Search results for: online brand communities

Authors: Munir Rusan

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Municipal waste management (MWM) represents a cornerstone in the effort to preserve the environment, which guarantees a healthy living environment for communities. MWM is directly affected by population growth and population density, urbanization, and tourism. In Jordan, MWM is currently managed by transferring and dumping waste into landfills. Landfills are mostly saturated and cannot receive any more waste. Besides, the organic waste, which accounts for 50% of municipal waste, will be naturally fermented in the landfills creating an unpleasant odor and emits greenhouse gases as well as generate organic leachates that are harmful to the environment. Organic waste can be aerobically composted and generate organic fertilizer called compost. Compost is very beneficial to soil and plant growth and, in general, to the ecosystem. Home composting is very common in most developed countries, but unfortunately, in developing countries such as Jordan, such an approach is not practiced and is not even socially well acceptable. The objective of this study was to evaluate the physical and chemical properties of home composting materials and to produce compost for further use as a soil amendment. The effect of compost soil application on the soil-plant system was evaluated. The soil application of the compost resulted in enhancing soil organic matter and soil N, P, and K content. The plant growth was also improved quantitatively and qualitatively. It was concluded that composting of municipal organic solid waste and soil application of the compost has a significant positive impact on the environment and soil-plant productivity.

Keywords: composting, organic solid waste, soil, plant

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Authors: Noawanit Songkram

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This paper is a report on the findings of a study conducted on e–learning system in virtual learning environment to develop problem solving ability and team learning for learners in higher education. The methodology of this study was R&D research. The subjects were 18 undergraduate students in Faculty of Education, Chulalongkorn University in the academic year of 2013. The research instruments were a problem solving ability assessment, a team learning evaluation form, and an attitude questionnaire. The data was statistically analyzed using mean, standard deviation, one way repeated measure ANOVA and t–test. The research findings discovered the e –learning system in virtual learning environment to develop problem solving ability and team learning for learners in higher education consisted of five components:(1) online collaborative tools, (2) active learning activities, (3) creative thinking, (4) knowledge sharing process, (5) evaluation and nine processes which were (1) preparing in group working, (2) identifying interested topic, (3) analysing interested topic, (4) collecting data, (5) concluding idea (6) proposing idea, (7) creating workings, (8) workings evaluation, (9) sharing knowledge from empirical experience.

Keywords: e-learning system, problem solving ability, team leaning, virtual learning environment

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Authors: Mehdi Bakhtiarzadeh, Reza Efatnejad, Kambiz Rezapour Rezapour

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Due to the limited resources of fossil fuels and their harmful effects on the environment and human health, research on renewable energy applications in industrial and scientific communities has become particularly important. Only one percent of freshwater resources are available for use in the domestic, agricultural, and industrial sectors. On the other hand, the rapid growth of industry and the increase of population in most countries of the world, including Iran, have led to an increase in demand for freshwater. Among renewable energies, there is the potential of solar energy in Iran. As a result, solar distillation systems can be used as a solution to supply fresh water in remote rural areas. Therefore, in the present study, a solar water desalination device was designed and manufactured using two heat exchangers and a photovoltaic system. Its evaluation was done during September and October of 2020. During the evaluation of the device, environmental variables such as total solar radiation, ambient temperature and cooling tower temperature were recorded at intervals of one hour from 9 am to 5 pm. The effect of these variables on solar concentrator performance, heat exchanger, and daily freshwater production was evaluated. The results showed that using two heat exchangers and a photovoltaic system has led to the daily production of 5 liters of fresh water and 46% economic efficiency.

Keywords: solar water desalination, heat exchanger, photovoltaic system, technical and economic evaluation

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Authors: Mohiuddin Sakib, Fatin Nihal, Rabeya Akter, Anisul Haque, Munsur Rahman, Wasif-E-Elahi

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Surge generating cyclones are one of the deadliest natural disasters that threaten the life of coastal environment and communities worldwide. Due to the geographic location, ‘low lying alluvial plain, geomorphologic characteristics and 710 kilometers exposed coastline, Bangladesh is considered as one of the greatest vulnerable country for storm surge flooding. Bay of Bengal is possessing the highest potential of creating storm surge inundation to the coastal areas. Bangladesh is the most exposed country to tropical cyclone with an average of four cyclone striking every years. Frequent cyclone landfall made the country one of the worst sufferer within the world for cyclone induced storm surge flooding and casualties. During the years from 1797 to 2009 Bangladesh has been hit by 63 severe cyclones with strengths of different magnitudes. Though detailed studies were done focusing on the specific cyclone like Sidr or Aila, no study was conducted where vulnerable areas of exposed coast were identified based on the strength of cyclones. This study classifies the vulnerable areas of the exposed coast based on storm surge inundation depth and area due to cyclones of varying strengths. Classification of the exposed coast based on hazard induced cyclonic vulnerability will help the decision makers to take appropriate policies for reducing damage and loss.

