Search results for: individual traits

Authors: Khiari Nor El Houda, Hiouani Amira Sarra

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Many EFL students with high capacities are hidden because they suffer from speaking anxiety (SA). Most of them find public speaking much demanding. They feel unable to communicate, they fear to make mistakes and they fear negative evaluation or being called on. With the growing number of the learners who suffer from foreign language speaking anxiety (FLSA), it is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore its harmful outcomes on their performance and success, especially during their first contact with the pupils, as they will be teaching in the near future. Different researchers suggested different ways to minimize the negative effects of FLSA. The present study sheds light on emotional intelligence skills training as an effective strategy not only to influence public speaking success but also to help pre-service EFL teachers lessen their speaking anxiety and eventually to prepare them for their professional career. A quasi-experiment was used in order to examine the research hypothesis. We worked with two groups of third-year EFL students at Oum El Bouaghi University. The Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS) and the Emotional Quotient Inventory (EQ-i) were used to collect data about the participants’ FLSA and EI levels. The analysis of the data has yielded that the assumption that there is a negative correlation between EI and FLSA was statistically validated by the Pearson Correlation Test, concluding that, the more emotionally intelligent the individual is the less anxious s/he will be. In addition, the lack of amelioration in the results of the control group and the noteworthy improvement in the experimental group results led us to conclude that EI skills training was an effective strategy in minimizing the FLSA level and therefore, we confirmed our research hypothesis.

Keywords: emotional intelligence, emotional intelligence skills training, EQ-I, FLCAS, foreign language speaking anxiety, pre-service EFL teachers

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Authors: Polycarp Igbojekwe

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The main objective of this study was to determine if emotional labour has become a criterion in performance appraisal, job description, selection, and training schemes in the hotel industry in Nigeria. Our main assumption was that majority of hotel organizations have not built emotional labour into their human resources management schemes. Data were gathered by the use of structured questionnaires designed in Likert format, and interviews. The focus group was managers of the selected hotels. Analyses revealed that majority of the hotels have not built emotional labour into their human resources schemes particularly in the 1, 2, and 3-star hotels. It was observed that service employees of 1, 2, and 3-star hotels have not been adequately trained to perform emotional labour; a critical factor in quality service delivery. Managers of 1, 2, and 3-star hotels have not given serious thought to emotional labour as a critical factor in quality service delivery. The study revealed that suitability of an individual’s characteristics is not being considered as a criterion for selection and performance appraisal for service employees. The implication of this is that, person-job-fit is not seriously considered. It was observed that there has been a disconnect between required emotional competency, its recognition, evaluation, and training. Based on the findings of this study, it is concluded that selection, training, job description and performance appraisal instruments in use in hotels in Nigeria are inadequate. Human resource implications of the findings in this study are presented. It is recommended that hotel organizations should re-design and plan the emotional content and context of their human resources practices to reflect the emotional demands of front line jobs in the hotel industry and the crucial role emotional labour plays during service encounters.

Keywords: emotional labour, employee selection, job description, performance appraisal, person-job-fit, employee compensation

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Authors: Vanja Skoric

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The paper examines whether the impacts of artificial intelligence (AI) can be meaningfully addressed through the rights-based approach to AI design, investigating in particular how the inclusive, participatory process of assessing the AI impact would make this viable. There is a significant gap between envisioning rights-based AI systems and their practical application. Plausibly, internalizing human rights approach within AI design process might be achieved through identifying and assessing implications of AI features human rights, especially considering the case of vulnerable individuals and communities. However, there is no clarity or consensus on how such an instrument should be operationalised to usefully identify the impact, mitigate harms and meaningfully ensure relevant stakeholders’ participation. In practice, ensuring the meaningful inclusion of those individuals, groups, or entire communities who are affected by the use of the AI system is a prerequisite for a process seeking to assess human rights impacts and risks. Engagement in the entire process of the impact assessment should enable those affected and interested to access information and better understand the technology, product, or service and resulting impacts, but also to learn about their rights and the respective obligations and responsibilities of developers and deployers to protect and/or respect these rights. This paper will provide an overview of the study and practice of the participatory design process for AI, including inclusive impact assessment, its main elements, propose a framework, and discuss the lessons learned from the existing theory. In addition, it will explore pathways for enhancing and promoting individual and group rights through such engagement by discussing when, how, and whom to include, at which stage of the process, and what are the pre-requisites for meaningful and engaging. The overall aim is to ensure using the technology that works for the benefit of society, individuals, and particular (historically marginalised) groups.

Keywords: rights-based design, AI impact assessment, inclusion, harm mitigation

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Authors: Saif Obaid Alkaabi, Nabil Ayad

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Governments constantly seek to offer faster, more secure, efficient and effective services for their citizens. Recent changes and developments to communication services and technologies, mainly due the Internet, have led to immense improvements in the way governments of advanced countries carry out their interior operations Therefore, advances in e-government services have been broadly adopted and used in various developed countries, as well as being adapted to developing countries. The implementation of advances depends on the utilization of the most innovative structures of data techniques, mainly in web dependent applications, to enhance the main functions of governments. These functions, in turn, have spread to mobile and wireless techniques, generating a new advanced direction called m-government. This paper discusses a selection of available m-government applications and several business modules and frameworks in various fields. Practically, the m-government models, techniques and methods have become the improved version of e-government. M-government offers the potential for applications which will work better, providing citizens with services utilizing mobile communication and data models incorporating several government entities. Developing countries can benefit greatly from this innovation due to the fact that a large percentage of their population is young and can adapt to new technology and to the fact that mobile computing devices are more affordable. The use of models of mobile transactions encourages effective participation through the use of mobile portals by businesses, various organizations, and individual citizens. Although the application of m-government has great potential, it does have major limitations. The limitations include: the implementation of wireless networks and relative communications, the encouragement of mobile diffusion, the administration of complicated tasks concerning the protection of security (including the ability to offer privacy for information), and the management of the legal issues concerning mobile applications and the utilization of services.

