee an effective protection of human rights and legitimate interests of private persons through a regular, conform, fast and reasonable judicial administrative process. Further improvements in this field are presently an integral crucial part of all the relevant national strategic documents including the ones on judiciary reform and public administration reform, as adopted by each of the three countries; those strategic documents are designed among others to provide effective protection of their citizens` rights` of administrative justice. On the basis of the later, the paper finally is aimed at highlighting selective common challenges and problems of the three countries on their European road, while claiming (among others) that the current status quo situation in each of them may be overcome only if there is a proper implementation of the administrative courts decisions and a far stricter international monitoring process thereof. A new approach and strong political commitment from the highest political leadership is thus absolutely needed to ensure the principles of transparency, accountability and merit in public administration. The main methods used in this paper include the analytical and comparative ones due to the very character of the paper itself.

Keywords: administrative courts , administrative justice, administrative procedure, benefit, effective administrative justice, human rights, implementation, monitoring, reform

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Authors: Racidon P. Bernarte, Vincent Jude G. Estella, Dominador Jr. M. Nucon, Jin Danniel O. Villatema

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Purpose: Internet pornography has many negative effects, but one of the disturbing phases of pornography usage is; users are insentient on how pornography influences and affects them. The acceptance of Internet pornography use in a relationship has been found to be higher among men than among women. The use of pornography directly correlates to a decrease in sexual intimacy. Hence, this might lead to the weakening of the relationship of the married individuals to their partner. To find out the relevance of the claim, the researchers aimed to explore the relationship of Internet pornography consumption to the relationship commitment of married individuals in the Philippines. Different factors such as level of satisfaction, the size of the investment, quality of alternatives, relationship stability, and viewing habits of the Filipino married individuals were also considered in determining the relationship of watching pornography online and the relationship commitment of the Filipino married individuals. Design/ Methodology/ Approach –The study used the quantitative research approach, specifically descriptive method and correlation in order to further analyze the gathered data. A self-administered survey was distributed to 400 selected Filipino married individuals who were married individuals that are watching pornography on the Internet who are living in Quezon City. Findings –It is revealed that Internet pornography consumption has a negative effect on the relationship commitment of married individuals. Furthermore, watching pornography online weakened the relationship commitment of the Filipino married individuals that leads to an unstable relationship.

Keywords: internet pornography consumption, relationship commitment, married individuals, polytechnic university of the Philippines

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Authors: Saleem Abu Jaber

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Born into a Sufi family, in which his father and other relatives, as well as additional community members, were particularly rooted in scholarly and cultural inquiry, Muḥammad ʾAbū al-Surūr al-Bikriyy al-Ṣidīqiyy (1562–1598 CE) was a prominent scholar of his time. Despite his relative youth, he became influential in his writings, which included Quranic exegeses and works on Hadith, Arabic grammar, jurisprudence, and Sufism. He was also a practicing physician and was the first person to be named Mufti of the Sultanate in Egypt. He was active in the political arena, having been close to the Ottoman sultans, providing them his support and counsel. He strived for their empowerment and victory and often influenced their political convictions and actions. Al-Ṣidīqiyy enjoyed the patronage of his contemporary Ottoman Caliphate sultans. In general, these sultans always promoted studies in the Islamic sciences and were keen to support scholars and gain their trust. This paper addresses al-Ṣidīqiyy’s legacy as a Quranic commentator, focusing on his exegesis (tafsīr) of Sūrat al-Fatḥ (48), written in 1589. It appears in a manuscript found at the Süleymaniye Library in Istanbul, consisting of one volume of 144 pages. It is believed that no other manuscript containing the text of this exegesis is to be found in any other library or institute for Arabic manuscripts. According to al-Ṣabbāġ (1995), al-Ṣidīqiyy had written a complete commentary of the Quran, but efforts to recover it have only unearthed the current commentary, as well as that of Sūrat al-Kahf (18), Sūrat al-ʾAnʿām (6), and ʾĀyat al-Kursī (2:255). The only critical edition published to date is that of Sūrat al-Kahf. The other two are currently being prepared for publication as well. The paucity of scholarly studies on the works of al-Ṣidīqiyy renders the current study particularly significant, as it provides introduction to al-Ṣidīqiyy’s exegesis, a synopsis of the biographical and cultural background of its author and his family, and a critical evaluation of his scholarly contribution. It will introduce the manuscript on which this study is based and elaborate on the structure and rationale of the exegesis, on its very attribution to al-Ṣidīqiyy, and subsequently evaluate its overall significance to the understanding of Sufi approaches to Quranic interpretation in 16th century Ottoman Egypt. An analysis of al-Ṣidīqiyy’s approach to interpreting the Quran leads to the definitive conclusion that it indeed reflects Sufi principles. For instance, when citing other Sufi commentators, including his own ancestors, he uses the epithets mawlāna ‘our elder, our patron,’ al-ʾustāḏ ‘the master,’ unique to Sufi parlance. Crucially, his interpretation, is written in a realistic, uncomplicated, fetching style, as was customary among Sufi scholars of his time, whose leaning was one of clarity, based on their perception of themselves as being closest to Muḥammad and his family, and by extension to the sunna, as reflected in the traditional narrative of the Prophet’s biography and teachings.