Keywords: cyclone, landfall, storm surge, exposed coastline, vulnerability

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Authors: Paula C. Latorre Arroyo, Andrea C. Latorre Arroyo

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In the present society, children are exposed to and impacted by technology from very early on in various ways. Artificial intelligence (AI), in particular, directly affects them, be it positively or negatively. The concept of artificial intelligence is commonly defined as the technological programming of computers or robotic mechanisms with humanlike capabilities and characteristics. These technologies are often designed as helpful machines or disguised as handy tools that could ultimately steal private information for illicit purposes. Children, being one of the most vulnerable groups due to their lack of experience and knowledge, do not have the ability to recognize or have the malice to distinguish if an apparatus with artificial intelligence is good or bad for them. For this reason, as a society, there must be a sense of responsibility to regulate and monitor different types of uses for artificial intelligence to protect children from potential risks that might arise. This article aims to investigate the many implications that artificial intelligence has in the lives of children, starting from a home setting, within the classroom, and, ultimately, in online spaces. Irrefutably, there are numerous beneficial aspects to the use of artificial intelligence. However, due to its limitless potential and lack of specific and substantial regulations to prevent the illicit use of this technology, safety and privacy concerns surface, specifically regarding the youth. This written work aims to provide an in-depth analysis of how artificial intelligence can both help children and jeopardize their safety. Concluding with resources and data supporting the aforementioned statement.

Keywords: artificial intelligence, children, privacy, rights, safety

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Authors: Renee Monchalin

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Métis peoples, while comprising over a third of the total Indigenous population in Canada, experience major gaps in health services that accommodate their cultural identities. This is problematic given Métis peoples experience severe disparities in health determinants and outcomes compared to the non-Indigenous Canadian population. At the same time, Métis are unlikely to engage in health services that do not value their cultural identities, often utilizing mainstream options. Given these contexts, this research aims to fill the culturally-safe health care gap for Métis peoples in Canada. It does this by engaging 56 urban Métis women who participated in a longitudinal cohort study, Our Health Counts (OHC) Toronto. Traditionally, Métis women were central to the health and well-being of their communities. However, due to decades of colonial legislation and forced land displacement, female narratives have been silenced, and Métis identities have been fractured. This has resulted in having direct implications on Métis people’s current health and access to health services. Solutions to filling the Métis health service gap may lie in the all too often unacknowledged or missing voices of Métis women. Through a conversational method, this research will explore urban Métis women’s perspectives on identity and their experiences with health services in Toronto. The goal of this research is to learn from urban Métis women on steps towards filling the health service gap. This research is currently in the data collection stage. Preliminary findings from the conversations will be disseminated. Policy recommendations for health service providers will be provided to better accommodate Métis people.

Keywords: indigenous health, Metis health, urban, health service access, identity

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Authors: Amir Farouk Ahmed Ali Hussin

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Social media, such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Ex-Twitter have experienced exponential growth and a remarkable adoption rate in recent years. They give fantastic means of online social interactions and communications with family, friends, and colleagues from around the corner or across the globe, and they have become an important part of daily digital interactions for more than one and a half billion users around the world. The personal information sharing practices that social network providers encourage have led to their success as innovative social interaction platforms. Moreover, these practices have outcome in concerns with respect to privacy and security from different stakeholders. Guiding these privacy and security concerns in social networks is a must for these networks to be sustainable. Real security and privacy tools may not be enough to address existing concerns. Some points should be followed to protect users from the existing risks. In this research, we have checked the various privacy and security issues and concerns pertaining to social media. However, we have classified these privacy and security issues and presented a thorough discussion of the effects of these issues and concerns on the future of the social networks. In addition, we have presented a set of points as precaution measures that users can consider to address these issues.

Keywords: international legal, consultation mix, legal research, small and medium-sized enterprises, strategic International law, strategy alignment, house of laws, deployment, production strategy, legal strategy, business strategy

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Authors: Yeonjeong Lee, Kyoung-jae Kim, Youngtae Kim

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This study proposes a novel recommender system that uses data mining and multi-model ensemble techniques to enhance the recommendation performance through reflecting the precise user’s preference. The proposed model consists of two steps. In the first step, this study uses logistic regression, decision trees, and artificial neural networks to predict customers who have high likelihood to purchase products in each product group. Then, this study combines the results of each predictor using the multi-model ensemble techniques such as bagging and bumping. In the second step, this study uses the market basket analysis to extract association rules for co-purchased products. Finally, the system selects customers who have high likelihood to purchase products in each product group and recommends proper products from same or different product groups to them through above two steps. We test the usability of the proposed system by using prototype and real-world transaction and profile data. In addition, we survey about user satisfaction for the recommended product list from the proposed system and the randomly selected product lists. The results also show that the proposed system may be useful in real-world online shopping store.