Keywords: e-government, m-government, system dependability, system security, trust

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Authors: Timothy Scheinert, Eliza Wright

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Background: Link Health is a Boston-based non-profit leveraging in-person and digital platforms to promote health equity. Its primary aim is to financially support low-income individuals through enrollment in federal benefit programs. This study examines the monetary impact of enrollment in several benefit programs. Methodologies: Approximately 17,000 individuals have been screened for eligibility via digital outreach, community events, and in-person clinics. Enrollment and financial distributions are evaluated across programs, including the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), Lifeline, LIHEAP, Transitional Aid to Families with Dependent Children (TAFDC), and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Major Findings: A total of 1,895 individuals have successfully applied, collectively distributing an estimated $1,288,152.00 in aid. The largest contributors to this sum include: ACP: 1,149 enrollments, $413,640 distributed annually. Child Care Financial Assistance (CCFA): 15 enrollments, $240,000 distributed annually. Lifeline: 602 enrollments, $66,822 distributed annually. LIHEAP: 25 enrollments, $48,750 distributed annually. SNAP: 41 enrollments, $123,000 distributed annually. TAFDC: 21 enrollments, $341,760 distributed annually. Conclusions: These results highlight the role of targeted outreach and effective enrollment processes in promoting access to federal benefit programs. High enrollment rates in ACP and Lifeline demonstrate a considerable need for affordable broadband and internet services. Programs like CCFA and TAFDC, despite lower enrollment numbers, provide sizable support per individual. This analysis advocates for continued funding of federal benefit programs. Future efforts can be made to develop screening tools that identify eligibility for multiple programs and reduce the complexity of enrollment.

Keywords: benefits, childcare, connectivity, equity, nutrition

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Authors: H. Taylan Selamlar, I. Yavuz, G. Yapar

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It is difficult to make predictions especially about the future and making accurate predictions is not always easy. However, better predictions remain the foundation of all science therefore the development of accurate, robust and reliable forecasting methods is very important. Numerous number of forecasting methods have been proposed and studied in the literature. There are still two dominant major forecasting methods: Box-Jenkins ARIMA and Exponential Smoothing (ES), and still new methods are derived or inspired from them. After more than 50 years of widespread use, exponential smoothing is still one of the most practically relevant forecasting methods available due to their simplicity, robustness and accuracy as automatic forecasting procedures especially in the famous M-Competitions. Despite its success and widespread use in many areas, ES models have some shortcomings that negatively affect the accuracy of forecasts. Therefore, a new forecasting method in this study will be proposed to cope with these shortcomings and it will be called ATA method. This new method is obtained from traditional ES models by modifying the smoothing parameters therefore both methods have similar structural forms and ATA can be easily adapted to all of the individual ES models however ATA has many advantages due to its innovative new weighting scheme. In this paper, the focus is on modeling the trend component and handling seasonality patterns by utilizing classical decomposition. Therefore, ATA method is expanded to higher order ES methods for additive, multiplicative, additive damped and multiplicative damped trend components. The proposed models are called ATA trended models and their predictive performances are compared to their counter ES models on the M3 competition data set since it is still the most recent and comprehensive time-series data collection available. It is shown that the models outperform their counters on almost all settings and when a model selection is carried out amongst these trended models ATA outperforms all of the competitors in the M3- competition for both short term and long term forecasting horizons when the models’ forecasting accuracies are compared based on popular error metrics.

Keywords: accuracy, exponential smoothing, forecasting, initial value

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Authors: Andreas Ateke Njoh, Shalom Tchokfe Ndoula, Amani Adidja, Germain Nguessan Menan, Annie Mengue, Eric Mboke, Hassan Ben Bachir, Sangwe Clovis Nchinjoh, Yauba Saidu, Laurent Cleenewerck De Kiev

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Vaccines serve a great deal in protecting the population globally. Vaccine products are subject to rigorous quality control and approval before use to ensure safety. Even if all actors take the required precautions, some people could still have adverse events following immunization (AEFI) caused by the vaccine composition or an error in its administration. AEFI underreporting is pronounced in low-income settings like Cameroon. The Country introduced electronic platforms to strengthen surveillance. With the introduction of many novel vaccines, like COVID-19 and the novel Oral Polio Vaccine (nOPV) 2, there was a need to monitor AEFI in the Country. A cross-sectional study was conducted from July to December 2022. Data on AEFI per region of Cameroon were reviewed for the past five years. Data were analyzed with MS Excel, and the results were presented in proportions. AEFI reporting was uncommon in Cameroon. With the introduction of novel vaccines in 2021, the health authorities engaged in new tools and training to capture cases. AEFI detected almost doubled using the open data kit (ODK) compared to previous platforms, especially following the introduction of the nOPV2 and COVID-19 vaccines. The AEFI rate was 1.9 and 160 per administered 100 000 doses of nOPV2 and COVID-19 vaccines, respectively. This mobile tool captured individual information for people with AEFI from all regions. The platform helped to identify common AEFI following the use of these new vaccines. The ODK mobile technology was vital in improving AEFI reporting and providing data to monitor using new vaccines in Cameroon.

Keywords: adverse events following immunization, cameroon, COVID-19 vaccines, nOPV, ODK

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Authors: Ivan Yudianto

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The research objectives are to analyze the factors that impede the Parking Tax and Parking Retribution collection in Bekasi City Government, analyzing the factors that can increase local own revenue from the tax sector of parking tax and parking retribution, analyze monitoring the parking retribution collection by the Bekasi City Government, analyze strategies Bekasi City Government through the preparation of a roadmap and action plan to increase parking tax and parking retribution revenues. The approach used in this research is a qualitative approach. Qualitative research is used because the problem is not yet clear and the object to be studied will be holistic, complex, and dynamic, and the relationship will be interactive symptoms. Methods of data collection and technical analysis of the data was in-depth interviews, participant observation, documentary materials, literature, and triangulation, as well as new methods such as the methods of visual materials and internet browsing. The results showed that there are several factors that become an obstacle such as the parking taxpayer does not disclose the actual parking revenue, the parking taxpayer are late or do not pay Parking Tax, many parking locations controlled by illegal organizations, shortage of human resources in charge levy and supervise the parking tax and parking retribution collection in the Bekasi City Government, surveillance parking tax and parking retribution are not scheduled on a regular basis. Several strategic priorities in order to develop the potential of the Parking Tax and Parking Retribution in the Bekasi City Government, namely through increased controling and monitoring of the Parking Taxpayer, forming a team of auditors to audit the Parking Taxpayer, seek law enforcement persuasive and educative to reduce Parking Taxpayer wayward, providing strict sanctions against the Parking Taxpayer disobedient, revised regulations mayors about locations of parking in Bekasi City, rationalize revenues target of Parking Retribution, conducting takeover attempts parking location on the roadside of the individual or specific group, and drafting regional regulations on parking subscribe.

