Search results for: online satisfaction

Authors: Naouel Zoghlami

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Spoken-word recognition involves the simultaneous activation of potential word candidates which compete with each other for final correct recognition. In continuous speech, the activation-competition process gets more complicated due to speech reductions existing at word boundaries. Lexical processing is more difficult in L2 than in L1 because L2 listeners often lack phonetic, lexico-semantic, syntactic, and prosodic knowledge in the target language. In this study, we investigate the on-line lexical segmentation hypotheses that French listeners of L2 English form and then revise as subsequent perceptual evidence is revealed. Our purpose is to shed further light on the processes of L2 spoken-word recognition in context and better understand L2 listening difficulties through a comparison of skilled and unskilled reactions at the point where their working hypothesis is rejected. We use a variant of the gating experiment in which subjects transcribe an English sentence presented in increments of progressively greater duration. The spoken sentence was “And this amazing athlete has just broken another world record”, chosen mainly because it included common reductions and phonetic features in English, such as elision and assimilation. Our preliminary results show that there is an important difference in the manner in which proficient and less-proficient L2 listeners handle connected speech. Less-proficient listeners delay recognition of words as they wait for lexical and syntactic evidence to appear in the gates. Further statistical results are currently being undertaken.

Keywords: gating paradigm, spoken word recognition, online lexical segmentation, L2 listening

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Authors: Kinga Zebrowska, Maria Falis, Katarzyna Kosinska-Kaczynska, Bartosz Godek, Olga Plaza, Katarzyna Kwiatkowska

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Introduction: According to the ministerial decree of 16 August 2018, each woman in Poland during childbirth has the right to the pharmacological and non-pharmacological labour pain management (LPM). Aim: The aim of the study was to assess the knowledge of Polish mothers about pharmacological and non-pharmacological LPM, to investigate which methods they chose and their satisfaction with chosen ones. Material And Methods: A prospective cross-sectional study was performed among women who gave birth between 2015 and 2018. The self-composed questionnaire was distributed via the Internet in October 2018. Results: 13.727 women participated in the study. 75% have learned about LPM from the Internet. 68% of them did not gain any information on LPM from doctors during their prenatal appointments Safety of the newborn (46%), midwife’s advice (40%) and the chance of the immediate pain relief (39%) were the most important issues while choosing LPM. Respondents used a wide range of non-pharmacological methods, such as the assistance of partner during labour (81%), physical activity (58%), immersion in water (37%), relaxation techniques (15%) and others. 11% of mothers did not use any of the LPM methods. 52% of women declared that they wanted to use the pharmacological anaesthesia, while 49% had it performed (28% epidural, 16% inhaled anaesthesia, 5% parenteral opioids). Pharmacological methods were unavailable due to lack of anaesthesiologist in the maternity ward (41%) or inaccessibility of the chosen methods in the hospital (31%) and too advanced labour (43%). 48% of respondents did not decide to use pharmacological methods, because the pain was bearable (29%), anxiety of child’s health (17%), or belief that the pain is natural and it should not be avoided (16%). 83% of respondents believed that epidural analgesia has no influence on the time needed to gain a full cervix dilatation and 81% of them claimed that serious spinal cord injury is a common side effect of epidural. 51% believed that epidural increases the risk of caesarean section. Conclusions: The knowledge about the methods of LPM is not satisfactory. We should focus on well- maintained education guided by doctors, midwives, and media.

Keywords: childbirth, labour pain management, maternity experiences, obstetrics

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Authors: Mahsa Khani Oushani, Mohammad Kazem Hasanvand

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Text and image have always been two important components in Iranian layout. The interactive connection between text and image has shaped the art of book design with multiple patterns. In this research, first the structure and visual elements in the research data were analyzed and then the position of the text element and the image element in relation to each other based on Roland Barthes theory on the three theories of text and image, were studied and analyzed and the results were compared, and interpreted. The purpose of this study is to investigate the pattern of text and image in the works of Kamaluddin Behzad based on three Roland Barthes communication theories, 1. Descriptive communication, 2. Reference communication, 3. Matched communication. The questions of this research are what is the relationship between text and image in Behzad's works? And how is it defined according to Roland Barthes theory? The method of this research has been done with a structuralist approach with a descriptive-analytical method in a library collection method. The information has been collected in the form of documents (library) and is a tool for collecting online databases. Findings show that the dominant element in Behzad's drawings is with the image and has created a reference relationship in the layout of the drawings, but in some cases it achieves a different relationship that despite the preference of the image on the page, the text is dispersed proportionally on the page and plays a more active role, played within the image. The text and the image support each other equally on the page; Roland Barthes equates this connection.