Keywords: product recommender system, ensemble technique, association rules, decision tree, artificial neural networks

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Authors: Sylvia Graczka

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Waste related environmental problems are not only exploding but are also spotlighted for capacity shortages in recycling, as China announced its ban on waste imports. According to the waste hierarchy, prevention is the primary solution for waste, and also the cheapest. Waste related environmental pollution as externality puts an ever-growing burden on communities bearing the social costs. Economic policies often claim to be pro-environment, this often appears only theoretically, or at the level of principles. There are few concrete occurrences of tools in economic policies, such as green taxes, that are truly effective in stimulating the shift towards waste reduction. The paper presents theoretical economic policy tools based on literature review, and case studies on applied economic policy tools by analyzing policy papers, strategies in force, in line with ‘polluter pays’ and ‘extended producer responsibility’ principles. The study also emphasizes the differences between the broader notion of waste reduction and that of waste minimization, parallel to the difference between resource efficiency and resource savings. It also puts the issue in the context of neoclassical environmental economics and ecological economics, to present alternatives in approach. The research concludes in identifying effective economic policy tools that support the reduction of material use, and the prevention of waste. Consumer and producer awareness of waste problems and consciousness related to their choices are inevitable to make economic policy tools work effectively.

Keywords: economic policy, producer responsibility, resource efficiency, waste prevention

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Authors: Meltem Eryılmaz

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With the emergence of the COVID-19 infection outbreak, the socio-cultural, political, economic, educational systems dynamics of the world have gone through a major change, especially in the educational field, specifically dentistry preclinical education, where the students must have a certain amount of real-time experience in endodontics and other various procedures. The totality of the digital and physical elements that make our five sense organs feel as if we really exist in a virtual world is called virtual reality. Virtual reality, which is very popular today, has started to be used in education. With the inclusion of developing technology in education and training environments, virtual learning platforms have been designed to enrich students' learning experiences. The field of health is also affected by these current developments, and the number of virtual reality applications developed for students studying dentistry is increasing day by day. The most widely used tools of this technology are virtual reality glasses. With virtual reality glasses, you can look any way you want in a world designed in 3D and navigate as you wish. With this project, solutions that will respond to different types of dental practices of students who study dentistry with virtual reality applications are produced. With this application, students who cannot find the opportunity to work with patients in distance education or who want to improve themselves at home have unlimited trial opportunities. Unity 2021, Visual Studio 2019, Cardboard SDK are used in the study.

Keywords: dentistry, intelligent tutoring system, virtual reality, online learning, COVID-19

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Authors: Hadura Abu Hasan, Zairi Jaal, P. J. McCall

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Dengue is a serious problem in Malaysia, particularly in high-density urban communities with lower socio-economic levels. This study evaluated the susceptibility of local populations of Aedesaegypti (Linnaeus), Aedesalbopictus (Skuse) and Culexquinquefasciatus (Say) from the traditional community of BaganDalam, Penang, Malaysia to lambdacyhalothrin and pirimiphos-methyl using standard World Health Organization (WHO) adult bioassay test. Unfed female mosquitoes aged 3-5 days were exposed to WHO recommended dosages of insecticides over fixed time periods with results presented as knock-down time (KT50) for each strain.The insecticide susceptible VCRU laboratory strain was usedas control. All three specieswere highly resistant to lambda-cyhalothrin with less than 10% mortality at 24 hours after treatment. In contrast, Ae.aegypti and Ae. albopictus were susceptible to pirimiphos-methyl, showing 100% mortality recorded 24 hoursafter treatment. Cx. quinquefasciatuswasclassed as ‘suspected resistant’ to pirimiphos-methyl as mortality recorded 24 hours after treatment was 94-96%. The results indicate that organophosphates such as pirimiphos-methyl might be used as alternative to pyrethroid for dengue vector control in this dengue-prone area.

Keywords: vector control, aedes aegypti, aedes albopictus, dengue, culex quinquefasciatus, residuals insecticides, pyrethroid, organophosphate, resistant, mosquito

Procedia PDF Downloads 247

Authors: Bolanle Deborah Motilewa, E.K. Rowland Worlu, Gbenga Mayowa Agboola, Marvellous Aghogho Chidinma Gberevbie

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Businesses operating in the modern business world are faced with varying challenges; amongst which is the need to ensure that they are performing their societal function of being responsible in the society in which they operate. This responsibility to society is generally termed as corporate social responsibility. For many years, the practice of corporate social responsibility (CSR) was solely philanthropic, where organizations gave ‘charity’ or ‘alms’ to society, without any link to the organization’s mission and objectives. However, there has arisen a shift in the application of CSR from an act of philanthropy to a strategy with a business model engaged in by organizations to create a win-win situation of performing their societal obligation, whilst simultaneously performing their economic obligation. In more recent times, the term has moved from CSR to creating shared value, which is simply corporate policies and practices that enhance the competitiveness of a business organization while simultaneously advancing social and economic conditions in the communities in which the company operates. Creating shared value has in more recent light found more meaning in underdeveloped countries, faced with deep societal challenges that businesses can solve whilst creating economic value. This study thus reviews literature on CSR, conceptualizing the shift to creating shared value and finally viewing its potential significance in Africa’s development.

