Search results for: impact on female workers

Authors: Gunawan Prayitno, Kakuya Matshusima, Kiyoshi Kobayashi

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Indonesia’s rural regions are characterized by wide-spread poverty, under-employment, and surplus of low-skilled labor. The aim of this paper is to empirically prove the effect of social ties (strong and weak tie) as social capital construct on households’ migration decision in the case of developing country (Indonesia). The methodology incorporated indicators of observe variables (four demographic attributes data: income, occupation, education, and family members) and indicators of latent variables (ties to neighbors, ties to community and sense of place) provided by responses to survey questions to aid in estimating the model. Using structural equation model that we employed in Mplus program, the result of our study shows that ties to community positively have a significant impact to the decision of respondents (migrate or not). Besides, education as observed variable directly influences the migration decisions. It seems that higher level of education have impact on migration decision. Our current model so far could explain the relation between social capital and migration decision choice.

Keywords: migration, ties to community, ties to neighbors, education

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Authors: Liuyao Chai, Colin Clark

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Analysis of 574 participants in a simulated two-person distributive negotiation revealed that the first price 245 (42.7%) of these participants actually asked/offered for the item under negotiation (a used car) differed from the first price they previously stated they intended to ask/offer during their negotiation. This discrepancy between a negotiator’s intended first asking/offer price and his/her actual first asking/offer price had a significant and economically consequential impact on both the course and the outcomes of the negotiations studied. Participants whose actual first price remained the same as their intended first price tended to secure better negotiation outcomes. Moreover, participants who changed their intended first price tended to obtain relatively lower outcomes regardless of whether their modified first announced price had created a negotiating position that was ‘stronger’ or ‘weaker’ than if they had opened with their intended first price. Subsequent investigation of over twenty negotiation behaviours and pre-negotiation perceptual variables within this dataset indicated that the three types of first price announcers—i.e. intended first asking/offer price ‘weakeners’, ‘maintainers’ and ‘strengtheners’— comprised persons who tended to have significantly different pre-negotiation perceptions and behaved in systematically different ways during their negotiation. Typically, the most negative, outcome-compromising consequences of changing, weakening or strengthening an intended first price occurred at the very beginning of a negotiation when participants exchanged their actual first asking/offer prices.

Keywords: business communication, negotiation, persuasion, intended first asking/offer prices, bargaining

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Authors: Tuğçe Kiper Elibol, İbrahim Uslan, Mehmet Ali Guler, Murat Buyuk, Uğur Yolum

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According to the FAA report, 142603 bird strikes were reported for a period of 24 years, between 1990 – 2013. Bird strike with aerospace structures not only threaten the flight security but also cause financial loss and puts life in danger. The statistics show that most of the bird strikes are happening with the nose and the leading edge of the wings. Also, a substantial amount of bird strikes is absorbed by the jet engines and causes damage on blades and engine body. Crash proof designs are required to overcome the possibility of catastrophic failure of the airplane. Using computational methods for bird strike analysis during the product development phase has considerable importance in terms of cost saving. Clearly, using simulation techniques to reduce the number of reference tests can dramatically affect the total cost of an aircraft, where for bird strike often full-scale tests are considered. Therefore, development of validated numerical models is required that can replace preliminary tests and accelerate the design cycle. In this study, to verify the simulation parameters for a bird strike analysis, several different numerical options are studied for an impact case against a primitive structure. Then, a representative bird mode is generated with the verified parameters and collided against the leading edge of a training aircraft wing, where each structural member of the wing was explicitly modeled. A nonlinear explicit dynamics finite element code, LS-DYNA was used for the bird impact simulations. SPH methodology was used to model the behavior of the bird. Dynamic behavior of the wing superstructure was observed and will be used for further design optimization purposes.

Keywords: bird impact, bird strike, finite element modeling, smoothed particle hydrodynamics

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Authors: Ibrahim Bashayreh Al-Bashtawy Mohammed, Al-Azzam Manar Ahmad Rawashda, Abdul-Monim Batiha Mohammad Sulaiman

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Background: Workplace violence against emergency department staff (EDS) is considered one of the most common and widespread phenomena of violence. Purpose: The purpose of this research is to determine the incidence rates of workplace violence and the predicting factors of violent behaviors among emergency departments’ staff in Jordanian hospitals. Methods: A cross-sectional study was used to investigate workplace violence towards a convenience sample of 355 emergency staff departments from 8 governmental and 4 private Jordanian hospitals. Data were collected by a self-administered questionnaire that was developed for the purpose of this study. Results: 72% of workers in emergency departments within Jordanian hospitals are exposed to violent acts, and that patients and their relatives are the main source of workplace violence. The contributing factors as reported by the participants were related to overcrowding, lack of resources, staff shortages, and the absence of effective antiviolence policies. Conclusions/implications for Practice: Policies and legislation regarding violence should be instituted and developed, and emergency department staff should be given training on how to deal with violent incidents, as well as on violence-management policies.