Keywords: Quran’ sufiism, manuscript, exegesis, surah, Al-fath, sultanate, sunna

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Authors: Azreen Jihan Che Mohd Hashim, Rosidah Musa

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Although 'Spiritual Intelligence' (SI) is hard to measure, it is impossible without a noble value that may affect the attitude in purchasing behavior process, so this paper aims to report on a pilot study analysis results in order to evaluate the degree of SI towards consumers’ attitude in purchasing halal cosmetics and, in turn, to reaffirm intention to purchase by using Theory Planned Behaviour (TPB). It is a descriptive cross-sectional study among the Muslim women as the subjects, working and staying in Klang valley area in Malaysia. The purpose of the study is to develop a new measurement scale to unravel and decompose the underlying dimensions of SI from the perspective of the Muslim deemed imperative. About 200 respondents of users and non-users of halal cosmetics are selected. The structure equation modeling (SEM) was conducted to examine the relationships among god, society and self, which are the dimensions of SI. A finding indicates that, in influencing attitude, those who obligate high spiritual intelligence have a good relationship with god, society and self which may influence them to purchase halal cosmetic product. This study offers important findings and implications for future research as it presents a framework on the importance of SI.

Keywords: spiritual intelligence, god, society, self, young adult Muslim female

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Authors: Dessy Pinem, Rahmadian Sembiring, Adanil Bushra

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Medan Belawan is one of the subdistricts of 21 districts in Medan. Medan Belawan Sub-district is directly adjacent to the Malacca Strait in the North. Due to its direct border with the Malacca Strait, the problem in this sub-district, which has continued for many years, is a flood of rob. In 2015, rob floods inundated Sicanang urban village, Belawan I urban village, Belawan Bahagia urban village and Bagan Deli village. The extent of inundation in the flood of rob that occurred in September 2015 reached 540, 938 ha. Rob flood is a phenomenon where the sea water is overflowing into the mainland. Rob floods can also be interpreted as a puddle of water on the coastal land that occurs when the tidal waters. So this phenomenon will inundate parts of the coastal plain or lower place of high tide sea level. Rob flood is a daily disaster faced by the residents in the district of Medan Belawan. Rob floods can happen every month and last for a week. The flood is not only the residents' houses, the flood also soaked the main road to Belawan Port reaching 50 cm. To deal with the problems caused by the flood and to prepare coastal communities to face the character of coastal areas, it is necessary to know the vulnerability of the people who are always the victims of the rob flood. Are the people of Medan Belawan sub-district, especially in the flood-affected villages, able to cope with the consequences of the floods? To answer this question, it is necessary to assess the vulnerability of the Belawan District community in the face of the flood disaster. This research is descriptive, qualitative and quantitative. Data were collected by observation, interview and questionnaires in 4 urban villages often affected by rob flood. The vulnerabilities measured are physical, economic, social, environmental, organizational and motivational vulnerabilities. For vulnerability in the physical field, the data collected is the distance of the building, floor area ratio, drainage, and building materials. For economic vulnerability, data collected are income, employment, building ownership, and insurance ownership. For the vulnerability in the social field, the data collected is education, number of family members, children, the elderly, gender, training for disasters, and how to dispose of waste. For the vulnerability in the field of organizational data collected is the existence of organizations that advocate for the victims, their policies and laws governing the handling of tidal flooding. The motivational vulnerability is seen from the information center or question and answer about the rob flood, and the existence of an evacuation plan or path to avoid disaster or reduce the victim. The results of this study indicate that most people in Medan Belawan sub-district have a high-level vulnerability in physical, economic, social, environmental, organizational and motivational fields. They have no access to economic empowerment, no insurance, no motivation to solve problems and only hope to the government, not to have organizations that support and defend them, and have physical buildings that are easily destroyed by rob floods.