Keywords: africapitalism, corporate social responsibility, development, shared value

Procedia PDF Downloads 267

Authors: Merve Uzuner Sahin, Kumru D. Atalay, Berna Dengiz

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In today’s competitive market, there are many alternative products that can be used in similar manner and purpose. Therefore, the utility of the product is an important issue for the preferability of the brand. This utility could be measured in terms of its functionality, durability, reliability. These all are affected by the system capabilities. Reliability is an important system design criteria for the manufacturers to be able to have high availability. Availability is the probability that a system (or a component) is operating properly to its function at a specific point in time or a specific period of times. System availability provides valuable input to estimate the production rate for the company to realize the production plan. When considering only the corrective maintenance downtime of the system, mean time between failure (MTBF) and mean time to repair (MTTR) are used to obtain system availability. Also, the MTBF and MTTR values are important measures to improve system performance by adopting suitable maintenance strategies for reliability engineers and practitioners working in a system. Failure and repair time probability distributions of each component in the system should be known for the conventional availability analysis. However, generally, companies do not have statistics or quality control departments to store such a large amount of data. Real events or situations are defined deterministically instead of using stochastic data for the complete description of real systems. A fuzzy set is an alternative theory which is used to analyze the uncertainty and vagueness in real systems. The aim of this study is to present a novel approach to compute system availability using representation of MTBF and MTTR in fuzzy numbers. Based on the experience in the system, it is decided to choose 3 different spread of MTBF and MTTR such as 15%, 20% and 25% to obtain lower and upper limits of the fuzzy numbers. To the best of our knowledge, the proposed method is the first application that is used fuzzy MTBF and fuzzy MTTR for fuzzy system availability estimation. This method is easy to apply in any repairable production system by practitioners working in industry. It is provided that the reliability engineers/managers/practitioners could analyze the system performance in a more consistent and logical manner based on fuzzy availability. This paper presents a real case study of a repairable multi-stage production line in lead-acid battery production factory in Turkey. The following is focusing on the considered wet-charging battery process which has a higher production level than the other types of battery. In this system, system components could exist only in two states, working or failed, and it is assumed that when a component in the system fails, it becomes as good as new after repair. Instead of classical methods, using fuzzy set theory and obtaining intervals for these measures would be very useful for system managers, practitioners to analyze system qualifications to find better results for their working conditions. Thus, much more detailed information about system characteristics is obtained.

Keywords: availability analysis, battery production system, fuzzy sets, triangular fuzzy numbers (TFNs)

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Authors: Frederick Monyepao

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Crack cocaine first appeared on the scene in the form of cocaine freebasing in the late 1970s. Stockbrokers, investment bankers, rock stars, Hollywood elites, and a few pro athletes were regular users of the substance. As criminogenic factors associated with substance abuse began to surface, congress passed new legislation. The laws led to the increase of health coverage insurances and the expansion of hospitals. By the mid-1980s, crack use spread into America's inner cities among impoverished African Americans and Latinos. While substance abuse increased among minority communities, legislation pertaining to substance abuse evolved. The prison industry also expanded the number of cells available. A qualitative approach was taken, drawing from a range secondary sources for contextual analysis. This paper traces out the continued marginalisation and racist undertones towards minorities as perpetuated by certain drug policies. It was discovered that the new legislation on crack was instrumental in the largest incarcerations the United States ever faced. Drug offenders increased in prisons eightfold from 1986 to 2000. The paper concludes that American drug control policies are consistently irrational and ineffective when measured by levels of substance use and abuse. On the contrary, these policies have been successful as agents of social control in maintaining the stratification patterns of racial/ethnic minorities and women. To move beyond prohibition, radical law and policy reform may require a change in narratives on substance use.

Keywords: crack, drug policy, minorities, racism, substance abuse

Procedia PDF Downloads 267

Authors: Shauma L. Tamba

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This study examined whether morality is the most important aspect in actual behavior. The prediction was that people tend to behave in line with moral (as compared to competence) norms, especially when such norms are presented by their ingroup. The actual behavior that was tested was support for a military intervention without a mandate from the UN. In addition, this study also examined whether identification with the ingroup and religion moderated the effect of group and norm on support for the norm that was prescribed by their ingroup. The prediction was that those who identified themselves higher with the ingroup moral would show a higher support for the norm. Furthermore, the prediction was also that those who have religion would show a higher support for the norm in the ingroup moral rather than competence. In an online survey, participants were asked to read a scenario in which a military intervention without a mandate was framed as either the moral (but stupid) or smart (but immoral) thing to do by members of their own (ingroup) or another (outgroup) society. This study found that when people identified themselves with the smart (but immoral) norm, they showed a higher support for the norm. However, when people identified themselves with the moral (but stupid) norm, they tend to show a lesser support towards the norm. Most of the results in the study did not support the predictions. Possible explanations and implications are discussed.

Keywords: morality, competence, ingroup identification, religion, group norm

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Authors: Elsa Lamy, Marília Prada, Ada Rocha, Cláudia Viegas

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The traditional and widely used nutrition-focused approach to communicate with consumers is reductionist and makes it difficult for consumers to assess their food intake. Without sufficient nutrition knowledge and understanding, it would be difficult to choose a healthful diet based only on nutritional recommendations. This study aimed to evaluate the understanding of how food/nutritional information is presented in menus to Portuguese consumers, comparing the nutrient-focused approach (currently used Nutrition Declaration) and the new food-focused approach (the infographic). For data collection, a questionnaire was distributed online using social media channels. A main effect of format on ratings of meal balance and completeness (Fbalance(1,79) = 18.26, p < .001, ηp2 = .188; Fcompleteness(1,67) = 27.18, p < .001, ηp2 = .289). Overall, dishes paired with the nutritional information were rated as more balanced (Mbalance= 3.70, SE = .11; Mcompleteness = 4.00, SE = .14) than meals with the infographic representation (Mbalance = 3.14, SE = .11; Mcompleteness = 3.29, SE = .13). We also observed a main effect of the meal, F(3,237) = 48.90, p < .001, ηp2 = .382, such that M1 and M2 were perceived as less balanced than the M3 and M4, all p < .001. The use of a food-focused approach (infographic) helped participants identify the lack of balance in the less healthful meals (dishes M1 and M2), allowing for a better understanding of meals' compliance with recommendations contributing to better food choices and a healthier lifestyle.