Keywords: Jordan, emergency staff department, workplace violence, community health

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Authors: Hari Shankar, Kshitij Raj, Priya Keshari, Pragya Singh

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Headache is one of the most ubiquitous and frequent neurological disorders interfering with everyday life in all countries. India appears to be no exception. Objectives are to assess the prevalence of headache among adult population in urban area of Varanasi and to find out factors influencing the occurrence of headache. A community based cross sectional study was conducted among adult population in urban area of Varanasi district, Uttar Pradesh, India. Total 151 eligible respondents were interviewed by simple random sampling technique. Proportion percentage and Chisquare test were applied for data analysis. Out of 151 respondents, majority (58.3%) were females. In this study, 92.8% respondents belonged to age group 18-60 years while 7.2% was either 60 year of age or above. The overall prevalence of headache was found to be 51.1%. Highest and lowest prevalence of headache was recorded in age groups 18-29 year & 40-49 year respectively. Headache was 62.1% in illiterate and was 40.0% among graduate & above. Unskilled workers had more headache 73.1% than other type of occupation. Headache was more prevalent among unemployed (35.9%) than employed (6.4%). Females had higher family history of headache (48.9%) as compared to males (41.3%). Study subjects having peaceful relation with family members, relatives and neighbors had more headache than those having no peaceful relation.  

Keywords: family relationship, headache, neighbors, ration cards

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Authors: Natalia Buderatskaya, Igor Ilyin, Julia Gontar, Sergey Lavrynenko, Olga Parnitskaya, Ekaterina Ilyina, Eduard Kapustin, Yana Lakhno

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Introduction: It is known that cryopreservation of oocytes has peculiar features due to the complex structure of the oocyte. One of the most important features is that mature oocytes contain meiotic division spindle which is very sensitive even to the slightest variation in temperature. Thus, the main objective of this study is to analyse the resulting euploid embryos obtained from thawed oocytes in comparison with the data of preimplantation genetic screening (PGS) in fresh embryo cycles. Material and Methods: The study was conducted at 'Medical Centre IGR' from January to July 2016. Data were analysed for 908 donor oocytes obtained in 67 cycles of assisted reproductive technologies (ART), of which 693 oocytes were used in the 51 'fresh' cycles (group A), and 215 oocytes - 16 ART programs with vitrification female gametes (group B). The average age of donors in the groups match 27.3±2.9 and 27.8±6.6 years. Stimulation of superovulation was conducted the standard way. Vitrification was performed in 1-2 hours after transvaginal puncture and thawing of oocytes were carried out in accordance with the standard protocol of Cryotech (Japan). Manipulation ICSI was performed 4-5 hours after transvaginal follicle puncture for fresh oocytes, or after defrosting - for vitrified female gametes. For the PGS, an embryonic biopsy was done on the third or on the fifth day after fertilization. Diagnostic procedures were performed using fluorescence in situ hybridization with the study of such chromosomes as 13, 16, 18, 21, 22, X, Y. Only morphologically quality blastocysts were used for the transfer, the estimation of which corresponded to the Gardner criteria. The statistical hypotheses were done using the criteria t, x^2 at a significance levels p<0.05, p<0.01, p<0.001. Results: The mean number of mature oocytes per cycle in group A was 13.58±6.65 and in group B - 13.44±6.68 oocytes for patient. The survival of oocytes after thawing totaled 95.3% (n=205), which indicates a highly effective quality of performed vitrification. The proportion of zygotes in the group A corresponded to 91.1%(n=631), in the group B – 80.5%(n=165), which shows statistically significant difference between the groups (p<0.001) and explained by non-viable oocytes elimination after vitrification. This is confirmed by the fact that on the fifth day of embryos development a statistically significant difference in the number of blastocysts was absent (p>0.05), and constituted respectively 61.6%(n=389) and 63.0%(n=104) in the groups. For the PGS performing 250 embryos analyzed in the group A and 72 embryos - in the group B. The results showed that euploidy in the studied chromosomes were 40.0%(n=100) embryos in the group A and 41.7% (n=30) - in the group B, which shows no statistical significant difference (p>0.05). The indicators of clinical pregnancies in the groups amounted to 64.7% (22 pregnancies per 34 embryo transfers) and 61.5% (8 pregnancies per 13 embryo transfers) respectively, and also had no significant difference between the groups (p>0.05). Conclusions: The results showed that the vitrification does not affect the resulting euploid embryos in assisted reproductive technologies and are not reflected in their morphological characteristics in ART programs.