Keywords: text, image, Kamaluddin Behzad, Roland Barthes, communication theory

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Authors: Yangyang Zhang

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Martin Eden tells about the tragedy of the protagonist Martin Eden’s suicide after his disillusion about American dream. The author Jack London presents various spatial routines of Martin Eden and reveals the involvement of space in realizing American dream: on the one hand, the Berkeley and Oakland cities contribute to Martin’s material success, making his American dream practical, and on the other hand, the two cities involve in the oppression of bourgeoisie ideology to Martin, promoting the domestic imperialization of bourgeoisie ideology represented by American dream. Molded by bourgeoisie ideology in the city, Martin constructed the oriental South Sea, revealing the oversea imperialization of bourgeoisie ideology behind American dream. By exploring the social, historical and political aspects of space, Martin Eden tries to demonstrate the mere material success and imperialism represented by American dream, revealing the fact of the involvement of American dreamin ideological oppression. When Jack London wrote Martin Eden, he had become a famous writer and realized his personal "American dream". He integrated his struggle experience into the protagonist Martin Eden, and also put his critique of the nature of "American dream" in the novel. The concept of the "American Dream" made the United States the land of dreams, and it also made many Americans believe that through personal struggle, they could climb the social ladder. Under the context of rapid growth in economy in the late 19 th century, American dream was reduced to the satisfaction on a material level. When material wealth was fulfilled, many people felt shattered for a variety of reasons, and such a phenomenon was reflected in the literature of disillusionment in 19th-century America.Martin Eden is such a work about disillusion, in which the geographical space becomes the witness of the realization and disillusionment of the protagonist Martin's "American dream". By analyzing the spatial narrative in Martin Eden, this paper reveals that the "American dream" only represents material success for individuals and the imperialization of capitalist ideology, and exposes the ideological nature of the "American Dream".

Keywords: Martin Eden, space, American dream, ideology of imperialism

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Authors: Seyedeh-Fariba Jahanbin, Hasan Yusefzadeh, Bahram Nabilou, Cyrus Alinia, Cyrus Alinia

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Background: Due to the lack of a constant Willingness to Pay per one additional Quality Adjusted Life Years gained based on the preferences of Iran’s general public, the cost-efectiveness of health system interventions is unclear and making it challenging to apply economic evaluation to health resources priority setting. Methods: We have measured this cost-efectiveness threshold with the participation of 2854 individuals from fve provinces, each representing an income quintile, using a modifed Time Trade-Of-based Chained-Approach. In this online-based empirical survey, to extract the health utility value, participants were randomly assigned to one of two green (21121) and yellow (22222) health scenarios designed based on the earlier validated EQ-5D-3L questionnaire. Results: Across the two health state versions, mean values for one QALY gain (rounded) ranged from $6740-$7400 and $6480-$7120, respectively, for aggregate and trimmed models, which are equivalent to 1.35-1.18 times of the GDP per capita. Log-linear Multivariate OLS regression analysis confrmed that respondents were more likely to pay if their income, disutility, and education level were higher than their counterparts. Conclusions: In the health system of Iran, any intervention that is with the incremental cost-efectiveness ratio, equal to and less than 7402.12 USD, will be considered cost-efective.

Keywords: willingness to Pay, QALY, chained-approach, cost-efectiveness threshold, Iran

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Authors: William Mahony, L. Jacqueline Hirth, Richard Rupp, Sandra Gonzalez, Roger Zoorob

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Background: The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on physicians has been considered by many researchers, but less is known about non-physician healthcare workers. The aim of this study is to examine the association of COVID-19 safety training and communication with stress. Methods: A 91-item online survey was distributed, starting January 2, 2021, to non-physician healthcare workers, including physician assistants, nurse practitioners, and medical assistants (MAs) in the United States through email and social media. A $1 donation was made to the Red Cross for each completed survey. The survey consisted of demographics, occupational questions, and perceived stress (perceived stress scale, PSS). Items on the PSS were combined for an overall score and categorized according to the severity of perceived stress. Chi-square tests were performed for bivariate analyses of categorical variables. Results: Of the 284 participants consenting to complete the survey, 197 participants completed the full survey. MAs made up most of the sample at 79%. Among all respondents, 47% had moderate PSS scores (scored between 14 and 26), and 51% had severe PSS scores (scored between 27 and 40). Unvaccinated participants reported statistically significantly lower levels of perceived stress (p = 0.002). Performing tasks outside of typical job responsibilities was not associated with PSS scores (p = .667). Discussion: Non-physician healthcare workers demonstrated a high level of perceived stress overall. The association between vaccination status and perceived stress should be examined in order to evaluate whether vaccination levels could be improved with further education about the virus and associated risks.

Keywords: COVID-19, SARS-Cov-2, nursing, public health

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Authors: Ali Alavi, Hong-Oanh Nguyen, ‎Jiangang Fei, Jafar Sayareh

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The recent competitive market in the port sector highly depend on logistics practices, functions ‎and activities and seaports play a key role in port logistics chains. Despite the well-articulated importance of ports and terminals in integrated logistics, the role of success factors in port logistics integration has been rarely mentioned‎. The objective of this paper is to ‎fill this gap in the literature and provide an insight into how seaports and terminals may improve their logistics integration. First, a literature review of studies on logistics integration in seaports and terminals is conducted. Second, a new conceptual framework for port logistics integration is proposed to incorporate the role of the new variables emerging from the recent developments in the global business environment. Third, the model tested in Iranian port and maritime sector using self-administered and online survey among logistics chain actors in Iranian seaports such shipping line operators, logistics service providers, port authorities, logistics companies and other related actors. The results have found the logistics process and operations, information integration, ‎value-added services, and logistics practices being influential to logistics integration. A proposed conceptual framework is developed to extend the existing ‎framework and incorporates the variables namely organizational activities, resource ‎sharing, and institutional support.‎ Further examination of the proposed model across multiple contexts is necessary for the validity of the findings. The framework could be more detailed on each factor and consider actors perspective.