Keywords: local own revenue, parking retribution, parking tax, parking taxpayer

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Authors: Sarah Almuhayya, Andrew Mcbain, Gavin Humphreys

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Background. The microbiome of the upper respiratory tract (URT) has received less research attention than other body sites. This study aims to investigate the microbial ecology of the human URT with a focus on the antagonism between the corynebacteria and staphylococci. Methods. Mucosal swabs were collected from the anterior nares and nasal turbinates of 20 healthy adult subjects. Genomic DNA amplification targeting the (V4) of the 16Sr RNA gene was conducted and analyzed using QIIME. Nasal swab isolates were cultured and identified using near full-length sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene. Isolates identified as corynebacteria or staphylococci were typed using (rep-PCR). Antagonism was determined using an agar-based inhibition assay. Results. Four major bacterial phyla (Actinobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes, and Proteobacteria) were identified from all volunteers. The typing of cultured staphylococci and corynebacteria suggested that intra-individual strain diversity was limited. Analysis of generated nasal microbiota profiles suggested an inverse correlation in terms of relative abundance between staphylococci and corynebacteria. Despite the apparent antagonism between these genera, it was limited when investigated on agar. Of 1000 pairwise interactions, observable zones of inhibition were only reported between a single strain of C.pseudodiphtheriticum and S.aureus. Imaging under EM revealed this effect to be bactericidal with clear lytic effects on staphylococcal cell morphology. Conclusion. Nasal microbiota is complex, but culturable staphylococci and corynebacteria were limited in terms of clone type. Analysis of generated nasal microbiota profiles suggested an inverse correlation in terms of relative abundance between these genera suggesting an antagonism or competition between these taxonomic groups.

Keywords: nasal, microbiota, S.aureus, microbioal interaction

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Authors: Hiroyuki Aoki, Toru Asada, Tomomi Tanii

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The properties of a spin-cast film of a polymer material are different from those in the bulk material because the polymer chains are frozen in an un-equilibrium state due to the rapid evaporation of the solvent. However, there has been little information on the un-equilibrated conformation and dynamics in a spin-cast film at the single chain level. The real-space observation of individual chains would provide direct information to discuss the morphology and dynamics of single polymer chains. The recent development of super-resolution fluorescence microscopy methods allows the conformational analysis of single polymer chain. In the current study, the conformation of a polymer chain in a spin-cast film by the super-resolution microscopy. Poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) with the molecular weight of 2.2 x 10^6 was spin-cast onto a glass substrate from toluene and chloroform. For the super-resolution fluorescence imaging, a small amount of the PMMA labeled by rhodamine spiroamide dye was added. The radius of gyration (Rg) was evaluated from the super-resolution fluorescence image of each PMMA chain. The mean-square-root of Rg was 48.7 and 54.0 nm in the spin-cast films prepared from the toluene and chloroform solutions, respectively. On the other hand, the chain dimension in a bulk state (a thermally annealed 10- μm-thick sample) was observed to be 43.1 nm. This indicates that the PMMA chain in the spin-cast film takes an expanded conformation compared to the unperturbed chain and that the chain dimension is dependent on the solvent quality. In a good solvent, the PMMA chain has an expanded conformation by the excluded volume effect. The polymer chain is frozen before the relaxation from an un-equilibrated expanded conformation to an unperturbed one by the rapid solvent evaporation.

Keywords: chain conformation, polymer thin film, spin-coating, super-resolution optical microscopy

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Authors: Destriyanti Sugiarti, Ririn A Wulandari

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Background: Malaria disease was widespread in many countries, both tropical and sub-tropical. Tasikmalaya is a region that experienced an increase in malaria cases over the last 5 years and highest in 2013, a total of 168 positive cases of malaria. Tasikmalaya region consists of coastal and mountain areas, it has a potential place for Anopheles mosquito breeding, i.e swamp, lagoon, andrice fields.The purpose of this study was to determine the correlation of environmental risk factors with the incidence of malaria in Tasikmalaya. Methods: The design of the study is case control study with 140 samples in 5 sub-district (Cineam, Cikatomas, Cipatujah, Salopa, and Jatiwaras). This study examines the environmental factors that influence the incidence of malaria in Tasikmalaya District in 2013. The research used 14 variables: individual characteristics (education, knowledge, occupation) and environmental risk factors (mobility to endemic areas, use mosquito nets, use of wire gauze at home, use mosquito repellent, repellent use, the presence of a large animal in a cage, breeding place, the presence of larvae, temperature and humidity chamber). Results: Results demonstrated an association between occupation (0.22; 0.10-0.47), the mobility of the population to the endemic areas (37.4; 14.29-98.18) ,the presence of larvae (5.26; 1.41-19.74), and the room temperature with optimum temperature for mosquito breeding is 25-30oC (3.25; 1.62- 6.50). Conclusion: The dominant factor affecting the spread of malaria in Tasikmalaya is the mobility of the population to endemic areas. The results of the study suggest migration survey conducted activity and health promotion for preventive efforts against malaria in malaria-endemic areas, and to encourage people to behave healthy life by freeing environment of mosquito larvae and protect themselves from mosquito bites.