Keywords: euploid embryos, preimplantation genetic screening, thawing oocytes, vitrification

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Authors: W. Linthicum-Blackhorse, P. Martens

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This present study seeks to discover attitudinal commonalities and differences within a musician population relative to the communication of emotion via music. We hypothesized that instrument type, as well as age and gender, would bear significantly on musicians’ opinions. A survey was administered to 178 participants; 152 were current music majors (mean age 20.3 years, 62 female) and 26 were adult participants in a community choir (mean age 54.0 years, 12 female). The adult participants were all vocalists, while student participants represented the full range of orchestral instruments. The students were grouped by degree program, (performance, music education, or other) and instrument type (voice, brass, woodwinds, strings, percussion). The survey asked 'How important are each of the following areas to you for portraying emotion in music?' Participants were asked to rate each of 15 items on a scale of 1 (not at all important) to 10 (very important). Participants were also instructed to leave blank any item that they did not understand. The 15 items were: dynamic contrast, overall volume, phrasing, facial expression, staging (placement), pitch accuracy, tempo changes, bodily movement, your mood, your attitude, vibrato, rubato, stage/room lighting, clothing type, and clothing color. Contrary to our hypothesis, there was no overall effect of gender or age, and neither did any single response item show a significant difference due to these subject parameters. Among the student participants, however, one-way ANOVA revealed a significant effect of degree program on the rated importance of four items: dynamic contrast, tempo changes, vibrato, and rubato. Significant effects of instrument type were found in the responses to eight items: facial expression, staging, body movement, vibrato, rubato, lighting, clothing type, and clothing color. Post hoc comparisons (Tukey) show that some variation follows from obvious differences between instrument types (e.g. string players are more concerned with vibrato than everyone but woodwind players; vocalists are significantly more concerned with facial expression than everyone but string players), but other differences could point to communal mindsets toward vicarious cues within instrument type. These mindsets could be global (e.g. brass players deeming body movement significantly less important than string players, being less often featured as soloists and appearing less often at the front of the stage) or local (e.g. string players being significantly more concerned than all other groups about both clothing color and type, perhaps due to the strongly-expressed opinions of specific teachers). Future work will attempt to identify the source of these self-appraisals, whether enculturated via explicit pedagogy, or whether absorbed from individuals' observations and performance experience.

Keywords: performance, vicarious cues, communication, emotion

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Authors: Abdel Rahman Mitib Altakhaineh, Abdul Salam Mohamad Alnamer, Sulafah Abdul Salam Alnamer

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This study examines the production of gemination in Emirati Pidgin Arabic (EPA) spoken by blue-collar workers in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). A simple naming test was designed to test the production of geminates and a follow-up discussion was conducted with some of the participants to obtain the complementary qualitative analysis. The goal of the test was to determine whether the EPA speakers would produce a geminated or degeminated phoneme. A semi-structured interview was conducted with a subset of the study cohort to obtain participants’ own explanation where they degeminated the consonants. Our findings suggest that the exercising of this choice functions as a sociolinguistic strategy in a similar manner to that observed by Labov in his study of Martha’s Vineyard. The findings also show that speakers of EPA are inclined to degeminate consonantal geminates to establish themselves as members of a particular social group. Reasons for wanting to achieve this aim were given as: to claim privileges only available to members of this group (such as employment) and to distinguish themselves from the dominant cultural group. The study concludes that degemination in EPA has developed into a sociolinguistic solidarity marker.

Keywords: sociolinguistics, morphophonology, degemination, solidarity, Emirati pidgin Arabic

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Authors: Kanchan J. Kakade, S. A. Annadate

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This paper presents design and development of underground coal mine monitoring using mbed arm cortex controller and ZigBee communication. Coal mine is a special type of mine which is dangerous in nature. Safety is the most important feature of a coal industry for proper functioning. It’s not only for employees and workers but also for environment and nation. Many coal producing countries in the world face phenomenal frequently occurred accidents in coal mines viz, gas explosion, flood, and fire breaking out during coal mines exploitation. Thus, such emissions of various gases from coal mines are necessary to detect with the help of robot. Coal is a combustible, sedimentary, organic rock, which is made up of mainly carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. Coal Mine Detection Robot mainly detects mash gas and carbon monoxide. The mash gas is the kind of the mixed gas which mainly make up of methane in the underground of the coal mine shaft, and sometimes it abbreviate to methane. It is formed from vegetation, which has been fused between other rock layers and altered by the combined effects of heat and pressure over millions of years to form coal beds. Coal has many important uses worldwide. The most significant uses of coal are in electricity generation, steel production, cement manufacturing and as a liquid fuel.