Keywords: maritime logistics‎, port integration‎, logistics integration‎, supply chain integration

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Authors: Elena V. Lysenko

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Motivating as the leading function of a modern Human Resources Management involves issues of increasing the effectiveness of the organization in a broader context. During the formation of motivational systems, the top-management of organization should pay equal attention to both external motivation (incentive system) and internal (self-motivation). The balance of internal and external motivation harmonizes the relations between employers and employees, increases the level of job satisfaction by the organization staff, which in turn leads the organization to success and ensures the organization`s profitability and competitiveness in the market environment. The article is devoted to the study of personnel motivation system in the small metal trade company, which is located in Yekaterinburg, Russian Federation. The study took place during November-December, 2016 ordered by the Company Director to analyze the motivational potential of work (managerial aspect of motivation) and motivation of personnel (personnel aspect of motivation) with the purpose to construct a system of employees’ motivation. The research tools included 6 specially selected tests of motivation, which are: “Motivation profile of your job”, “Constructive motivational attitudes”, Tests about Motivation of achievements (1st variant: Test by А.Mehrabian by the theory of D.С.McClelland and 2nd variant: Test about leading needs according with the theory of D.С.MacClelland), Tests by T.Elers (1st variant: “Determination of the motivation towards success or to avoid failure” and 2nd variant: “Trends to achieve results or to avoid failure”). The results of the study showed only one, but fundamental problem of the whole organization: high level of both motivational potential in work and self-motivation, especially in terms of achievement motivation, but serious lack of productivity. According the results which study showed this problem is derived from insufficient staff competence. The research suggests basic guidelines in order to build the new personnel motivation system for this Company, which is planned to be developed in the nearest future.

Keywords: incentive system, motivation of achievements, motivation system, self-motivation

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Authors: Marielle Mansour

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Background: Integrating university students into an academic environment can be intense, with significant intellectual and emotional challenges. Stress, particularly during exam periods, plays a crucial role in students' eating habits, often influencing their food choices through mechanisms such as emotional eating. Objective: This study aims to understand the impact of exam stress on emotional eating among university students in Lebanon, Methodology: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 700 students aged 18 to 25 years in Lebanon, using online questionnaires to assess perceived stress using the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) and emotional eating behaviors with the Dutch Eating Behavior Questionnaire (DEBQ). Data was analyzed to identify correlations between stress and emotional eating. Results: A significant positive correlation was observed between levels of perceived stress and increased emotional eating, with marked differences depending on participants' gender and field of study. This trend highlights the concerning impact of academic stress on students' food choices, including an increased prevalence of emotional eating among women and those studying in demanding disciplines like health sciences and engineering. Conclusion: This research contributes to the understanding of the complex links between academic stress and emotional eating behaviors among university students in Lebanon. To improve the mental and physical health of students, it is essential to implement tailored educational and support initiatives aimed at reducing stress and promoting balanced dietary choices in learning environments.

Keywords: exam stress, emotional eating, university students, stress management, Lebanon

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Authors: Briony Gray, Glenn Simpson, Hajira Dambha-Miller, Andrew Farmer

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Multimorbidity may be strongly affected by a variety of conditions, factors, and variables requiring higher demands on health and social care services, infrastructure, and expenses. Holding one or more conditions increases one’s risk for development of future conditions; with patients over 65 years old at highest risk. Psychosocial factors such as anxiety and depression are rising exponentially globally, which has been amplified by the COVID19 pandemic. These are highly correlated and predict poorer outcomes when held in coexistence and increase the likelihood of comorbid physical health conditions. While possible future reform of social and healthcare systems may help to alleviate some of these mounting pressures, there remains an urgent need to better understand the potential role health behaviours and psychosocial conditions - such as anxiety and depression – may have on aging populations. Using the UK healthcare scene as a lens for analysis, this study uses big data collected in the UK Longitudinal Study of Aging (ELSA) to examine the role of anxiety and depression in ageing populations (65yrs+). Using logistic regression modelling, results identify the 10 most significant variables correlated with both anxiety and depression from data categorised into the areas of health behaviour, psychosocial, socioeconomic, and life satisfaction (each demonstrated through literature review to be of significance). These are compared with wider global research findings with the aim of better understanding the areas in which social and healthcare reform can support multimorbidity interventions, making suggestions for improved patient-centred care. Scope of future research is outlined, which includes analysis of 59 total multimorbidity variables from the ELSA dataset, going beyond anxiety and depression.

Keywords: multimorbidity, health behaviours, patient centred care, psychosocial factors

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Authors: Sara Najiazarpour, Mahsa Najiazarpour

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There are many problems in contracting projects and their performance. At each project stage and due to different reasons, these problems affect cost, time and overall project quality. Hence, in order to increase the efficiency and performance in all levels of the chain and with supply chain management approach, there will be a coordination from the beginning of a project (contractor selection) to the end of project (handover of project). Contractor selection is the foremost part of construction projects which in this multi-criteria decision-making, the best contractor is determined by expert judgment, different variables and their priorities. In this paper for selecting the best contractor, numerous criteria were collected by asking from adept experts and then among them, 16 criteria with highest frequency were considered for questionnaire. This questionnaire was distributed between experts. Cronbach's alpha coefficient was obtained as 72%. Then based on Borda's function 12 important criteria was selected which was categorized in four main criteria and related sub-criteria as follow: Environmental factors and physical equipment: procurement and materials (supplier), company's machines, contractor’s proposed cost estimate - financial capacity: bank turnover and company's assets, the income of tax declaration in last year, Ability to compensate for losses or delays - past performance- records and technical expertise: experts and key personnel, the past technical backgrounds and experiences, employer satisfaction of previous contracts, the number of similar projects was done - standards: rank and field of expertise which company is qualified for and its validity, availability and number of permitted projects done. Then with PROMTHEE method, the criteria were normalized and monitored, finally the best alternative was selected. In this research, qualitative criteria of each company is became a quantitative criteria. Finally, information of some companies was evaluated and the best contractor was selected based on all criteria and their priorities.