Keywords: disaster, rob flood, Medan Belawan, vulnerability

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Authors: O. F. Elkommos

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Teaching and learning EFL speaking modules is one of the most challenging productive modules for both instructors and learners. In a student-centered interactive communicative language teaching approach, learners and instructors should be aware of the fact that the target language must be taught as/for communication. The student must be empowered by tools that will work on more than one level of their communicative competence. Communicative learning will need a teaching and learning methodology that will address the goal. Teaching turn-taking rules, pragmatic principles and speech acts will enhance students' sociolinguistic competence, strategic competence together with discourse competence. Sociolinguistic competence entails the mastering of speech act conventions and illocutionary acts of refusing, agreeing/disagreeing; emotive acts like, thanking, apologizing, inviting, offering; directives like, ordering, requesting, advising, and hinting, among others. Strategic competence includes enlightening students’ consciousness of the various particular turn-taking systemic rules of organizing techniques of opening and closing conversation, adjacency pairs, interrupting, back-channeling, asking for/giving opinion, agreeing/disagreeing, using natural fillers for pauses, gaps, speaker select, self-select, and silence among others. Students will have the tools to manage a conversation. Students are engaged in opportunities of experiencing the natural language not as a mere extra student talking time but rather an empowerment of knowing and using the strategies. They will have the component items they need to use as well as the opportunity to communicate in the target language using topics of their interest and choice. This enhances students' communicative abilities. Available websites and textbooks now use one or more of these tools of turn-taking or pragmatics. These will be students' support in self-study in their independent learning study hours. This will be their reinforcement practice on e-Learning interactive activities. The students' target is to be able to communicate the intended meaning to an addressee that is in turn able to infer that intended meaning. The combination of these tools will be assertive and encouraging to the student to beat the struggle with what to say, how to say it, and when to say it. Teaching the rules, principles and techniques is an act of awareness raising method engaging students in activities that will lead to their pragmatic discourse competence. The aim of the paper is to show how the suggested pragmatic model will empower students with tools and systems that would support their learning. Supporting students with turn taking rules, speech act theory, applying both to texts and practical analysis and using it in speaking classes empowers students’ pragmatic discourse competence and assists them to understand language and its context. They become more spontaneous and ready to learn the discourse pragmatic dimension of the speaking techniques and suitable content. Students showed a better performance and a good motivation to learn. The model is therefore suggested for speaking modules in EFL classes.

Keywords: communicative competence, EFL, empowering learners, enhance learning, speech acts, teaching speaking, turn taking, learner centred, pragmatics