Keywords: Zigbee communication, various sensors, hazardous gases, mbed arm cortex M3 core controller

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Authors: Chisakan Papapankiad

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The purpose of this research was to study the level of satisfaction from the perspective of inbound tourists who visited Bangkok, Thailand during January to March of 2014. While the independent variables included gender, age, levels of education, occupation, and income, the dependent variables were ten reasons for their visiting Thailand. A quota sampling method was utilized to get 200 respondents with 50 percent male and 50 percent female respondents. The majority of respondents were between 30-40 years old. Most were married and had an undergraduate degree. The average income of the respondents was between $30,000-50,000 per year. The findings revealed the ranking levels of satisfaction by highest mean to lowest mean as follows: Thai food and beverage, nature-beach-mountain, spa-massage-beauty, malls-shopping places, souvenir and handcraft, festivals and activities, tradition markets, museum-art-history, night entertainment, and conference-expo. In addition, the overall means is 4.19 with 0.790 SD.

Keywords: inbound tourists, satisfaction, visiting, Thailand

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Authors: Vanessa Cho, Janet Hsiao, Nigel King, Robert Anthonappa

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Background: The personal protective equipment (PPE) requirements for health care workers (HCWs) have changed significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic. Aim: To ascertain, using eye-tracking technology, what children notice the most when seeing HCWs in various PPE. Design: A Tobii nano pro-eye-tracking camera tracked 156 children's visual attention while they viewed photographs of HCWs in various PPEs. Eye Movement analysis with Hidden Markov Models (EMHMM) was employed to analyse 624 recordings using two approaches, namely (i) data-driven where children's fixation determined the regions of interest (ROIs), and (ii) fixed ROIs where the investigators predefined the ROIs. Results: Two significant eye movement patterns, namely distributed(85.2%) and selective(14.7%), were identified(P<0.05). Most children fixated primarily on the face regardless of the different PPEs. Children fixated equally on all PPE images in the distributed pattern, while a strong preference for unmasked faces was evident in the selective pattern (P<0.01). Conclusion: Children as young as 2.5 years used a top-down visual search behaviour and demonstrated their face processing ability. Most children did not show a strong visual preference for a specific PPE, while a minority preferred PPE with distinct facial features, namely without masks and loupes.

Keywords: COVID-19, PPE, dentistry, pediatric

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Authors: Dian Guan

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With the wide application of multimedia and the Internet, the development of teaching theories, and the implementation of teaching reforms, many different university English classroom teaching modes have emerged. The university English teaching mode is changing from the traditional teaching mode based on conversation and text to the multimodal English teaching mode containing discussion, pictures, audio, film, etc. Applying university English teaching models is conducive to cultivating lifelong learning skills. In addition, lifelong learning skills can also be called learners' autonomous learning skills. Learners' independent learning ability has a significant impact on English learning. However, many university students, especially art and design students, don't know how to learn individually. When they become university students, their English foundation is a relative deficiency because they always remember the language in a traditional way, which, to a certain extent, neglects the cultivation of English learners' independent ability. As a result, the autonomous learning ability of most university students is not satisfactory. The participants in this study were 60 students and one teacher in their first year at a university in western China. Two observations and interviews were conducted inside and outside the classroom to understand the impact of a multimodal teaching model of university English on students' autonomous learning ability. The results were analyzed, and it was found that the multimodal teaching model of university English significantly affected learners' autonomy. Incorporating classroom presentations and poster exhibitions into multimodal teaching can increase learners' interest in learning and enhance their learning ability outside the classroom. However, further exploration is needed to develop multimodal teaching materials and evaluate multimodal teaching outcomes. Despite the limitations of this study, the study adopts a scientific research method to analyze the impact of the multimodal teaching mode of university English on students' independent learning ability. It puts forward a different outlook for further research on this topic.

Keywords: art university, EFL education, learner autonomy, multimodal pedagogy

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Authors: Mahshid Asadollahi, Mohammad Akbari Asl

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The restaurant industry is highly competitive, and restaurants are constantly looking for ways to attract new customers and retain their existing ones. Nonverbal communication is an important factor in creating a positive customer experience and can play a significant role in attracting customers to restaurants. Nonverbal communication can include body language, facial expressions, tone of voice, and physical proximity, among other things. The present study aimed to investigate the impact of nonverbal communication between restaurant employees and customers on attracting customers in food courts in Tehran. The research method was descriptive-correlational, and the statistical population of this study included all customers of food court restaurants in Tehran, which was about 30 restaurants. The research sample was selected through probability sampling, and 440 customers completed emotional response, customer satisfaction, and nonverbal communication questionnaires in person. The data obtained were analyzed using multiple regression analysis. The results showed that vocal language, employee proximity, physical appearance, and speech movements, as components of nonverbal communication of restaurant employees, had an impact on attracting customers. Additionally, positive and negative emotions of customers have a significant relationship with customer attraction in Food Court restaurants. The study shows that various nonverbal communication factors can play a significant role in attracting customers, and that positive and negative customer emotions can affect customer satisfaction. Therefore, restaurant owners and managers should pay attention to nonverbal communication and train their employees accordingly to create a positive and welcoming atmosphere for customers.