Keywords: contractor evaluation and selection, project development, supply chain management, PROMTHEE method

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Authors: Samuel Alaba Akinwotu

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Over the years, Nigeria’s educational system has greatly suffered from the menace of industrial conflict. The smooth running of the nation’s public educational institutions has been hampered by incessant strikes embarked upon by workers of these institutions. Even though industrial conflicts in Nigeria have enjoyed wide reportage in the media, there has been a dearth of critical examination of the language use that index the conflict’s discourse in the media. This study which is driven by a combination of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) and Conceptual Metaphor (CM) examines the discursive and ideological features of language indexing the industrial conflict between the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) in 2013. It aims to identify and assess the conceptual and cognitive motivations of the stances expressed by the parties and the public and the role of the media in the management and resolution of the conflict. For data, media reports and readers’ comments were purposively sampled from six print and online news sources (The Punch, This Day, Vanguard, The Nation, Osun Defender and AITonline) published between July and December 2013. The study provides further insight into industrial conflict and proves to be useful for the management and resolution of industrial conflicts especially in our public educational institutions.

Keywords: industrial conflict, critical discourse analysis, conceptual metaphor, federal government of Nigeria, academic staff union of universities

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Authors: Al-Tammar M. Shahah

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Background and Objective: A novel pneumonia caused by coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which is spreading domestically and internationally, has been identified by the Chinese city of Wuhan since the end of December 2019. Limited studies examined the psychological experience such as anxiety, depression, and stress during Corona pandemic. Moreover, to the best of author's knowledge, there is no study to date has examined the psychological resilience and mental health during Corona pandemic in Kuwait. Therefore, the present research investigates the role of psychological resilience in predicting psychological distress among Kuwaiti adults during Corona pandemic. Method: Kuwaiti citizens (N = 735) completed an online survey, which includes four scales the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale HADS (anxiety and depression), the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC-25), and the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS). A cross-sectional correlational design was used. Results: A high level of stress was observed, with 59% reported moderate to severe stress. In contrast, low levels of anxiety and depression were observed; with 70% reporting no anxiety symptoms and 74% report no depression symptoms. Psychological resilience was negatively correlated with anxiety, depression, and stress, consistent with previous studies. As expected, resilience was found to account for significant variance in anxiety and stress after controlling for quarantine variables and demographic variables. Conclusion: The findings suggest that increasing psychological resilience might help reduce psychological distress after confronting with stressful live events in Kuwaiti citizen.

Keywords: anxiety, corona, depression, psychological resilience, stress

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Authors: Polina Pekker

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This work analyzes the role of lecturers in e-learning in Russia. It is based on qualitative research of lecturers who conduct courses on Russian national platforms of open education. The platform is based on edx software (provider of massive open online courses). The interviews with e-learning lecturers were conducted: from December 2015 till January 2016 and from April 2016 till May 2016. The results of interviews (face-to-face, telephone, skype) show, firstly, the difference between the role of lecturers in e-learning and in traditional education and, secondly, that the competition between lecturers is high in Russia. The results of interviews in Russia show that e-learning lecturer should have several special professional competences: the ability to keep attention of audiences without real contact, the ability to work on camera and competences related with e-learning course support (test, forum, communication on forum and etc.) It is concluded that lecturers need special course on acting and speech skills and on conducting and organizing of e-learning course in Russia. It is planned to conduct French study. When results from French research will be totally ready, they will be compared to Russian. As well French platform, France Universite Numerique, was launched earlier, in January 2014, so Russian lecturers should get best practice from the French colleagues.

Keywords: e-courses lecturer, e-learning, professional competences of lecturers, national Russian and French platforms of open education

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Authors: Alice Schittek, Isabelle Roskam, Moira Mikolajczak

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Background: Perfectionistic strivings (PS) and perfectionistic concerns (PC) are associated with an increase in parental burnout (PB), and PB causally increases violence towards the offspring. Objective: To our best knowledge, no study has ever investigated whether perfectionism (PS and PC) predicts violence towards the offspring and whether PB could explain this link. We hypothesized that an increase in PS and PC would lead to an increase in violence via an increase in PB. Method: 228 participants responded to an online survey, with three measurement occasions spaced two months apart. Results: Contrary to expectations, cross-lagged path models revealed that violence towards the offspring prospectively predicts an increase in PS and PC. Mediation models showed that PB is not a significant mediator. The results of all models did not change when controlling for social desirability. Conclusion: The present study shows that violence towards the offspring increases the risk of PS and PC in parents, which highlights the importance of understanding the effect of child maltreatment on the whole family system and not just on children. Results are discussed in light of the feeling of guilt experienced by parents. Considering the insignificant mediation effect, PB research should slowly shift towards more (quasi) causal designs, allowing to identify which significant correlations translate into causal effects. Implications: Clinicians should focus on preventing child maltreatment as well as treating parental perfectionism. Researchers should unravel the effects of child maltreatment on the family system.