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Authors: Na Xiao

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Animal metaphors have many different connotations, ranging from loving emotions to derogatory epithets, but gender expressions using animal metaphors are often imbalanced. Generally, animal metaphors related to females tend to be negative. Little known about the reasons for the negative expressions of animal female metaphors in Chinese contexts still have not been quantified. The Modern Chinese Corpus at the Center for Chinese Linguistics at Peking University (CCL Corpus) provided the data for this research, which aims to identify the influencing variables of gender differences in the description of animal metaphors mapping humans in Chinese by observing the percentage of "tiger" metaphor, which is based on the conceptual metaphor theory. A quantitative research method was used in this study to statistically examine the gender attitude percentage of the "tiger" metaphor using corpus data. This study has proved that the tiger metaphors associated with humans in the Chinese context tend to be negative. Importantly, this study has also shown that the high proportion of tiger metaphorical idioms is what causes the high proportion of negative tiger metaphors that are related to women. This finding can be used as crucial information for future studies on other gender-related animal metaphorical idioms and can offer additional insights for understanding trends in other animal metaphors.

Keywords: Chinese, CCL corpus, gender differences, metaphorical idioms, tigers

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Authors: Mamunur Rashid, Jialin Yan

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The current years have witnessed a rapid evolution and integration of artificial intelligence (AI) in various fields, prominently influencing the education industry. Acknowledging this transformative wave, AI tools like ChatGPT and Grammarly have undeniably introduced perspectives and skills, enriching the educational experiences of higher education students. The prevalence of AI utilization in higher education also drives an increasing number of researchers' attention in various dimensions. Departments, offices, and professors in universities also designed and released a set of policies and guidelines on using AI effectively. In regard to this, the study targets exploring and analyzing graduate students' perspectives regarding AI guidelines set by teachers. A mixed-methods study will be mainly conducted in this study, employing in-depth interviews and focus groups to investigate and collect students' perspectives. Relevant materials, such as syllabi and course instructions, will also be analyzed through the documentary analysis to facilitate understanding of the study. Surveys will also be used for data collection and students' background statistics. The integration of both interviews and surveys will provide a comprehensive array of student perspectives across various academic disciplines. The study is anchored in the theoretical framework of self-determination theory (SDT), which emphasizes and explains the students' perspective under the AI guidelines through three core needs: autonomy, competence, and relatedness. This framework is instrumental in understanding how AI guidelines influence students' intrinsic motivation and sense of empowerment in their learning environments. Through qualitative analysis, the study reveals a sense of confusion and uncertainty among students regarding the appropriate application and ethical considerations of AI tools, indicating potential challenges in meeting their needs for competence and autonomy. The quantitative data further elucidates these findings, highlighting a significant communication gap between students and educators in the formulation and implementation of AI guidelines. The critical findings of this study mainly come from two aspects: First, the majority of graduate students are uncertain and confused about relevant AI guidelines given by teachers. Second, this study also demonstrates that the design and effectiveness of course materials, such as the syllabi and instructions, also need to adapt in regard to AI policies. It indicates that certain of the existing guidelines provided by teachers lack consideration of students' perspectives, leading to a misalignment with students' needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness. More emphasize and efforts need to be dedicated to both teacher and student training on AI policies and ethical considerations. To conclude, in this study, graduate students' perspectives on teacher-provided AI guidelines are explored and reflected upon, calling for additional training and strategies to improve how these guidelines can be better disseminated for their effective integration and adoption. Although AI guidelines provided by teachers may be helpful and provide new insights for students, educational institutions should take a more anchoring role to foster a motivating, empowering, and student-centered learning environment. The study also provides some relevant recommendations, including guidance for students on the ethical use of AI and AI policy training for teachers in higher education.

Keywords: higher education policy, graduate students’ perspectives, higher education teacher, AI guidelines, AI in education

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Authors: Wid Kattan, Rahaf Albarraq

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Background: Tokophobia is a pathological fear of pregnancy that can lead to the avoidance of childbirth. It is classified as primary or secondary. This report describes a patient with tokophobia, as well as her presentation, risk factors, comorbidities, and treatment. Case Presentation: A 43-year-old Saudi woman experienced tokophobia upon becoming pregnant for the fifth time. She was assessed in two clinical interviews by a consultant psychiatrist specializing in women’s mental health. In addition, she completed several questionnaires for assessment of different aspects of her mental health: overall depression, perinatal depression, generalized anxiety, maternal functioning, and fear of childbirth (FOC). Several risk factors and comorbidities that may have contributed to the development of tokophobia in this patient were discussed, including traumatic experiences in previous deliveries, the unplanned nature of the pregnancy, perinatal depression, and pronounced symptoms of anxiety. A collaborative decision to perform a C-section was made, in line with obstetric guidelines and good mental health practice. Full symptomatic recovery was achieved immediately after delivery. Conclusions: We hope to increase clinical awareness of the assessment and management of tokophobia, which is a relatively new concept and, as yet, understudied.