Keywords: Environmental risk factors, malaria, correlation, Anopheles

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Authors: Naim Izet Kajtazi

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Context: Although rare, glomus tumor (i.e., nonchromaffin chemodectomas and paragan¬gliomas) is the most common middle ear tumor, with female predominance. Pre-operative embolization is often required to devascularize the hypervascular tumor for better surgical outcomes. Process: A 35-year-old female presented with episodes of frequent dizziness, ear fullness, and right ear tinnitus for 12 months. Head imaging revealed a right glomus tympanicum tumor. She underwent pre-operative endovascular embolization of the glomus tympanicum tumor with surgical, cyanoacrylate-based glue. Immediately after the procedure, she developed drowsiness and severe pain in the right temporal region. Further investigations revealed a right cerebellar stroke in the posterior inferior cerebellar artery territory. She was treated with intravenous heparin, followed by one year of oral anticoagulation. With rehabilitation, she significantly recovered from her post embolization stroke. However, the tumor was resected at another institution. Ten years later, follow-up imaging indicated a gradual increase in the size of the glomus jugulare tumor, compressing the nearby critical vascular structures. She subsequently received radiation therapy to treat the residual tumor. Outcome: Currently, she has no neurological deficit, but her mild dizziness, right ear tinnitus, and hearing impairment persist. Relevance: This case highlights the complex nature of these tumors, which often bring challenges to the patients as well as treatment teams. The multi-disciplinary team approach is necessary to tailor the management plan for individual tumors. Although embolization is a safe procedure, careful attention and thoughtful anatomic knowledge regarding dangerous anastomosis are essential to avoid devastating complications. Complications occur due to encountered vessel anomalies and new anastomoses formed during the gluing and changes in hemodynamics.

Keywords: stroke, embolization, MRI brain, cerebral angiogram

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Authors: Ana M. T. Mata, Alexiane Ligneul

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Textile effluents are usually heavily loaded with organic carbon and color compounds, the latter being azo dyes in an estimated 70% of the case effluent posing a major challenge in environmental protection. In this study, the ecotoxicity of simulated textile effluent after biological treatment with anaerobic and aerobic phase (aerobic granular sludge, AGS) and after advanced oxidation processes (AOP) namely ozonation and UV irradiation as post-treatment, were tested to evaluate the fitness of this treatments for ecotoxicity abatement. AGS treatment achieved an 80% removal in both COD and color. AOP was applied with the intention to mineralize the metabolites resulting from biodecolorization of the azo dye Acid Red 14, especially the stable aromatic amine (4-amino-1-naphthalenesulfonic acid, 4A1NS). The ecotoxicity evaluation was based on growth inhibition of the algae Pseudokirchneriella subcapitata following OECD TG 201 except regarding the medium, MBL medium was used instead. Five replicate control cultures and samples were performed with an average STD of 2.7% regarding specific algae growth rate determination. It was found that untreated textile effluent holds an inhibition of specific growth rate of 82%. AGS treatment by itself is able to lower ecotoxicity to 53%. This is probably due to the high color removal of the treatment. AOP post-treatment with Ozone and UV irradiation improves the ecotoxicity abatment to 49 and 43% inhibition respectively, less significantly than previously thought. Since over 85% of 4A1NS was removed by either of the AOP (followed by HPLC), an individual ecotoxicity test of 4A1NS was performed showing that 4A1NS does not inhibit algae growth (0% inhibition). It was concluded that AGS treatment is able by itself to achieve a significant ecotoxicity abatement of textile effluent. The cost-benefit of AOP as a post-treatment have to be better accessed since their application resulted in an improvement of only 10% regarding ecotoxicity effluent removal. It was also found that the 4A1NS amine had no apparent effect on ecotoxicity. Further studies will be conducted to study where ecotoxicity is coming from after AGS biological treatment and how to eliminate it.

Keywords: textile wastewate, ecotoxicity, aerobic granular sludge, AOP

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Authors: Hui Liu, Xiaozan Wang, Jiarong Zhong, Ziming Shao

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Introduction: Related research shows that students don’t concentrate on teacher’s speaking in the classroom. The d2 attention test is a time-limited test about selective attention. The d2 attention test can be used to evaluate individual selective attention. Purpose: To use the d2 attention test tool to measure the difference between the attention level of the experimental class and the control class before and after Brain-Break and to explore the effect of Brain-Break in the classroom on students' selective attention. Methods: According to the principle of no difference in pre-test data, two classes in the fourth- grade of Shenzhen Longhua Central Primary School were selected. After 20 minutes of class in the third class in the morning and the third class in the afternoon, about 3-minute Brain-Break intervention was performed in the experimental class for 10 weeks. The normal class in the control class did not intervene. Before and after the experiment, the d2 attention test tool was used to test the attention level of the two-class students. The paired sample t-test and independent sample t-test in SPSS 23.0 was used to test the change in the attention level of the two-class classes around 10 weeks. This article only presents results with significant differences. Results: The independent sample t-test results showed that after ten-week of Brain-Break, the missed errors (E1 t = -2.165 p = 0.042), concentration performance (CP t = 1.866 p = 0.05), and the degree of omissions (Epercent t = -2.375 p = 0.029) in experimental class showed significant differences compared with control class. The students’ error level decreased and the concentration increased. Conclusions: Adding Brain-Break interventions in the classroom can effectively improve the attention level of fourth-grade primary school students to a certain extent, especially can improve the concentration of attention and decrease the error rate in the tasks. The new sport's learning model is worth promoting

Keywords: cultural class, micromotor, attention, D2 test

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Authors: Tris Kee

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This research investigates social sustainability factors in transitional housing projects and their impact on fostering healthy living environments that promote physical activity and social interaction for residents. Social sustainability is integral to individual health and well-being, as emphasized by Goal 11 of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which highlights the importance of safe, affordable, and accessible transport systems, green spaces, and public spaces catering to vulnerable populations' needs. Communal spaces in urban environments are essential for fostering social sustainability, as they serve as settings for physical activities and social interactions among diverse socio-economic groups. Factors such as neighborhood social atmosphere, historical context, social disparity, and mobility can influence the relationship between existing and transitional communities. Mental health effects can be measured through housing segregation, mobility and accessibility, and housing tenure. A significant research gap exists in understanding the living environment of transitional housing in Hong Kong and the social sustainability factors affecting residents' mental and physical health. To address this gap, our study employs a mixed-methods approach combining survey questionnaires and interviews to gather both quantitative and qualitative data. This methodology will provide comprehensive insights into residents' experiences and perceptions. Our research's main contribution is identifying key social sustainability factors in transitional housing and their impact on residents' well-being, informing policy-making and the creation of inclusive, healthy living environments. By addressing this research gap, we aim to provide valuable insights for future housing projects, ultimately promoting the development of socially sustainable transitional communities.