Keywords: maltreatment, parental burnout, perfectionistic strivings, perfectionistic concerns, perfectionism, violence

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Authors: Biniam Bahiru Tufa, Hana Delil Tesfaye, Seife Demisse Legesse, Manaye Tamire

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The healthcare industry is witnessing a digital transformation, with artificial intelligence (AI) offering potential solutions for challenges in health supply chain management (HSCM). However, the adoption of AI in this field remains limited. This research aimed to assess the knowledge, attitude, and practice of AI among students and employees in the health supply chain sector in Ethiopia. Using an explanatory case study research design with a concurrent mixed approach, quantitative and qualitative data were collected simultaneously. The study included 153 participants comprising students and employed health supply chain professionals working in various sectors. The majority had a pharmacy background, and one-third of the participants were male. Most respondents were under 35 years old, and around 68.6% had less than 10 years of experience. The findings revealed that 94.1% of participants had prior knowledge of AI, but only 35.3% were aware of its application in the supply chain. Moreover, the majority indicated that their training curriculum did not cover AI in health supply chain management. Participants generally held positive attitudes toward the necessity of AI for improving efficiency, effectiveness, and cost savings in the supply chain. However, many expressed concerns about its impact on job security and satisfaction, considering it as a burden Graduate students demonstrated higher knowledge of AI compared to employed staff, while graduate students also exhibited a more positive attitude toward AI. The study indicated low previous utilization and potential future utilization of AI in the health supply chain, suggesting untapped opportunities for improvement. Overall, while supply chain experts and graduate students lacked sufficient understanding of AI and its significance, they expressed favorable views regarding its implementation in the sector. The study recommends that the Ethiopian government and international organizations consider introducing AI in the undergraduate pharmacy curriculum and promote its integration into the health supply chain field.

Keywords: knowledge, attitude, practice, supply chain, articifial intellegence

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Authors: Ting Li Liu

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‘Leftover woman’ or ‘3S’ woman is the term used to describe a well-educated, high income, independent woman who is single and never married around 30 years in Chinese society. With the naming of this demographic of ‘leftover women’, their family, dating culture, mate selection and marriage attract public concern. Massive media representations of ‘leftover women’ occur daily; the research aims to present several media representations of women’s anxiety about their singlehood and related marital issues around thirty. The research triangulates two areas of media representation of ‘leftover women’: films and audience reviews on ‘Douban Movie’ website. Drawing on traditional media studies, Fairclough’s critical discourse analysis combined with multimodal techniques is applied to the research to analyze the representations of ‘leftover women’ and their implications for marital culture in China, in conjunction with a feminist perspective. The conference paper will discuss two case studies: the film ‘The last woman standing’ and ‘I Do’. Paying attention to different aspects of ‘leftover women’, the research aims to re-examine the representations of ‘leftover women’ in selected scenes, such as their age anxiety, family, marriage, dating process, careers, etc. The paper also includes public beliefs about ‘leftover women’ from online audience reviews. In conclusion, the emergence of ‘leftover women’ is a reflection of Chinese tradition’s impact on people’s lives and new changes in Chinese families and their attitude to marriage.

Keywords: leftover women, marriage, family, media culture, China

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Authors: Abdullah Mukhtar, Shehroz Mukhtar, Amina Mukhtar, Choudhry Shahid, Hafiz Raza Razzaq, Saif Ur Rahman

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The aim of this study is to find out the negative and positive impacts of social media platforms on the attitude toward learning and the educational environment of the student community. Social Media platforms have become a source of collaboration with one another throughout the globe, making it a small world. This study performs a focalized investigation of the adverse and constructive factors that have a strong impact not only on psychological adjustments but also on the academic performance of peers. This study is quantitative research adopting a random sampling method in which the participants were the students at the university. The researcher distributed 1000 questionnaires among the university students from different departments and asked them to fill in the data on the Lickert Scale. The participants are from the age group of 18-24 years. The study applies user and gratification theory in order to examine the behavior of students practicing social media in their academic and personal lives. The findings of the study reveal that the use of social media platforms in the Pakistani context has less positive impact as compared to negative impacts on the behavior of students towards learning. The research suggests that usage of online social media platforms should be taught to students; awareness must the created among the users of social media by means of seminars, workshops and by media itself to overcome the negative impacts of social media, leading towards sustainable education in Pakistan.

Keywords: social media, positive impacts, negative impacts, sustainable education, learning behaviour

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Authors: T. Noichl, M. Cramer, G. E. Dlugosch, I. Hosenfeld

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Teachers are exposed to a variety of stresses in their work context. These can have a negative impact on physical and psychological well-being. The online training ‘Better Living! Self-care for teachers’ is based on the training ‘Better Living! Self-care for mental health professionals’, which has been proven to be effective over a period of 3 years. The training for teachers is being evaluated for its effectiveness between October 2021 and March 2023 in a study funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research. The aim of the training is to promote self-care and mindfulness among participants and thereby to foster well-being. The concept of self-care was already mentioned in antiquity and was also named as an imperative by philosophers such as Socrates and Epictetus. In the absence of a universal understanding of self-care today, the following definition was developed within the research group: Self-care is 1) facing oneself in a loving and appreciative way, 2) taking one's own needs seriously, and 3) actively contributing to one's own well-being. The study is designed as a randomized wait-control group repeated-measures design with 4 (treatment group) resp. 6 (wait-control group) measurement points. Central dependent variables are self-care, mindfulness, stress, and well-being. To assess the long-term effectiveness of training participation, these constructs are surveyed at the beginning and the end of the training as well as five weeks and one year later. Based on the results of the evaluation with mental health professionals, it is expected that participation will lead to an increase in subjective well-being, self-care, and mindfulness. The first results of the evaluation study are presented and discussed with regard to the effectiveness of the training among teachers.