Keywords: tokophobia, fear of childbirth, mental health, anxiety, case report, depression, fear of delivery, psychiatry, cesarean section, perinatal depression

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Authors: J. Jarolímek, P. Urban, P. Pavlínek, D. Dzúrová

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The industry constitutes a dominant economic sector in Czechia. The automotive industry represents the most important industrial sector in terms of gross value added and the number of employees. The objective of this study was to analyse the occurrence of occupational diseases (OD) in the automotive industry in Czechia during the 2001-2014 period. Whereas the occurrence of OD in other sectors has generally been decreasing, it has been increasing in the automotive industry, including growing spatial discrepancies. Data on OD cases were retrieved from the National Registry of Occupational Diseases. Further, we conducted a survey in automotive companies with a focus on occupational health services and positions of the companies in global production networks (GPNs). An analysis of OD distribution in the automotive industry was performed (age, gender, company size and its role in GPNs, regional distribution of studied companies, and regional unemployment rate), and was accompanied by an assessment of the quality and range of occupational health services. The employees older than 40 years had nearly 2.5 times higher probability of OD occurrence compared with employees younger than 40 years (OR 2.41; 95% CI: 2.05-2.85). The OD occurrence probability was 3 times higher for women than for men (OR 3.01; 95 % CI: 2.55-3.55). The OD incidence rate was increasing with the size of the company. An association between the OD incidence and the unemployment rate was not confirmed.

Keywords: occupational diseases, automotive industry, health geography, unemployment

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Authors: Jack S. Pullman, Daniel Wen, Avinash Sharma, Bert Van Der Werf, Richard Martin

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Background: New Zealand (NZ) melanoma incidence rates are amongst the highest in the world. Previous studies investigating the incidence of melanoma in NZ were performed for the periods 1995 – 1999 and 2000 – 2004 and suggested increasing melanoma incidence rates. Aim: The aim of the study is to provide an up-to-date review of trends in cutaneous melanoma in NZ from the New Zealand Cancer Registry (NZCR) 2010 – 2020. Methods: De-identified data were obtained from the NZCR, and relevant demographic and histopathologic information was extracted. Statistical analyses were conducted to calculate age-standardized incidence rates for invasive melanoma (IM) and melanoma in situ (MIS). Secondary results included Breslow thickness and melanoma subtype analysis. Results: There was a decline in the IM age-standardized incidence rate from 30.4 to 23.9 per 100,000 person-years between 2010 to 2020, alongside an increase in MIS incidence rate from 37.1 to 50.3 per 100,000 person-years. Men had a statistically significant higher IM incidence rate (p <0.001) and Breslow thickness (p <0.001) compared with women. Increased age was associated with a higher incidence of IM, presentation with melanoma of greater Breslow thickness and more advanced T stage. Conclusion: The incidence of IM in NZ has decreased in the last decade and was associated with an increase in MIS incidence over the same period. This can be explained due to earlier detection, dermoscopy, the maturity of prevention campaigns and/or a change in skin protection behavior.