Keywords: social sustainablity, affordable housing, transitional housing, high density housing

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Authors: T. Yılmaz, Ş. Tavman

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In this study, optimization of ultrasound assisted extraction (UAE) of hemicellulose based polysaccharides from plant waste material has been studied. Selected material is hazelnut skin. Extraction variables for the operation are extraction time, amplitude and application temperature. Optimum conditions have been evaluated depending on responses such as amount of wet crude polysaccharide, total carbohydrate content and dried sample. Pretreated hazelnut skin powders were used for the experiments. 10 grams of samples were suspended in 100 ml water in a jacketed vessel with additional magnetic stirring. Mixture was sonicated by immersing ultrasonic probe processor. After the extraction procedures, ethanol soluble and insoluble sides were separated for further examinations. The obtained experimental data were analyzed by analysis of variance (ANOVA). Second order polynomial models were developed using multiple regression analysis. The individual and interactive effects of applied variables were evaluated by Box Behnken Design. The models developed from the experimental design were predictive and good fit with the experimental data with high correlation coefficient value (R2 more than 0.95). Extracted polysaccharides from hazelnut skin are assumed to be pectic polysaccharides according to the literature survey of Fourier Transform Spectrometry (FTIR) analysis results. No more change can be observed between spectrums of different sonication times. Application of UAE at optimized condition has an important effect on extraction of hemicellulose from plant material by satisfying partial hydrolysis to break the bounds with other components in plant cell wall material. This effect can be summarized by varied intensity of microjets and microstreaming at varied sonication conditions.

Keywords: hazelnut skin, optimization, polysaccharide, ultrasound assisted extraction

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Authors: Sireen Irsheid

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Despite concerted efforts to improve education attainment with progress in recent years, student achievement and attainment remain among the most significant challenges for school districts across the United States. Many scholars have argued that students who do not complete high school do not drop out of school voluntarily but are ‘pushed out’ of schools through multiple mechanisms related to structural and socioeconomic barriers, behavioral health challenges, pedagogical practices, and administrative procedures. Extant literature has shown that living in historically disadvantaged neighborhoods or attending under-resourced schools exacerbates student-level risk factors for grade retention and school pushout. Most efforts to respond to the school pushout phenomenon have focused on individual characteristics of students, with relatively little attention to addressing these multiple system-level characteristics related to perpetuating inequities. This study is built on a growing body of social justice-oriented research concerned with the systemic influences that shape the experiences and mental health challenges of young people. Specifically, this study examined how young people who have been experiencing education inequities make meaning and navigate the structural factors related to neighborhood and school disinvestment and access to resources and supports, and their risk for school pushout. Furthermore, schools as political, cultural, and ideologically reproductive spaces often serve as sites of resistance and can support students who are impacted by educational inequity. Study findings provide education, neighborhood, school psychology, social work practice, and policy considerations.

Keywords: education policy, mental health, school prison nexus, school pushout, structural trauma

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Authors: Chee Fei Chang, May Yee Ng

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As a result of its geographical location, flood is a natural disaster that happens regularly in Malaysia. Every year, heavy rainfall is brought by the cyclical monsoon to the East coast of Peninsular Malaysia. In recent years, the occurrence of unexpected heavy downpour somehow connected to climate-change phenomena is also on the increasing trend. Ironically, despite that Malaysians have suffered significant monetary losses as a result of the recurring floods in past many decades, little has been done by the government from the perspective of taxation. Perhaps due to political reason or as a populist measure, the federal and local government are more inclined to offer small cash handout then rolling out long-term tax policy or measure in relieving the financial and tax burden of the victims and affected business entities. Except for the one-off tax break granted to affected businesses in 2007, the authors have not found any income tax exemption or deduction order gazetted with regard to flood disaster. Hence, it is imperative for this study to explore the need and challenges of implementing flood inflicted disaster tax relief or credit in Malaysia. This research consists of two major parts. First, the assessment of relevant tax policies/ measures with regard to non-government organisations and other affected parties. Content and thematic analyses will be applied on current tax legislations and orders issued for this part. Second, a comparative analysis will be conducted benchmarking various disaster tax reliefs and credits implemented in developed countries. Resulting from the increasing climate change-related disasters in Malaysia, the findings of this study will shed light on the importance of introducing disaster tax relief measures to assist individual victims as well as the affected businesses.

Keywords: climate-changed related disaster, disaster tax credits, tax relief for victims, tax measures for disaster recovery

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Authors: Jasna Čanadanović-Brunet, Gordana Ćetković, Sonja Djilas, Vesna Tumbas-Šaponjac, Jelena Vulić, Sladjana Stajčić

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Honey, produced by the honeybee, is a natural saturated sugar solution, which is mainly composed of a complex mixture of carbohydrates. Besides this, it also contains certain minor constituents, proteins, enzymes, amino and organic acids, lipids, vitamins, phenolic acids, flavonoids and carotenoids. Honey serves as a source of natural antioxidants, which are effective in reducing the risk of heart disease, cancer, immune-system decline, cataracts, and different inflammatory processes. Honey is consumed in its natural form alone, but also in combination with nuts and various kinds of dried fruits (plums, figs, cranberries, apricots etc.). The aim of this research was to investigate the contribution of dried apricot addition to polyphenols and flavonoids contents and antioxidant activities of honey. Some individual phenolic compounds in Serbian polyfloral honey (PH), linden honey (LH) and also in their mixtures with dried apricot, in 40% mass concentrations (PH40; LH40), were identified and quantified by HPLC. The most dominant phenolic compound was: gallic acid in LH (11.14 mg/100g), LH40 (42.65 mg/100g), PH (7.24 mg/100g) and catehin in PH40 (11.83 mg/100g). The antioxidant activity of PH, LH, PH40 and LH40 was tested by measuring their ability to scavenge hydroxyl radicals (OH) by electron spin resonance spectroscopy (ESR). Honey samples with 40% dried apricot exhibited better antioxidant activity measured by hydroxyl radical scavenging activity. The EC50 values, the amount of antioxidant necessary to decrease the initial concentration of OH radicals by 50%, were: EC50PH=3.36 mg/ml, EC50LH=13.36 mg/ml, EC50PH40=2.29 mg/ml, EC50 LH40=7.78 mg/ml. Our results indicate that supplementation of polyfloral honey and linden honey with dried apricots improves antioxidant activity of honey by enriching the phenolic composition.