Keywords: longitudinal intervention study, mindfulness, self-care, teachers’ mental health, well-being

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Authors: Cheng Sim Quah, Sandra Phek Lin Sim

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This study examined how individuals in their respective teams contributed to innovation performance besides defining the term of innovation in their own respective views. This study also identified factors that motivated University staff to contribute to the innovation products. In addition, it examined whether there is a significant relationship between professional training level and the length of service among university staff towards innovation and to what extent do the two variables contributed towards innovative products. The significance of this study is that it revealed the strengths and weaknesses of the university staff when contributing to innovation performance. Stratified-random sampling was employed to determine the samples representing the population of lecturers in the study, involving 123 lecturers in one of the local universities in Malaysia. The method employed to analyze the data is through categorizing into themes for the open-ended questions besides using descriptive and inferential statistics for the quantitative data. This study revealed that two types of definition for the term “innovation” exist among the university staff, namely, creation of new product or new approach to do things as well as value-added creative way to upgrade or improve existing process and service to be more efficient. This study found that the most prominent factor that propel them towards innovation is to improve the product in order to benefit users, followed by self-satisfaction and recognition. This implies that the staff in the organization viewed the creation of innovative products as a process of growth to fulfill the needs of others and also to realize their personal potential. This study also found that there was only a significant relationship between the professional training level and the length of service of 4-6 years among the university staff. The rest of the groups based on the length of service showed that there was no significant relationship with the professional training level towards innovation. Moreover, results of the study on directional measures depicted that the relationship for the length of service of 4 - 6 years with professional training level among the university staff is quite weak. This implies that good organization management lies on the shoulders of the key leaders who enlighten the path to be followed by the staff.

Keywords: innovation, length of service, performance, professional training level, motivation

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Authors: Farzaneh Askari, Jila Ganji, Sedigheh Hasani Moghadam

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Background and Aim: Endometriosis has been reported as one of the most common chronic gynecological conditions characterized by physical and psychological complications. Given that the impact of this disease on marital relationships and quality of life is multidimensional, the present review study aimed to reflect on the effect of psychosomatic aspects of endometriosis on marital relationships and quality of life. Materials and Methods: A narrative review methodology using keywords determined by the Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) thesaurus was adopted in this study. For this purpose, the databases of ScienceDirect, Scientific Information Database (SID), Google Scholar, and PubMed were searched by means of key terms including endometriosis, marital relationships, physical complications, psychological complications, and quality of life in English and Persian from 2005 to 2020. At the end of the search, 38 articles were retrieved, and ultimately a total number of 16 studies were recruited for this review. Results: A review of the selected articles demonstrated that endometriosis could affect marital relationships and quality of life among couples featuring in three different categories, i.e. “category I: physical health dimension” (chronic pelvic pain, dysmenorrhea, cramps but not period, reduction and loss of fertility), “category II: sexual health dimension” (no sexual intercourse, dyspareunia, lack of sexual satisfaction), and “category III: psychosocial health dimension” (negative self-esteem, low energy, sense of loneliness, depression, social isolation, insufficient sleep, marital distress, divorce and marriage breakdown, inability to work and socialize). Conclusion: In general, it is suggested to pay particular attention to psychosomatic aspects of marital problems in patients affected with endometriosis. Accordingly, implementing educational and counseling strategies to minimize the complications of this disease can provide the grounds for improving marital relationships and maintaining the quality of life in these patients.

Keywords: Endometriosis, marital relationships, psychosomatic complications, quality of life

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Authors: Suleman Ibrahim

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Purpose: The research is seeking people's perceptions on cybercrime issues, rather than their knowledge of the facts. Unlike the Tripartite Cybercrime Framework (TCF), the binary models are ill-equipped to differentiate between cyber fraud (a socioeconomic crime) and cyber bullying or cyber stalking (psychosocial cybercrimes). Whilst the binary categories suggested that digital crimes are dichotomized: (i.e. cyber-enabled and cyber-dependent), the TCF, recently proposed, argued that cybercrimes can be conceptualized into three groups: socioeconomic, psychosocial and geopolitical. Concomitantly, as regards to the experience/perceptions of cybercrime, the TCF’s claim requires substantiation beyond its theoretical realm. Approach/Methodology: This scholar endeavor framed with the TCF, deploys a survey method to explore the experience of cybercrime across gender. Drawing from over 400 participants in the UK, this study aimed to contrast the differential perceptions/experiences of socioeconomic cybercrime (e.g. cyber fraud) and psychological cybercrime (e.g. cyber bullying and cyber stalking) across gender. Findings: The results revealed that cyber stalking was rated as least serious of the different digital crime categories. Further revealed that female participants judged all types of cybercrimes as more serious than male participants, with the exception of socioeconomic cybercrime – cyber fraud. This distinction helps to emphasize that gender cultures and nuances not only apply both online and offline, it emphasized the utilitarian value of the TCF. Originality: Unlike existing data, this study has contrasted the differential perceptions and experience of socioeconomic and psychosocial cybercrimes with more refined variables.