Keywords: verbal language, proximity of employees, physical appearance, speech gestures, nonverbal communication, customer emotions, customer attraction

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Authors: G. Vasanthi

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The purpose of the study was to analyse the red blood cells and white blood cells during three different menstrual phases between sedentary and sports women. To achieve this purpose, fifteen female sedentary post graduate students (M.A., M.Sc.) and fifteen students of Master of Physical Education and Sports (M.P.Ed.) women who regularly involved in vigouous sports training and participated in sports competition on different games were selected by adopting random sampling method. All the students were hostelers and their age group was between 20 to 22 years. The blood sample were collected during the mid-period of the three different phases to calculate the red blood cells and white blood cells. The data collected were treated statistically by using analysis of variance. The results reveal that the RBC and WBC is found to be significant between sedentary and sports women during the three different menstrual phases.

Keywords: RBC, WBC, menstrual, proliferative, secretary, sedentary women, sports women

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Authors: Izian Idris, Melissa Ha, Mikkay Wong

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Social media marketing, including influencer marketing, is an ongoing phenomenon, and most companies as well as industries, are finding it crucial to implement social media marketing in their marketing strategies. However, social media influencer marketing still needs to be explored, and further research on this area needs to be carried out to fully understand the importance of social media influencer marketing in impacting consumer purchase decisions. Influencer endorsement has become a trend to grab users’ attention these days. Thus, the aim of this research paper is to explore the attributes of social media influencers/influencer as the endorser that impact consumer purchase intentions. The attributes that will be investigated include attitude homophily, physical attractiveness, and social attractiveness. Following this, the elaboration likelihood model from the theory of persuasion is implemented in this research to further examine the influence of social media influencer attributes on consumer purchase intentions. This study will be able to help marketers, businesses, and researchers understand the attributes of social media influencers as endorsers that will impact consumer purchase intentions and allow businesses to enhance their strategies to better cater to their target market.

Keywords: influencer, endorsement, consumer purchase, social media

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Authors: F. Sahnoune, M. Madani, M. Zelmat, M. Belhamel

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Home heating and generation of domestic hot water are nowadays important items of expenditure and energy consumption. These are also a major source of pollution and emission of greenhouse gases (GHG). Algeria, like other countries of the southern shore of the Mediterranean has an enormous solar potential (more than 3000 hours of sunshine/year). This potential can be exploited in reducing GHG emissions and contribute to climate change adaptation. This work presents the environmental impact of introduction of solar heating in an individual house in Algerian climate conditions. For this purpose, we determined energy needs for heating and domestic hot water taking into account the thermic heat losses of the no isolated house. Based on these needs, sizing of the solar system was carried out. To compare the performances of solar and classic systems, we conducted also an economic evaluation what is very important for countries like Algeria where conventional energy is subsidized. The study clearly show that environmental and economic benefits are in favor of solar heating development in particular in countries where the thermal insulation of the building and energy efficiency are poorly developed.

Keywords: CO2 mitigation, solar energy, solar heating, environmental impact

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Authors: Sumayya S.

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Making cities adaptive and inclusive is one among the inherent goal and challenge for contemporary cities. This is a serious concern when the urban transformations occur in varying magnitude due to visible and invisible factors. One type of visibly invisible factor is ecommerce and its expanding operation that is understood to cause changes to the conventional spatial structure positively and negatively. With the continued growth in e-commerce activities and its future potential, market analysts, media, and even retailers have questioned the importance of a future presence of traditional Brick-and-mortar stores in cities as a critical element, with some even referring to the repeated announcement of the closure of some store chains as the end of the online shopping era. Essentially this raises the question of how adaptive and inclusive the cities are to the dynamics of transformative changes that are often unseen. People have become more comfortable with seating inside and door delivery systems, and this increased change in usage of public spaces, especially the commercial corridors. Through this research helped in presetting a new approach for planning and designing commercial activities centers and also presents the impact of ecommerce on the urban fabric, such as division and fragmentation of space, showroom syndrome, reconceptualization of space, etc., in a critical way. The changes are understood by analyzing the e-commerce logistic process. Based on the inferences reach at the conclusion for the need of an integrated approach in the field of planning and designing of public spaces for the sustainable omnichannel retailing. This study was carried out with the following objectives Monitoring the impact of e commerce on the traditional shopping space. Explore the new challenges and opportunities faced by the urban form. Explore how adaptive and inclusive our cities are to the dynamics of transformative changes caused by ecommerce.