Keywords: honey, dried apricot, HPLC, hydroxyl radical

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Authors: Soumya Pugal

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The traditional lake system of an ancient town is a network of water holding blue spaces, erected further than 2000 years ago by the rulers of ancient cities and maintained for centuries by the original communities. These blue spaces form a micro-watershed wherein an individual tank has its own catchment, tank bed area, and command area. These lakes are connected by a common sluice from the upstream tank, thereby feeding the downstream tank. The lakes used to be of socio-economic significance in those times, but the rapid growth of the city, as well as the change in systems of ownership of the lakes, have turned them into the backyard of urban development. Madurai is one such historic city to be facing the issues of finding a balance to the social, ecological, and profitable requirements of the people with respect to the traditional lake system. To find a solution to problems caused by the neglect of vital ecological systems of a city, the theory of transformative placemaking through water sensitive urban design has been explored. This approach re-invents the relationship between the people and the urban lakes to suit the modern aspirations while respecting the environment. The thesis aims to develop strategies to guide the development along the major urban lake of Vandiyur to equip the lake to meet the growing requirements of the megacity in terms of its recreational requirements and give a renewed connection between people and water. The intent of the design is to understand the ecological and social structures of the lake and find ways to use the lake to produce social cohesion within the community and balance the city's profitable and ecological requirements by using transformative placemaking through water sensitive urban design..

Keywords: urban lakes, urban blue spaces, placemaking, revitalisation of lakes, urban cohesion

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Authors: Min Wang, Sergey Utev

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The lessons from the 2007-09 global financial crisis have driven scientific research, which considers the design of new methodologies and financial models in the global market. The quantum mechanics approach was introduced in the unpredictable stock market modeling. One famous quantum tool is Feynman path integral method, which was used to model insurance risk by Tamturk and Utev and adapted to formalize the path-dependent option pricing by Hao and Utev. The research is based on the path-dependent calculation method, which is motivated by the Feynman path integral method. The path calculation can be studied in two ways, one way is to label, and the other is computational. Labeling is a part of the representation of objects, and generating functions can provide many different ways of representing share price paths. In this paper, the recent works on graphical theoretical construction of individual share price path via matroid is presented. Firstly, a study is done on the knowledge of matroid, relationship between lattice path matroid and Tutte polynomials and ways to connect points in the lattice path matroid and Tutte polynomials is suggested. Secondly, It is found that a general binary tree can be validly constructed from a connected lattice path matroid rather than general lattice path matroid. Lastly, it is suggested that there is a way to represent share price paths via a general binary tree, and an algorithm is developed to construct share price paths from general binary trees. A relationship is also provided between lattice integer points and Tutte polynomials of a transversal matroid. Use this way of connection together with the algorithm, a share price path can be constructed from a given connected lattice path matroid.

Keywords: combinatorial construction, graphical representation, matroid, path calculation, share price, Tutte polynomial

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Authors: Vladimir Littva, Peter Kutis

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Based on common practice, we know that an empathic approach to a patient is one of the characteristics of a physiotherapist. Although empathy is regarded as an essential condition of the psychotherapeutic relationship, it has taken quite a while for attention to be paid to it in clinical practice. Patients who are experiencing a sense of understanding from health care providers are more willing to cooperate, and treatment within the optimistic attunes a more comfortable framework of care. Age, experience, family, education and the working environment may have an impact on the degree of empathy for paramedics. Within the KEGA project no. 003KU-4-2021, we decided to investigate the level of empathy in the work of physiotherapists in Slovakia. Research sample and Methods: The sample comprised 194 respondents – physiotherapists working on the territory of Slovakia. 112 were men and 82 women. The age of respondents was between 21 and 64 years of age. 133 were married, 51 were single and ten were divorced. 98 were living in the countryside and 96 in towns. Twenty-two grew up without siblings, 95 with one sibling and 77 with two and more siblings. In the survey, we used the Empathy Assessment Questionnaire (EAQ) with 18 questions with four possible answers: strongly disagree, disagree, agree; and strongly agree, which we validated linguistically and psychometrically. All data were statistically processed by SPSS 25. Results: We evaluated the intrinsic reliability of the questionnaire EAQ using Cronbach's Alpha and the coefficient is 0.756 in the whole set. This means that the questionnaire is a quite strong and reliable measurement tool. The mean for individual questions ranged from 2.39 to 3.74 (maximum was 4). In Pearson's correlations, we confirmed the significant differences between the groups regarding sex in 8 questions out of 18, regarding age in 5 questions, regarding family status in 4 questions and regarding siblings in 4 questions out of 18 at the level 5% (p <0.05). Conclusion: The results obtained during the research show the importance of adequate communication with the patient due to his health and well-being. Empathy in the physiotherapists’ profession is very important. It would be worthwhile if the students of physiotherapy would receive a course during their study that would deal exclusively with empathy, empathic approach, burnout, or psycho-emotional hygiene.