Keywords: food labelling, food and nutritional recommendations, infographics, portions based information

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Authors: Maha ALjohani, James Blustein

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Communicating users' needs, goals and problems help designers and developers overcome challenges faced by end users. Personas are used to represent end users’ needs. In our research, creating personas allowed the following questions to be answered: Who are the potential user groups? What do they want to achieve by using the service? What are the problems that users face? What should the service provide to them? To develop realistic personas, we conducted a focus group discussion with undergraduate and graduate students and also interviewed a university librarian. The personas were created to help evaluating the Institutional Repository that is based on the DSpace system. The profiles helped to communicate users' needs, abilities, tasks, and problems, and the task scenarios used in the heuristic evaluation were based on these personas. Four personas resulted of a focus group discussion with undergraduate and graduate students and from interviewing a university librarian. We then used these personas to create focused task-scenarios for a heuristic evaluation on the system interface to ensure that it met users' needs, goals, problems and desires. In this paper, we present the process that we used to create the personas that led to devise the task scenarios used in the heuristic evaluation as a follow up study of the DSpace university repository.

Keywords: heuristic evaluation, institutional repositories, user experience, human computer interaction, user profiles, personas, task scenarios, heuristics

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Authors: Mohammed Ibrahim Girei

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Adamawa state is one the major producers of both crop and animals in Nigeria. Agricultural production serves as the major means livelihood of the people in the state. However, the agricultural activities of the farmers in the state are at subsistence level. However integration of these small scale farmers in local, national and international market is paramount importance. The paper was designed to categorize farmers based on market participation among the cattle farmers in Adamawa state, Nigeria. The multistage sampling procedure was employed. To achieve this procedure, structured questionnaires were used to collect data from 400 respondents. The data were analyzed using the descriptive statistics. The result revealed that the majority of market participants were net sellers (78.51 %) (Sales greater than purchase), net buyers were (purchase greater than sales) 12.95 % and only 9% were autarkic (sales equal purchase). The study recommends that Government should provide more effective security services in cattle farming communities, which is very important as the market participants in the study area were net sellers (producers), it will help in addressing the problem of cattle rustling and promote more investment in cattle industry. There is a need to establish a standard cattle market, veterinary services and grazing reserves in the area so that to facilitate the cattle production and marketing system in the area and to meet up with the challenging of livestock development as a result of rapid human population growth in developing countries like Nigeria.

Keywords: categories, cattle, farmers, market, participation

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Authors: Jot Prakash Kaur

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The paper aims to showcase that with the introduction of anti-graft instruments and willingness of the governments towards their implementation, a significant change can be witnessed in the anti-corruption landscape of any country. Since the past decade anti-graft instruments have been introduced by several international non-governmental organizations with the vision of curbing corruption. Transparency International’s ‘Integrity Pact’ has been one such initiative. Integrity Pact has been described as a tool for preventing corruption in public contracting. Integrity Pact has found its relevance in a developing country like India where public procurement constitutes 25-30 percent of Gross Domestic Product. Corruption in public procurement has been a cause of concern even though India has in place a whole architecture of rules and regulations governing public procurement. Integrity Pact was first adopted by a leading Oil and Gas government company in 2006. Till May 2015, over ninety organizations had adopted Integrity Pact, of which majority of them are central government units. The methodology undertaken to understand impact of Integrity Pact on Public procurement is through analyzing information received from important stakeholders of the instrument. Government, information was sought through Right to Information Act 2005 about the details of adoption of this instrument by various government organizations and departments. Contractor, Company websites and annual reports were used to find out the steps taken towards implementation of Integrity Pact. Civil Society, Transparency International India’s resource materials which include publications and reports on Integrity Pact were also used to understand the impact of Integrity Pact. Some of the findings of the study include organizations adopting Integrity pacts in all kinds of contracts such that 90% of their procurements fall under Integrity Pact. Indian State governments have found merit in Integrity Pact and have adopted it in their procurement contracts. Integrity Pact has been instrumental in creating a brand image of companies. External Monitors, an essential feature of Integrity Pact have emerged as arbitrators for the bidders and are the first line of procurement auditors for the organizations. India has cancelled two defense contracts finding it conflicting with the provisions of Integrity Pact. Some of the clauses of Integrity Pact have been included in the proposed Public Procurement legislation. Integrity Pact has slowly but steadily grown to become an integral part of big ticket procurement in India. Government’s commitment to implement Integrity Pact has changed the way in which public procurement is conducted in India. Public Procurement was a segment infested with corruption but with the adoption of Integrity Pact a number of clean up acts have been performed to make procurement transparent. The paper is divided in five sections. First section elaborates on Integrity Pact. Second section talks about stakeholders of the instrument and the role it plays in its implementation. Third section talks about the efforts taken by the government to implement Integrity Pact in India. Fourth section talks about the role of External Monitor as Arbitrator. The final section puts forth suggestions to strengthen the existing form of Integrity Pact and increase its reach.