Keywords: E-commerce, shopping streets, online environment, offline environment, shopping factors

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Authors: O. Mauroner, L. Le, S. Best

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Digital technologies offer many opportunities in the design and implementation of brand communication and advertising. Augmented reality (AR) is an innovative technology in marketing communication that focuses on the fact that virtual interaction with a product ad offers additional value to consumers. AR enables consumers to obtain (almost) real product experiences by the way of virtual information even before the purchase of a certain product. Aim of AR applications in relation with advertising is in-depth examination of product characteristics to enhance product knowledge as well as brand knowledge. Interactive design of advertising provides observers with an intense examination of a specific advertising message and therefore leads to better brand knowledge. The elaboration likelihood model and the central route to persuasion strongly support this argumentation. Nevertheless, AR in brand communication is still in an initial stage and therefore scientific findings about the impact of AR on information processing and brand attitude are rare. The aim of this paper is to empirically investigate the potential of AR applications in combination with traditional print advertising. To that effect an experimental design with different levels of interactivity is built to measure the impact of interactivity of an ad on different variables o advertising effectiveness.

Keywords: advertising effectiveness, augmented reality, brand communication, brand recall

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Authors: Najeeb Niazi, Salman Nisar, Aqueel Shah

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In this study a special heat treatment process named austempering on AISI 4340 steel is carried out. Heat treatment on steel is carried out to enhance mechanical properties. In this regard, it is considered essential to undertake a study to evaluate different changes occurred in AISI 4340 steel in terms of hardness, tensile strength and impact strength at different austempering temperatures and cooling times and achieving the best combination of these improved mechanical properties for better and optimum utilization of this grade of steel. By using software Design Expert DOE is formulated with Taguchi orthogonal arrays comprising of L18 (3*3) with 03 factors and 03 responses to be calculated. Results of experiments are analyzed via Taguchi method. Signal to noise ratio of responses are carried out to determine the significant factors among the 03 factors chosen for experimental runs. Overall analysis showed that impact factor along with hardness is improved to great extent by austempering process.

Keywords: austempering temperature, AISI 4340 steel, bainite, Taguchi

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Authors: Eneli Kindsiko, Kulno Türk

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The purpose of the current article is to reveal misconceptions about ICT occupations that keep females away from the field. The study focuses on the three phases in one’s career life cycle: pre-university, university and workplace with the aim of investigating how to attract more females into an ICT-related career. By studying nearly 300 secondary school graduates, 102 university students and 18 female ICT specialists, the study revealed six myths that influence the decision-making process of young girls in pursuing an ICT-related education and career. Furthermore, discriminating conception of ICT as a primarily man’s world is developed before the university period. Stereotypical barriers should be brought out to the public debate, so that a remarkable proportion of possible employees (women) would not stay away from the tech-related fields. Countries could make a remarkable leap in efficiency, when turning their attention to the gender-related issues in the labour market structure.

Keywords: ICT, women, stereotypes, computer

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Authors: Oscar Maina Irungu

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Background: Men who have sex with men (MSM) in Mtwapa Town, Kilifi County are at high risk of HIV infection. Probability sample surveys to determine HIV prevalence among MSM in Mtwapa are needed to inform prevention and care services. Methods: In 2013, a cross-sectional survey was conducted among MSM aged 18-24 years old, using respondent-driven sampling (RDS) in Mtwapa. Consenting MSM were tested for HIV (fingerstick rapid test). Population-based prevalence and 95 % confidence intervals (CI) were estimated using RDS Analysis Tool (RDSAT). Results: Among 274 MSM, the median age was 20 years (IQR: 19-23 years). Fifty percent of MSM reported not selling sex, while 13.2 % reported sex work as their “main occupation”, and another 28.4 % reported selling sex in the past two months (but not as their main occupation).Overall HIV prevalence was 19.2 % (CI: 12.2-23.6%). HIV prevalence was higher among MSM who reported sex work as their main occupation (28.3%,CI: 12.1-42.3%) or selling sex in the past two months (26.6 %, CI: 17.2-35.7 %),than among MSM who did not sell sex (11.6%,CI: 7.0-18.1%). Conclusion: HIV prevalence among MSM were high than among Kilifi’s general population aged 15-64 years (8.8%; 2010 KAIS) and highest in male sex workers. Health programs need to address concerns and modify services to meet needs of diverse subgroups of MSM. We recommend continued, periodic surveillance to monitor HIV prevalence among MSM in Mtwapa, and expansion to other areas in Kenya.