Keywords: gender variations, psychosocial cybercrime, socioeconomic cybercrime, tripartite cybercrime framework

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Authors: Nami Takase

Abstract:

Computer-mediated-communication allows people to connect and interact with each other as if they were sharing the same space. The current study examined the effects of using video letters (VLs) on the development of second language speaking skills of Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) A1 and CEFR B2 level learners of English as a foreign language. Two groups were formed to measure the impact of VLs. The experimental and control groups were given the same topic, and both groups worked with a native English-speaking university student from the United States of America. Students in the experimental group exchanged VLs, and students in the control group used video conferencing. Pre- and post-tests were conducted to examine the effects of each practice mode. The transcribed speech-text data showed that the VL group had improved speech accuracy scores, while the video conferencing group had increased sentence complexity scores. The use of VLs may be more effective for beginner-level learners because they are able to notice their own errors and replay videos to better understand the native speaker’s speech at their own pace. Both the VL and video conferencing groups provided positive feedback regarding their interactions with native speakers. The results showed how different types of computer-mediated communication impacts different areas of language learning and speaking practice and how each of these types of online communication tool is suited to different teaching objectives.

Keywords: computer-assisted-language-learning, computer-mediated-communication, english as a foreign language, speaking

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Authors: Lina Vyas, Stuti Rawat

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The COVID-19 outbreak has forced many employees to extensively adopt remote work or, widely known as work from home (WFH) arrangements. During the last two years, both employers and employees have had the opportunity to be increasingly aware of the benefits and drawbacks of WFH. Likewise, it gained the attention of academics from various schools of thought who have been interested in the future of work practices and work-life balance. Additionally, employees might also have various demands regarding their work practices after the pandemic. This study explores the potential of hybrid ways of working in the post-pandemic period by comparing first-timers who (sometimes or always) worked from home during the pandemic with those who did not, in terms of the aspects of work-life balance, work-life interference, job performance and willingness to work from home after the pandemic. The quantitative research approach was adopted. Data were collected via an online questionnaire from employees working from home in Hong Kong during the pandemic. There were one thousand three hundred and twenty-eight responses, but only 1,235 respondents experienced working from home during the pandemic. The findings reveal that 72.2% never had or hardly experienced work from home prior to the pandemic. There were statistically significant differences between first-timers and non-first-timers in work-life balance and work-life interference. The study also found that first-timers who were always working from home during the pandemic would prefer having longer WFH after the pandemic than those who were sometimes working from home. These results would serve as a basis for policy development, enabling policymakers to design appropriate HR policies and amend them to meet the current context of actual employee needs.

Keywords: hybrid working mode, remote working, work from home, work-life balance, workplace

Procedia PDF Downloads 107

Authors: Courtley Pharaoh, D. J. Visser

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University management is often caught between competing interests from stakeholders like students, trustees, donors, government and the community it serves. This study aimed to identify what management competencies are required by executive management members of universities of technology to effectively manage a university of technology in South Africa from the perspective of the executive management members. This exploratory study will make use of a qualitative methodology to establish what management competencies are deemed as important to manage a university of technology in South Africa from the executive management perspective. Due to the consequences of the COVID-19 Pandemic, the study made use of online face-to-face interviews to ascertain from executive management members of universities of technology what the required management competencies needed by executive management members of universities of technology to effectively manage a University of Technology in South Africa. Qualitative Content Analysis was used to analyse the data collected. The findings of the study identified a total of 26 management competencies which were categorised into three groupings or themes. This study identified a list of required management competencies needed by executive management members of universities of technology to effectively manage a university of technology in South Africa, as per the lived experience of executive management members. The researcher recommends further studies at traditional and comprehensive universities and compares the results of those future studies with the results of this study. A comprehensive list of management competencies could then be identified, which could assist with the compilation of job descriptions of executive management members of universities in South Africa.

Keywords: university of technology, management competencies, executive management, executive management members, important

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Authors: Irfan Khairi

Abstract:

It is arguable that today's social media has dramatically redefined human contact, and chiefly because the platforms enable communication opportunities unprecedented. Without question, billions of individuals globally engage in the media, a reality by no means lost on businesses and social entrepreneurs desirous of generating interest in a cause, movement, or other social effort. If, however, the opportunities are immense, so too is the competition. Private persons and entrepreneurial concerns alike virtually saturate the popular sites of Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, and most are intent on capturing as much external interest as possible. At the same time, however, the social entrepreneur possesses an advantage over the individual concerned only the social aspects of the sites, as they express interests in, and measures applicable to, important causes of which the public at large may be unaware. There is, unfortunately, no single means of assuring success in using the media outlets to generate interest. Nonetheless, a general awareness of how social media sites function, as well as the psychological elements relevant to the functioning, is necessary. It is as important to comprehend basic realities of the platforms and approaches that fail as it is to develop strategy, for the latter relies on knowledge of the former. This awareness in place, the social entrepreneur is then better enabled to determine strategy, in terms of which sites to focus upon and how to most effectively convey their message. What is required is familiarity with the online communities, with attention to the specific advantages each provides. Ultimately, today's social entrepreneur may establish a highly effective platform of promotion and engagement, provided they fully comprehend the social investment necessary for success.