Keywords: empathy, approach, clinical practice, physiotherapists

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Authors: Lindie Grebe

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This paper reports on a study that explored the strategizing practices of professional accountants in the mining industry, based on Jarratt and Stiles’ dominant strategizing practice models framework. Drawing on a strategy-as-practice perspective, the paper recognises qualified professional accountants in strategic management such as Chief Executive Officers, as strategy practitioners that perform their strategizing practices and praxis within a specific context. The main findings of this paper were produced through semi-structured individual interviews with accountants that perform strategy on a business level in the South African mining industry. Qualitative data were analysed through conversation analysis over two coding-cycles. Findings describe accountant strategists as practitioners who challenge the dominant business model when a disconnect seems to exist between international corporate level strategy and business level strategy in the South African mining industry. Accountant strategy practitioners described their dominant strategizing practice model as incremental change during strategic planning and as a lived experience during strategy implementation. Findings portrayed these strategists as taking initiative as strategy leaders in a dynamic and volatile environment to combine their accounting background with strategic management and challenge the dominant business model. Understanding how accountant strategists perform strategizing offers insight into the social practice of strategic management. This understanding contributes to the body of knowledge on strategizing in the South African mining industry. In addition, knowledge on the transformation of accountants as strategists could provide valuable practice relevant insights for accounting educators and the accounting profession alike.

Keywords: accountant strategists, dominant strategizing practice models framework, mining industry, strategy-as-practice

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Authors: Barbara Pittau, Piergiorgio Palla, Antonio Mastino

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Communication is fundamental to health education. The proper use of medicinal products is a crucial aspect of the health of citizens that affects both safety and health care spending. Therefore, encouraging/promoting communication, concerning the importance of proper use of pharmaceuticals, has substantial implications in terms of individual health, health care, and health care system sustainability. In view of these considerations, in the context of two projects, one of which is still in progress, a relational database-backed web application named COLLABORAFARMACISOLA has been designed and developed as a tool to analyze and visualize how people approach the use of medicinal products, with the aim of improving and enhancing communication efficacy. The software application is being used to collect information (anonymously and voluntarily) from the citizens of Sardinia, an Italian region, regarding their knowledge, experiences, and opinions towards pharmaceuticals. This study that was conducted to date on thousand of interviewed people, has focused on different aspects such as: the treatment interruption and the "self-prescription” without medical consultation, the attention paid to reading the leaflets, the awareness of the economic value of the pharmaceuticals, the importance of avoiding the waste of medicinal products and the attitudes towards the use of generics. To this purpose, our software application provides a set of ad hoc parsing routines, to store information into the structure of a relational database and to process and visualize it through a set of interactive tools aimed to emphasize the findings and the insights obtained. The results of our preliminary analysis show the efficacy of the awareness plan and, at the same time, the criticality and the needs of the territory under examination. The ultimate goal of our study is to provide a contribution to the community by improving communication that can result in a benefit for public health in a context strictly connected to the reality of the territory.

Keywords: communication, pharmaceuticals, public health, relational database, tool, web application

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Authors: Reza Fardid, Aliyeh Alipour

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Introduction: Coronary heart disease (CHD) is the most common and deadliest diseases. A coronary angiography is an important tool for the diagnosis and treatment of this disease. Because angiography is performed by exposure to ionizing radiation, it can lead to harmful effects. Ionizing radiation induces double-stranded breaks in DNA, which is a potentially life-threatening injury. The purpose of the present study is an investigation of the phosphorylation of histone H2AX in the location of the double-stranded break in Peripheral blood lymphocytes as an indication of Biological effects of radiation on angiography patients. Materials and Methods: This method is based on measurement of the phosphorylation of histone (gamma-H2AX, gH2AX) level on serine 139 after formation of DNA double-strand break. 5 cc of blood from 24 patients with angiography were sampled before and after irradiation. Blood lymphocytes were removed, fixed and were stained with specific ϒH2AX antibodies. Finally, ϒH2AX signal as an indicator of the double-strand break was measured with Flow Cytometry Technique. Results and discussion: In all patients, an increase was observed in the number of breaks in double-stranded DNA after irradiation (20.15 ± 14.18) compared to before exposure (1.52 ± 0.34). Also, the mean of DNA double-strand break was showed a linear correlation with DAP. However, although induction of DNA double-strand breaks associated with radiation dose in patients, the effect of individual factors such as radiosensitivity and regenerative capacity should not be ignored. If in future we can measure DNA damage response in every patient angiography and it will be used as a biomarker patient dose, will look very impressive on the public health level. Conclusion: Using flow cytometry readings which are done automatically, it is possible to detect ϒH2AX in the number of blood cells. Therefore, the use of this technique could play a significant role in monitoring patients.

Keywords: coronary angiography, DSB of DNA, ϒH2AX, ionizing radiation

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Authors: Ellina Zipman

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This research investigates the place of music education in aged care facilities through the implementation of a program of regular piano lessons for residents. Using a qualitative case study methodology, the research explores aged care residents’ experiences in learning to play the piano. Since the aged care homes are unlikely places for formal learning and since older adults, especially in residential care, are not considered likely candidates for learning, this research opens the door for innovative and transformative thinking about where and to whom educational programs can be delivered. By addressing the educational needs of residents in aged care facilities, this research fills the gap in the literature. The research took place in Australia in two of Melbourne’s residential aged care facilities, engaging two residents (a nonagenarian female and an octogenarian male) to participate in 12-months weekly individual piano lessons. The data was collected through video recording of lessons, observations, interviews, emails, and a reflective journal. Data analysis was done using Nvivo and hard copy analysis with identifications of themes. The case studies revealed that passion for music was a major driver in participants’ motivation to engage in a long-term piano lessons program. This participation led to experiences of positive emotions, positive attitude, successes and challenges, the exercise of control, maintaining and building new relationships, improved self-confidence through autonomy and independent skills development, and discovering new identities through finding a new purpose and new roles in life. Speaking through participants’ voices, this research project demonstrates the importance of music education for older adults and hopes to influence transformation in the residential aged care sector.