Keywords: power point, Kenya, homosexuality, sex

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Authors: Christoph Köster

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Supplier selection is one of the key challenges in supply chain management and can be considered a multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) problem. In the 1960s, it evolved from considering only economic criteria, such as price, quality, and performance, to including environmental and social criteria nowadays. Although receiving considerable attention from scholars and practitioners over the past decades, existing research has not considered governance criteria so far. This is, however, surprising, as ESG (environmental, social, and governance) criteria have gained considerable attention. In order to complement ESG criteria in the supplier selection process, this study investigates German DAX and MDAX companies and evaluates the impact of governance criteria along their supplier selection process. Moreover, it proposes a set of criteria for the respective process steps. Specifically, eleven criteria for the first process step and five criteria for the second process step are identified. This paper contributes to a better understanding of the supplier selection process by elucidating the relevance of governance criteria in the supplier selection process and providing a set of empirically developed governance criteria. These results can be applied by practitioners to complement the criteria set in the supplier selection process and thus balance economic, environmental, social, and governance targets.

Keywords: ESG, governance, sustainable supplier selection, sustainability

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Authors: Mehdi Attia, Sana Ben Fadhel, Lamjed Bettaieb

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Mobile technology has become a part of our daily lives and assist learners (despite their level and age) in their leaning process using various apparatus and mobile devices (laptop, tablets, etc.). This paper presents a new learning framework based on tablets. This solution has been developed and tested in ESPRIT “Ecole Supérieure Privée d’Igénieurie et de Technologies”, a Tunisian school of engineering. This application is named ESSF: Esprit Smart School Framework. In this work, the main features of the proposed solution are listed, particularly its impact on the learners’ evaluation process. Learner’s assessment has always been a critical component of the learning process as it measures students’ knowledge. However, traditional evaluation methods in which the learner is evaluated once or twice each year cannot reflect his real level. This is why a continuous assessment (CA) process becomes necessary. In this context we have proved that ESSF offers many important features that enhance and facilitate the implementation of the CA process.

Keywords: continuous assessment, mobile learning, tablet based learning, smart school, ESSF

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Authors: Yared Yitagesu Tilahun

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Every nation, developed or developing, relies on transportation, but Addis Abeba City's transportation service is impacted by a number of variables. The current study's objectives are to determine the factors that influence transportation and gauge consumer satisfaction with such services in Addis Abeba. Customers and employees of Addis Ababa's transportation service authority would be the study's target group. 40 workers of the authority would be counted as part of the 310 000 clients that make up the population of the searcher service. Using a straightforward random selection technique, the researcher only chose 99 customers and 28 staff from this enormous group due to the considerable cost and time involved. Data gathering and analysis options included both quantitative and qualitative approaches. The results of this poll show that young people between the ages of 18 and 25 make up the majority of respondents (51.6%). The majority of employees and customers indicated that they are not satisfied with Addis Ababa's overall transportation system. The Addis Abeba Transportation Authority prioritizes client happiness by providing fair service. The company should have a system in place for managing time, resources, and people effectively. It should also provide employees the opportunity to contribute to client handling policies.

Keywords: customer satisfaction, transportation, services, determinants

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Authors: Zakari Mustapha, Clinton Aigbavboa, Wellington Didi Thwala

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Majority of the incidents and accidents in complex high-risk systems that exist in the construction industry and other sectors have been attributed to unsafe acts of workers. The purpose of this paper was to asses Human Factors Analysis and Classification System (HFACS) in construction accident prevention. The study was conducted through the use of secondary data from journals, books and internet to achieve the objective of the study. The review of literature looked into details of different views from different scholars about HFACS framework in accidents investigations. It further highlighted on various sections or disciplines of accident occurrences in human performance within the construction. The findings from literature review showed that unsafe acts of a worker and unsafe working conditions are the two major causes of accident in the construction industry.Most significant factor in the cause of site accident in the construction industry is unsafe acts of a worker. The findings also show how the application of HFACS framework in the investigation of accident will lead to the identification of common trends. Further findings show that provision for the prevention of accident will be made based on past accident records to identify and prioritize where intervention is needed within the construction industry.

Keywords: accident, construction, HFACS, unsafe acts

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Authors: Wajeeha Shahid

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The study was designed to assess the impact of transformational and transactional leadership styles on work motivation and organizational commitment among faculty members of universities of Punjab. 713 faculty members were selected as sample through convenient random sampling technique. Three self-constructed questionnaires namely Leadership Styles Questionnaire (LSQ), Work Motivation Questionnaire (WMQ) and Organizational Commitment Questionnaire (OCMQ) were used as research instruments. Major objectives of the study included assessing the effect and impact of transformational and transactional leadership styles on work motivation and organizational commitment. Theoretical frame work of the study included Idealized Influence, Inspirational Motivation, Intellectual Stimulation, Individualized Consideration, Contingent Rewards and Management by Exception as independent variables and Extrinsic motivation, Intrinsic motivation, Affective commitment, Continuance commitment and Normative commitment as dependent variables. SPSS Version 21 was used to analyze and tabulate data. Cronbach's Alpha reliability, Pearson Correlation and Multiple regression analysis were applied as statistical treatments for the analysis. Results revealed that Idealized Influence correlated significantly with intrinsic motivation and Affective commitment whereas Contingent rewards had a strong positive correlation with extrinsic motivation and affective commitment. Multiple regression models revealed a variance of 85% for transformational leadership style over work motivation and organizational commitment. Whereas transactional style as a predictor manifested a variance of 79% for work motivation and 76% for organizational commitment. It was suggested that changing organizational cultures are demanding more from their leadership. All organizations need to consider transformational leadership style as an important part of their equipment in leveraging both soft and hard organizational targets.