Keywords: social media, marketing, e-commerce, internet business

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Authors: Li-hsing Shih, Tzu-hsun Yen

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Because of the long-term commitment to net zero carbon emission, utility companies include more renewable energy supply, which generates electricity with time and weather restrictions. This leads to time-of-use electricity pricing to reflect the actual cost of energy supply. From an end-user point of view, better residential energy management is needed to incorporate the time-of-use prices and assist end users in scheduling their daily use of electricity. This study uses bi-criteria optimization methods to schedule daily energy consumption by minimizing the electricity cost and maximizing the comfort of end users. Different from most previous research, this study schedules users’ activities rather than household appliances to have better measures of users’ comfort/satisfaction. The relation between each activity and the use of different appliances could be defined by users. The comfort level is at the highest when the time and duration of an activity completely meet the user’s expectation, and the comfort level decreases when the time and duration do not meet expectations. A questionnaire survey was conducted to collect data for establishing regression models that describe users’ comfort levels when the execution time and duration of activities are different from user expectations. Six regression models representing the comfort levels for six types of activities were established using the responses to the questionnaire survey. A computer program is developed to evaluate electricity cost and the comfort level for each feasible schedule and then find the non-dominated schedules. The Epsilon constraint method is used to find the optimal schedule out of the non-dominated schedules. A hypothetical case is presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach and the computer program. Using the program, users can obtain the optimal schedule of daily energy consumption by inputting the intended time and duration of activities and the given time-of-use electricity prices.

Keywords: bi-criteria optimization, energy consumption, time-of-use price, scheduling

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Authors: Crystal Shackleford, Michael Pasek, Allon Vishkin, Jeremy Ginges

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In the Middle East, conflict is often viewed as religiously motivated. In this context, an important question is how we think the religion of the other drives their behavior. If people see conflicts as religious, they may expect the belief of the other to motivate intergroup bias. Beliefs about the motivations of the other impact how we engage with them. Conflict may result if actors believe the other’s religion promotes parochialism. To examine how actors on the ground in Israel-Palestine think about the God of the other as it relates to the other’s behavior towards them, we ran two studies in winter 2019 with an online sample of Jewish Israelis and fieldwork with Palestinians in the West Bank. We asked participants to predict the behavior of an outgroup member participating in an economic game task, dividing the money between themselves and another person, who is either an ingroup or outgroup member. Our experimental manipulation asks participants to predict the behavior of the other when the other is thinking of their God. Both Israelis and Palestinians believed outgroup members would show in-group favoritism, and that group members would give more to their in-group when thinking of their God. We also found that participants thought outgroup members would give more to their own ingroup when thinking of God. In other words, Palestinians predicted that Israelis would give more to fellow Israelis when thinking of God, but also more to Palestinians. Our results suggest that religious belief is seen to promote universal moral reasoning, even in a context with over 70 years of intense conflict. More broadly, this challenges the narrative that religion necessarily motivates intractable conflict.

Keywords: conflict, psychology, religion, meta-cognition, morality

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Authors: Priyal Motwani

Abstract:

The current market for bamboo products in India is about Rs. 21000 crores and is highly unorganised and fragmented. In this study, we have closely analysed the structure and functions of a major bamboo craft based organisation in Kerela, India and elaborated about its value chain, product mix, pricing strategy and supply chain, collaborations and competitive landscape. We have identified six major bottlenecks that are prevalent in such organisations, based on the Indian context, in relation to their product mix, asset management, and supply chain- corresponding waste management and retail network. The study has identified that the target customers for the bamboo based products and alternative revenue streams (eco-tourism, microenterprises, training), by carrying out secondary and primary research (5000 sample space), that can boost the existing revenue by 150%. We have then recommended an optimum product mix-covering premium, medium and low valued processing, for medium sized bamboo based organisations, in accordance with their capacity to maximize their revenue potential. After studying such organisations and their counter parts, the study has established an optimum retail network, considering B2B, B2C physical and online retail, to maximize their sales to their target groups. On the basis of the results obtained from the analysis of the future and present trends, our study gives recommendations to improve the revenue potential of bamboo based organisation in India and promote sustainability.

Keywords: bamboo, bottlenecks, optimization, product mix, retail network, value chain

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Authors: Scott McCutcheon, Karen Schreder

Abstract:

Higher education is facing a new reality. Student connection with coursework, instructor, and peers competes with online gaming, screen time, and instant gratification. Pedagogical methods that align student connection and critical thinking in a content-rich environment are important in supporting student learning, a sense of community, and emotional health. This mixed methods study focuses on exploring how the use of educational escape rooms (EERs) can support student learning and learning retention while fostering engagement with each other, the instructor, and the coursework. EERs are content-specific, cooperative, team-based learning activities designed to be completed within a short segment of a typical class. Data for the study was collected over three semesters and includes results from the implementation of EERs in science-based and liberal studies courses taught by different instructors. Twenty-seven students were surveyed regarding their learning experiences with this pedagogy, and interviews with four student volunteers were conducted to add depth to the survey data. A key finding from this research indicates that students felt more connected to each other and the course content after participating in the escape room activity. Additional findings point to increased engagement and comprehension of the class material. Data indicates that the use of an EER pedagogy supports student engagement, well-being, subject comprehension, and student-student and student-instructor connection.

Keywords: gamification, innovative pedagogy, student engagement, student emotional well being

Procedia PDF Downloads 68