Keywords: adult music education, quality of life, passion, positive ageing, wellbeing

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Authors: Ejovi Eghwubare Augustine

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This study delved into the traditional mechanisms of conflict resolution in Africa, a pathway to sustainable peace in Nigeria. It deployed the quantitative and qualitative methods of data collection and content analysis. The work adopted the Peace Process theory propounded by John Darby and Roger Macunity. It ascertained that disputes or disagreements are unarguably and necessarily an inevitable part of human existence, flowing directly from communication, interaction, and relationships which can occur at individual and national levels, even at international levels in view of the current trend of globalization. The alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) mechanism is a basket of procedures outside the traditional process of litigation or strict determination of legal rights. It may also be elucidated as a range of procedures that serve as generally involve the intercession and assistance of a neutral and impartial third party. The traditional mechanisms of conflict resolution in Africa are alien to the Western world; this paper is of utmost importance to the Western world and also enriched their pool of literature. Nigeria is a country that is dominated by various ethnic groups anchored on diverse cultures, customs, and traditions. It is, therefore, not surprising to see conflicts arise, and despite the various attempts at resolving these conflicts through litigation, they still remained unabated. The paper investigated the lessons learned from Traditional Mechanisms of Conflict resolution; it also interrogated its impact and the way forward. In light of the lessons that were learned and the impact of the traditional mechanisms of conflict resolution, suggestions on how to attain a sustainable, peaceful society were proffered. In conclusion, the study crystallized reforms on the alternative dispute resolution introduced through the traditional mechanism, which includes, amongst others, that constitutional recognition should be given to traditional institutions of conflict resolution to enable quick dispensation of matters.

Keywords: traditional, conflict, peace, resolution

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Authors: Chih-Ping Chen

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Today, technology does not necessitate change; rather, social media has afforded a new arena and digital tools for users/individuals to be symbolized and marketed in meaningful exchanges of digital identities. We argue that these symbolic interactions may afford individuals the ability to create and present less restricted Line person-to-person (P2P) chats than would be possible in face-to-face communications. Individuals can select flexible influence strategies to market themselves, which enables them to create and present their digital identities and impressions in alternative ways within a dynamic sociocultural context. Therefore, this paper aims to explore the novel phenomenon of how individuals market themselves to manage their digital identities and impressions to connect with other users through the symbolic interactions created by new digital tools (e.g., stickers). A netnographic approach was developed by applying a triangulated methodology consisting of user self-diary reports, in-depth interviews, and observations. Totally, 20 participants (10 females and 10 males) were of Taiwanese origin, and their ages ranged from 20–47 years old. The findings of this research showed that individuals on Line P2P social media where traditional cultural gender norms have shifted. Both male and female participants market their modern digital identities by adopting a combination of flexible influence tactics/strategies when using digital stickers. Some findings showed that their influence tactics/strategies often flouted Taiwanese cultural gender norms or skirted traditional rules to fit individual or P2P needs. Finally, these findings potentially contributed to the literature regarding the consumer culture theory and symbolic interaction theory in digital marketing and social media fields.

Keywords: Consumer culture theory, Digital sticker, Self-marketing, Impression, Symbolic interaciton

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Authors: Ramy Bakir

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Advancements in the field of nanoscience and nanotechnology have had a sweeping effect on the manufacturing industry in the last two decades, and have specifically allowed for the enhancement of a multitude of applications in the field of building technology. Research carried out in the architectural field in the past decade highlights how those enhancements have improved the structural and environmental performance of buildings, and/or how they developed the aesthetic value of façade or interior treatments. In developing countries, such as Egypt, the actual use of those nano-enhanced applications and their benefits rarely manifest. Hence this paper investigates the socio-technical relationship between the architectural design process and nanotechnology in Cairo using participant observation within an ethnographic study. The study focused on the socio-cultural context of an environmental design process in a specific design firm, and the role of nano-enhanced applications in it, and provided a thick description of the design decisions made within the preliminary stages of the design process of a residential building in Cairo, Egypt. Using Grounded Theory, and through the analysis and coding of the qualitative data collected, this paper was able to identify specific socio-cultural issues influencing individual architect cognition, clarifying how the context of the design process of the studied project affected the design team members’ responses to nano-enhanced materials. This paper presents those findings within a framework of the three identified statuses of response to nanotechnology and classifies the socio-cultural reasons influencing them. In doing so, the paper aims to shed more light on the relation between nanotechnology and architects in their natural environment, and hence allow both to benefit more from a clearer understanding of how the socio-cultural context, along with the benefits of using nanotechnology, influences the design decisions made.

Keywords: nanotechnology, design process, socio-cultural context, nano-enhanced applications

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Authors: Lovorka Galetic, Zeljko Vukelic

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The advanced concepts of strategic and innovation management in the sphere of company dynamic and innovation capabilities, and achieving their mutual alignment and a synergy effect, are important elements in business today. This paper analyses the theory and empirically investigates the influence of a company’s dynamic capabilities on its innovation capabilities. A new multidimensional model of dynamic capabilities is presented, consisting of five factors appropriate to real time requirements, while innovation capabilities are considered pursuant to the official OECD and Eurostat standards. After examination of dynamic and innovation capabilities indicated their theoretical links, the empirical study testing the model and examining the influence of a company’s dynamic capabilities on its innovation capabilities showed significant results. In the study, a research model was posed to relate company dynamic and innovation capabilities. One side of the model features the variables that are the determinants of dynamic capabilities defined through their factors, while the other side features the determinants of innovation capabilities pursuant to the official standards. With regard to the research model, five hypotheses were set. The study was performed in late 2014 on a representative sample of large and very large Croatian enterprises with a minimum of 250 employees. The research instrument was a questionnaire administered to company top management. For both variables, the position of the company was tested in comparison to industry competitors, on a fivepoint scale. In order to test the hypotheses, correlation tests were performed to determine whether there is a correlation between each individual factor of company dynamic capabilities with the existence of its innovation capabilities, in line with the research model. The results indicate a strong correlation between a company’s possession of dynamic capabilities in terms of their factors, due to the new multi-dimensional model presented in this paper, with its possession of innovation capabilities. Based on the results, all five hypotheses were accepted. Ultimately, it was concluded that there is a strong association between the dynamic and innovation capabilities of a company. 

Keywords: dynamic capabilities, innovation capabilities, competitive advantage, business results

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