Keywords: corruption, integrity pact, procurement, vigilance

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Authors: Silvia Riva, Ezekiel Chinyio

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Introduction: Workers in different sectors are prone to stress at varying levels. They also respond to stress in different ways. An inspiration was to study stress development amongst workers in a work dangerous setting (Construction Industry) as well as how they cope with specific stress incidences. Objective: The overarching objective of the study was to study and correlate between stress and coping strategies. The research was conducted in an organizational industrial setting, and its findings on the coping actions of construction workers are reported in this article. Methods: An online cross-sectional survey was conducted with 80 participants aged 18-62. These were working for three different construction organizations in the West Midland region of the UK. Their coping actions were assessed using the COPE Inventory (Carver, 2013) instrument while the level of stress was assessed by the Perceived Stress Scale (Cohen, 1994). Results: Out of 80 workers (20 female, 25%, mean age 40.66), positive reinterpretation (M=4.15, SD=2.60) and active coping (M=4.18, SD=2.55) were the two most adaptive strategies reported by the workers while the most frequent maladaptive behavior was mental disengagement (M=3.62, SD=2.25). Among the maladaptive tactics, alcohol and drug abuse was a significant moderator in stress reactions (t=6.12, p=.000). Conclusion: Some maladaptive strategies are adopted by construction workers to cope with stress. So, it could be argued that programs of stress prevention and control in the construction industry have a basis to develop solutions that can improve and strengthen effective interventions when workers are stressed or getting stressed.

Keywords: coping, organization, strategies, stress

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Authors: Aisya Zaharin

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The reporting of Islam in the Malaysian government-controlled press is complicated and occurs almost daily. This is due to the Islamisation process that has been heavily politicized in recent years. This article analyses media representations of Islam in the Malaysian media through the social responsibility theory. A provocative case study of media reporting on the “I want to touch a dog” event was analysed since dog’s saliva is ritually considered unhygienic by Muslims. This paper will not question the Islamic ruling on the dog’s issue. Instead, it calls for discussions in relation to openness and maturity in religious discourse with respect to the dog’s saliva dialogue in 1937. It applies Hage’s “minor and major reality” to explain the increasing percentage of Muslim who define their own understandings of Islam vs the government’s dogmatic versions. This paper employs Alatas’s method of “sociological investigation in Southeast Asia” by using ethnographic examination on selected mass media. Through Asiacentricity approach, this paper revisited the local framework of Alatas’s New Man encouraging Muslims to engage in knowledge and to appreciate diversities in Islamic jurisprudences. Despite government’s control, findings showed that non-Malay languages and online media are more comprehensive in reporting the news about Islam. Clearly, there has to be a re-conceptualization of Islamic discourses in the Malay-language media.

Keywords: dog, Fiqh, Islamic jurisprudence, Malaysian media, New Man, social responsibility

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Authors: Edu Marcelina, Sule Sheidu A., Nsor Eunice

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As open and distance education is gradually becoming an acceptable means of solving the problem of access in higher education, quality has now become one of the main concerns among institutions and stakeholders of open and distance learning (ODL) and the education sector in general. This study assessed the challenges of academic quality in the open and distance learning (ODL) education in Nigeria using Distance Learning Institute (DLI), University of Lagos and National Open University of Nigeria as a case. In carrying out the study, a descriptive survey research design was employed. A researcher-designed and validated questionnaire was used to elicit responses that translated to the quantitative data for this study. The sample comprised 665 students of the Distance Learning Institute (DLI), and National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN), carefully selected through the method of simple random sampling. Data collected from the study were analyzed using Chi-Square (X2) at 0.05 Level of significance. The results of the analysis revealed that; the use of ICT tools is a factor in ensuring quality in the Open and Distance Learning (ODL) operations; the quality of the materials made available to ODL students will determine the quality of education that will be received by the students; and the time scheduled for students for self-study, online lecturing/interaction and face to face study and the quality of education in Open and Distance Learning Institutions has a lot of impact on the quality of education the students receive. Based on the findings, a number of recommendations were made.