Keywords: melanoma, incidence, epidemiology, New Zealand

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Authors: B. Waked Najar

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Since the spread of Covid- 19, Israel and other countries suffer from lockdowns and social distance, which impose different kinds of restrictions. On the one side, many organization closed and unemployment increased, bringing about economic problems and distress. On the other side, family ties were damaged due to inability to sustain close relations with some family members and too frequent interactions with others. Unfortunately, conflicts within families, controlling behavior and domestic violence appear more often. Purpose: to examine the phenomenon of domestic violence and its expansion during the Covid-19 crisis, to propose and classify strategies of dealing with it, including encouragement of public systems providing more information and support to domestic violence victims. Methodology: the author strives to reveal methods of supporting domestic violence victims through public and private treatment organizations. The author interviewed battered women and families who experienced violence during the Covid-19 crisis. Findings: victims of domestic violence often feel isolated and helpless. It is a real challenge to track and support them, especially in the traditional minorities’ communities. Research limitations: Many families refused to be interviewed because they did not want to be exposed to the community, especially religious families. Originality: research is aimed to examine a phenomenon of domestic violence during the Covid-19 crisis and methods of help and support the victims, which is not a common theme of research during the pandemic.

Keywords: violence, coronavirus, domestic violence, influence

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Authors: Kathie Records, R. Jeanne Ruiz, Kimberly Ayers, Rebecca Pasillas

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Background: Preterm births of less than 37 weeks gestation occur disproportionately to Hispanics living along the U.S.-Mexico border. Prematurity has devastating and costly effects on children, families and the health care system. Few preventive interventions have been tested for this vulnerable group. Objectives: To present the modeling and pilot testing of the theory-based Mastery Lifestyle Intervention (MLI), designed to reduce and prevent PTB among Mexican American women (the terms Hispanics or Latinas will also be used to represent this group) living in the United States. Design and Methods: The conceptualization of the problem of preterm births and the available literature underpinning the mastery lifestyle intervention will be reviewed. The lifestyle intervention includes foundational components of problem solving therapy and acceptance and commitment therapy. Findings from implementation of a one-group pilot test and focus group evaluated the feasibility and acceptability of the MLI. Summary: Participants found the MLI to be feasible and acceptable, and reported perceiving improved health status and familial relationships. Suggestions were provided for modifications prior to efficacy testing. The MLI appears to be a theoretically and empirically grounded intervention that holds promise for preventing preterm births among Latinas.

Keywords: birth, Hispanic, intervention, stress

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Authors: Kholil, Laksanto Utomo

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The food needs of the Indonesian people will continue increase year to year due to the increase of population growth. For ensuring food securityand and resilience, the government has developed a program food self-resilience village since 2006. Food resilience is a complex system, consisting of subsystem availability, distribution and consumption of the sufficiency of food consumed both in quantity and quality. Low access, and limited assets to food sources is the dominant factor vulnerable of food. Women have a major role in supporting the productive activities of the family to meet food sufficiency and resilience. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the model of food self-resilience village wich gender responsive by using a dynamic system model. Model will be developed into 3 level: family, vilage, and regency in accordance with the concept of village food resilience model wich has been developed by ministry of agriculture. Model development based on the results of experts discussion and field study. By some scenarios and simulation models we will able to develop appropriate policy strategies for family food resilience. The result of study show that food resilience was influenced by many factors: goverment policies, technology, human resource, and in the same time it will be a feed back for goverment policies and number of poor family.

Keywords: food availability, food sufficiency, gender, model dynamic, law enfrocement

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Authors: Moti Zwilling, Srečko Natek

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This paper aims to present an innovative predictive analytics analysis in order to find the best combination between two consumers who strive to find their partner or in internet sites. The methodology shown in this paper is based on analysis of consumer preferences and involves data mining and machine learning search techniques. The study is composed of two parts: The first part examines by means of descriptive statistics the correlations between a set of parameters that are taken between man and women where they intent to meet each other through the social media, usually the internet. In this part several hypotheses were examined and statistical analysis were taken place. Results show that there is a strong correlation between the affiliated attributes of man and woman as long as concerned to how they present themselves in a social media such as "Facebook". One interesting issue is the strong desire to develop a serious relationship between most of the respondents. In the second part, the authors used common data mining algorithms to search and classify the most important and effective attributes that affect the response rate of the other side. Results exhibit that personal presentation and education background are found as most affective to achieve a positive attitude to one's profile from the other mate.

Keywords: dating sites, social networks, machine learning, decision trees, data mining

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