Keywords: leadership styles, work motivation, organizational commitment, faculty member

Procedia PDF Downloads 297

Authors: Renuka Mahadevan, Maneka Jayasinghe, Dianne Dredge

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Over the last two years, tourism has been subject to unprecedented changes, and experts predict further change, especially with respect to travel and tourism choices. As concerns regarding the environment and climate change grow, many tourism industry stakeholders are particularly keen on taking steps to mitigate the adverse impacts of the travel industry to the broader society and environment. This approach and process is commonly referred to as 'Sustainable Tourism'. An emerging concept that extends beyond 'sustainable tourism' is 'Regenerative Tourism', which aims to impact the local systems, society and environment positively. In particular, it aims to provide transformational experiences to tourists and thereby inspire the travellers while the local cultural heritage and traditions are preserved from generation to generation. This study analyses how tourism stakeholders are shifting their attitude towards travel and tourism, particularly regarding its impact on people, places, businesses and the environment. The analysis will be based on a global survey of 1200 businesses, tourism organisations, employees, and travel consumers. The preliminary analysis of responses reveals a high interest towards transformational experiences during travel.

Keywords: regenerative tourism, transformational, experience, local systems

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Authors: Asma Moomal, Zukarnain Zakaria

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In this uncertain, highly competitive and hasty moving era, most of the organizations are surviving under the pressure of complex dynamics, fierce competition and many challenges in terms of global talent management within the global market. One key result of these challenges is that the organizations have to be organized and good at handling human capital if they want to gain sustainable and steady success in near future. By keeping in mind the importance of global competition, many human resource (HR) professionals are diagnosing the complexities in managing talent of human capital at global level, especially those of multinational enterprises (MNEs). As, there has been little research in the country regarding identification of the GTM in MNEs, this paper reviewed the relevant literature in order to examine the role of GTM strategies in enhancing the organizational development in the MNEs of Malaysia. The data collection technique used in this study was done through the secondary data resources (i.e. the existing literature analysis). This study contributes to extend our understanding of the impact of GTM on organizational development of MNEs within the country.

Keywords: Global Talent Management (GTM), multinational enterprises (MNEs), organizational development, talent

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Authors: Jayisha Das Jaya, Nafis As Sami, Nazia Jahan, Tamanna Jerin, Mohammed Russedul Islam

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This paper contains continuous research which helps to analyze polypropylene modified bituminous mix and its impact characteristics with respect to original bitumen. Three percentages of polypropylene varying from (1-3) % of the weight of bitumen have been used to alter bitumen’s performance. The temperature of 170°C has been maintained during the blending of polypropylene with bitumen. It was performed by a wet process as it has certain advantages over the dry process. A rough estimate of 210 rpm rotation speed was set to prepare the blend in a mixer for 30 minutes producing homogeneous mixture. The blended mix shows a change in physical properties in comparison with the original bitumen content. Modification shows that for a 1% increment of polypropylene, softening point increases by 1 degree, penetration values decrease gradually to 55.6, 54, 52.5, ductility values decrease gradually to 87,76, 63 and specific gravity remains the same. Then Marshall mix design is performed with 60/70 penetration grade bitumen contents varying from (4-6) % with .5% intervals. Marshall stability and flow test results indicate the increase in stability and decrease in flow.

Keywords: bitumen, marshall, polypropylene, temperature

Procedia PDF Downloads 229

Authors: Saeed Yazdani, Shahrbanoo Bagheri, Sepideh Nikravesh

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Considering the importance and scarcity of water resources, the efficient management of water resources is of great importance. Adoption of modern irrigation technology is considered to be a key of increasing the efficiency of water used in agriculture. Policy makers have implemented several ways to induce the adoption of new irrigation technology. The empirical studies show that farmers are reluctant to utilize the use of new irrigation methods. This study aims to assess factors affecting on farmer’s decision on the application of water saving technologies with emphasize on crop price variation and water sources. A Logit model was employed to examine the impact of different variables on use of water saving technology. The required data gathered from a sample of 204 farmers in the year 2012. The results indicate that different variables such as crop price variability, water supply source, high-value crops, farm size, income, education, membership in cooperatives have a positive effect and variables such as age and number of plots have a negative impact on the probability of adopting modern water saving technologies.

Keywords: irrigation, water, water saving technology, scarcity

Procedia PDF Downloads 213