Keywords: open and distance learning, quality, ICT, face-to-face interaction

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Authors: Donna L. Roberts

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2019 marked 23 years since Purdue Pharma launched its flagship drug, OxyContin, that unleashed an unprecedented epidemic touching both celebrities and common citizens, metropolitan, suburbia and rural areas and all levels of socioeconomic status. From rural Appalachia to East LA individuals, families and communities have been devastated by a trajectory of addiction that often began with the legitimate prescription of a pain killer for anything from a tooth extraction to a sports injury to recovery from surgery or chronic arthritis. Far from being a serendipitous progression of events, the proliferation of this new breed of 'miracle drug' was instead a carefully crafted marketing program aimed at both the medical community and common citizens. This research represents and in-depth investigation of the evolution of the marketing, distribution and promotion of prescription opioids by pharmaceutical companies and its relationship to the propagation of the opioid crisis. Specifically, key components of Purdue Pharma’s aggressive marketing campaign, including its bonus system and sales incentives, were analyzed in the context of the sociopolitical environment that essential created the proverbial 'perfect storm' for the changing manner in which pain is treated in the U.S. The analyses of these series of events clearly indicate their role in first, the increase in prescription of opioids for non-terminal pain relief and subsequently, the incidence of related addiction, overdose, and death. Through this examination of the conditions that facilitated and maintained this drug crisis, perhaps we can begin to chart a course toward its resolution.

Keywords: addiction, opioid, opioid crisis, Purdue Pharma

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Authors: Beatrice Eyram Afi Ziorklui, Norihisa Shima

Abstract:

Community Driven Development (CDD) is now a widely recommended and accepted development strategy for informal communities across the continent. Centered on the utilization of social capital through community structures, different informal settlements have different structures and different levels of social capital, which affect the implementation and ability to overcome CDD challenges. Although known to be very successful, there are few perspectives on the implementation of CDD initiatives in different informal settlements. This study assesses the implementation of CDD initiatives in migrant and indigenous informal settlements and their ability to navigate challenges. The case study research design was adopted in this research, and respondents were chosen through simple random sampling. Using the Statistical Package for social scientists (SPSS) for data analysis, the study found that migrant informal settlements implement CDD projects through the network of hierarchical structures based on government systems, whereas indigenous informal settlements implement through the hierarchical social structure based on traditions and culture. The study also found that, with the exception of the challenge of land accessibility in migrant informal settlements, all other challenges, such as participation, resource mobilization, and maintenance, have a significant relationship with social capital, although indigenous informal settlements have higher levels of social capital than migrant informal settlements. The study recommends a framework that incorporates community characteristics and the underlying social capital to facilitate upgrading strategies in informal in Ghana.

Keywords: community driven development, informal settlements, social capital, upgrading

Procedia PDF Downloads 76

Authors: Maryam Maleki, Esther Mead, Mohammad Arani, Nitin Agarwal

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This study is conducted to examine how opposing viewpoints related to COVID-19 were diffused on Twitter. To accomplish this, six datasets using two epidemiological models, SIR (Susceptible, Infected, Recovered) and SEIZ (Susceptible, Exposed, Infected, Skeptics), were analyzed. The six datasets were chosen because they represent opposing viewpoints on the COVID-19 pandemic. Three of the datasets contain anti-subject hashtags, while the other three contain pro-subject hashtags. The time frame for all datasets is three years, starting from January 2020 to December 2022. The findings revealed that while both models were effective in evaluating the propagation trends of these polarizing viewpoints, the SEIZ model was more accurate with a relatively lower error rate (6.7%) compared to the SIR model (17.3%). Additionally, the relative error for both models was lower for anti-subject hashtags compared to pro-subject hashtags. By leveraging epidemiological models, insights into the propagation trends of polarizing viewpoints on Twitter were gained. This study paves the way for the development of methods to prevent the spread of ideas that lack scientific evidence while promoting the dissemination of scientifically backed ideas.

Keywords: mathematical modeling, epidemiological model, seiz model, sir model, covid-19, twitter, social network analysis, social contagion

Procedia PDF Downloads 44

Authors: Henry R. Troy

Abstract:

Corpora are becoming more prevalent in the language classroom, especially in the development of dictionaries and course materials. Nevertheless, corpora are still perceived by many educators as difficult to use directly in the classroom, a process which is also known as “data-driven learning” (DDL). Action research has been identified as a method by which DDL’s efficiency can be increased, but it is also an approach few studies on DDL have employed. Studies into the effectiveness of DDL in language education in Japan are also rare, and investigations focused more on student and teacher reactions rather than pre and post-test scores are rarer still. This study investigates the student and teacher reactions to the use of SkELL, a free online corpus designed to be user-friendly, for vocabulary learning at a university in Japan. Action research is utilized to refine the teaching methodology, with changes to the method based on student and teacher feedback received via surveys submitted after each of the four implementations of DDL. After some training, the students used tablets to study the target vocabulary autonomously in pairs and groups, with the teacher acting as facilitator. The results show that the students enjoyed using SkELL and felt it was effective for vocabulary learning, while the teaching methodology grew in efficiency throughout the course. These findings suggest that action research can be a successful method for increasing the efficacy of DDL in the language classroom, especially with teachers and students who are new to the practice.

Keywords: action research, corpus linguistics, data-driven learning, vocabulary learning

Procedia PDF Downloads 220

Authors: Abimbola Motunrayo Folami, Ibironke Titilayo Enitan, Feroz Mohomed Swalaha

Abstract:

Water is a vital resource that is important in ensuring the growth and development of any country. To sustain the basic human needs and the demands for agriculture, industry, conservational and ecosystem, enough quality and quantity water is needed. Contamination of water resources is now a global and public health concern. Hence, this study assessed the water quality of Ndawuse River by measuring the physicochemical parameters and heavy metals concentrations of the river using standard methods. In total, 16 surface water samples were obtained from five locations along the river, from upstream to downstream as well as samples from the dumpsite. The results obtained were compared with the standard limits set by both the World Health Organization and the Federal Environmental Protection Agency for domestic purposes. The results of the measured parameters indicated that biological oxygen demand (85.88 mg/L), turbidity (44.51 NTU), Iron (0.014 - 3.511 mg /L) and chromium (0.078 - 0.14 mg /L) were all above the standard limits. The results further showed that the quality of surface water is being significantly affected by human activities around the Ndawuse River which could pose an adverse health risk to several communities that rely on this river as their primary source of water. Therefore, there is a need for strict enforcement of environmental laws to protect the aquatic ecosystem and to avoid long term cumulative exposure risk that heavy metals may pose on human health.

Keywords: Abuja, contaminants, heavy metals, Ndawuse River, Nigeria, surface water

Procedia PDF Downloads 141

Authors: John Rosswell Cummings III

Abstract:

This research examines the discourse ancient Maya ritual practice manifest and maintained through language in a contemporary society as led by a daykeeper— a Maya spiritual leader— with the objective of discovering if the Maya Calendar has an influence on worldview. Through an ethnography of communication and discursive analysis framework, this research examines the discourse of and around the Maya calendar through original research. Data collected includes the ceremonial performance of the Tzolkin ritual, a ritual that takes place every 13 days to ceremonially welcome one of the 20 Universal Forces. During the ceremony, participants supplicate, sacrifice, and venerate. This ritual, based off the Tzolkin cycle in the Mayan Calendar, contains strong, culture-binding ideologies. This research performs a close analysis of the 20 energies of the Tzolkin and their glyphs so as to gain a better understanding of current ideologies in Maya communities. Through a linguistic relativity frame of reference, including both the strong and weak versions, the 20 Universal Forces are shown to influence ways of life. This research argues that it is not just the native language, but the discourses native to the community as held through the calendar, influence thought and have the potential to offer an alternate worldview, thus shaping the cultural narrative which in return influences identity of the community. Research of this kind, on calendric systems and linguistic relativity, has the power to make great discoveries about the societies of the world and their worldviews.

Keywords: anthropological linguistics, discourse analysis, cultural studies, sociolinguistics

Procedia PDF Downloads 134

Authors: Jutamas Wisansing, Thanakarn Vongvisitsin, Udom Hongchatikul

Abstract:

Designated Areas for Sustainable Tourism Administration (DASTA) is a public organization, dedicating to sustainable tourism development in 6 designated areas in Thailand. This paper provides rich reflections from a decade of DASTA, formulating an advanced model to deepen our understanding of 2 key intertwining issues; 1) what are the new landscapes of actors for community based tourism and 2) who are the benefactors and beneficiaries of tourism development within the community? An action research approach was used, enabling the process and evidence-based cases to be better captured. The aim is to build theoretical foundation through 13 communities/cases, which have engaged in community based tourism pilot projects. Drawing from emic and qualitative research, specific and contextual phenomenon provides succinct patterns of ‘Community Benefitting through Tourism (CbtT)’ model. The re-definition of the 2 key issues helps shape the interlinking of actors; practicalities of inclusive tourism and inter-sectoral framework and its value chain will also be set forth. In tourism sector, community members could be active primarily on the supply side as employees, entrepreneurs and local heritage experts. CbtT when well defined stimulates the entire value chain of local economy while promoting social innovation through positive dialogue with wider actors. Collaboration with a new set of actors who are from the tourism-related businesses and non-tourism related businesses create better impacts on mutual benefits.

Keywords: community based tourism, community benefitting through tourism -CbtT DASTA model, sustainable tourism in thailand, value chain and inclusive business

Procedia PDF Downloads 281

Authors: Yash Ambekar, Kapil Vhatkar, Prathamesh Swami, Kartikey Singh, Yashovardhan Kaware

Abstract:

The rise of online courses and certifications has created new opportunities for individuals to enhance their skills. However, this digital transformation has also given rise to coun- terfeit certificates. To address this multifaceted issue, we present a comprehensive certificate management system founded on blockchain technology and strengthened by smart contracts. Our system comprises three pivotal components: certificate generation, authenticity verification, and a user-centric digital locker for certificate storage. Blockchain technology underpins the entire system, ensuring the immutability and integrity of each certificate. The inclusion of a cryptographic hash for each certificate is a fundamental aspect of our design. Any alteration in the certificate’s data will yield a distinct hash, a powerful indicator of potential tampering. Furthermore, our system includes a secure digital locker based on cloud storage that empowers users to efficiently manage and access all their certificates in one place. Moreover, our project is committed to providing features for certificate revocation and updating, thereby enhancing the system’s flexibility and security. Hence, the blockchain and smart contract-based certificate management system offers a robust and one-stop solution to the escalating problem of counterfeit certificates in the digital era.

Keywords: blockchain technology, smart contracts, counterfeit certificates, authenticity verification, cryptographic hash, digital locker

Procedia PDF Downloads 31