Search results for: recommended behaviors

Authors: Dorothy Ebere Adimora

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The study investigated the predictive power of home environment and peer pressure on disruptive behaviour and risky sexual behaviour of Secondary School Class Two Adolescents in Enugu State, Nigeria. The design of the study is a cross sectional survey of correlational study. The study was carried out in the six Education zones in Enugu state, Nigeria. Enugu State is divided into six education zones, namely Agbani, Awgu, Enugu, Nsukka, Obollo-Afor and Udi. The population for the study was all the 31,680 senior secondary class two adolescents in 285 secondary schools in Enugu State, Nigeria in 2014/2015 academic session. The target population was students in SSS.2 senior secondary class two. They constitute one-sixth of the entire student population in the state. The sample of the study was 528, a multi stage sampling technique was employed to draw the sample. Four research questions and four null hypotheses guided the study. The instruments for data collection were an interview session and a structured questionnaire of four clusters, they are; home environment, peer pressure, risky sexual behaviour and disruptive behaviour disorder questionnaires. The instruments were validated by 3 experts, two in psychology and one in measurement and Evaluation in Faculty of Education, University of Nigeria, Nsukka. The reliability coefficient of the instruments was ascertained by subjection to field trial. The adolescents were asked to complete the questionnaire on their home environment, peer pressure, disruptive behaviour disorder and risky sexual behaviours. The risky sexual behaviours were ascertained based on interview conducted on their actual sexual practice within the past 12 months. The research questions were analyzed using Pearson r and R-square, while the hypotheses were tested using ANOVA and multiple regression analysis at 0.05 level of significance. The results of this survey revealed that the adolescents are sexually active in very young ages. The mean age at sexual debut for the adolescents covered in this survey is a pointer to the fact that some of them started engaging in sexual activities long ago. It was also found that the adolescents engage in disruptive behaviour as a result of their poor home environment factors and association with negative peers. Based on the findings, it was recommended that the adolescents should be exposed to enhanced home environment such as parents’ responsiveness, organization of the environment, availability of appropriate learning materials, opportunities for daily stimulation and to offer a proper guidance to these adolescents to avoid negative peer influence which could result in risky sexual behaviour and disruptive behaviour disorder.

Keywords: parenting, peer group, adolescents, sexuality, conduct disorder

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Authors: Tassana Boontong, Vilaivan Thongcharoen, Orapan Thosingha, Suphamon Chansakul, Anorut Jenwitheesuk, Chanin Chakkrapopyodhin, Isara Phiwchai, Mattika Chaichan, Rungnapha Khiewchaum

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According to Thailand health policy, subdistrict health promoting hospitals (SHPHs) serve as forefront facilities for inclusive health care service. Those services include health promotion, disease prevention, primary medical care and rehabilitation. However, SHPHs residing in some distant area, such as SHPHs residing on the islands, would deliver different services relevant to health needs of the local people and the tourists. This research aimed to study health care delivery services at SHPHs on the islands in Thailand. Data were collected using questionnaires. The result revealed that in Thailand, there are 58 SHPHs on the islands. During data collection process, the researchers were not allowed to collect data in 5 SHPHs in the southern part due to Covid-19 pandemic. The report is based on 53 SHPHs on the islands. Numbers of health care personnel were 201, 72.14 % were female, with the ages ranged from 22 to 60 years (mean = 35.56 years). About 53% were community health personnel, while 26.08% were professional nurses. In regard to work experiences, the range of year varied from less than 1 year to 30 years, with the mean of 8.36 years. The majority of their responsibilities focused on providing primary medical care (86.34%), caring of people with chronic illnesses (85.30%) and providing medical care procedures for patients with chronic illnesses at home (84.36%). Nurses were main health care personnel in performing primary medical care. Due to difficulty transportation from the islands to the mainland, nurses had to provide prompt emergency medical care while the patients arrived with emergency and critical illnesses such as severe head trauma, stroke or coronary artery disease. Although some medical procedures were complex and not covered by nursing and midwifery license, they decided to protect patients from life- threatening conditions and make them stable before transportation. In SHPHs, the workload exceeded manpower, health care personnel had to work overtime almost every day. In the famous tourist islands, health care personnel had to carry 3-4 folds of their workload during the holidays because of the large crowds of foreign and Thai tourists. It is recommended that SHPHs on the islands should scale up the level of services to cover advanced medical care. Health care personnel, in particular, professional nurses, should be equipped with emergency and critical care skills. The expected outcomes of the services should emphasize on rescuing patients with emergency and life-threatening illnesses and providing comprehensive care for people living on or visiting the islands.

Keywords: distant area, islands, sub district health promoting hospital, heath care services, Thailand

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Authors: Marcin Debowski, Marcin Zielinski, Magdalena Zielinska, Paulina Rusanowska

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The problem with digestate management is one of the most important factors influencing on the development and operation of biogas plant. Turbidity and bacterial contamination negatively affect the growth of algae, which can limit the use of the effluent in the production of algae biomass on a large scale. These problems can be overcome by cultivating of algae species resistant to environmental factors, such as Chlorella sp., Scenedesmus sp., or reducing load of organic compounds to prevent bacterial contamination. The effluent requires dilution and/or purification. One of the methods of effluent treatment is the use of a membrane technology such as microfiltration (MF), ultrafiltration (UF), nanofiltration (NF) and reverse osmosis (RO), depending on the membrane pore size and the cut off point. Membranes are a physical barrier to solids and particles larger than the size of the pores. MF membranes have the largest pores and are used to remove turbidity, suspensions, bacteria and some viruses. UF membranes remove also color, odor and organic compounds with high molecular weight. In treatment of wastewater or other waste streams, MF and UF can provide a sufficient degree of purification. NF membranes are used to remove natural organic matter from waters, water disinfection products and sulfates. RO membranes are applied to remove monovalent ions such as Na⁺ or K⁺. The effluent was used in UF for medium to cultivation of two microalgae: Chlorella sp. and Phaeodactylum tricornutum. Growth rates of Chlorella sp. and P. tricornutum were similar: 0.216 d⁻¹ and 0.200 d⁻¹ (Chlorella sp.); 0.128 d⁻¹ and 0.126 d⁻¹ (P. tricornutum), on synthetic medium and permeate from UF, respectively. The final biomass composition was also similar, regardless of the medium. Removal of nitrogen was 92% and 71% by Chlorella sp. and P. tricornutum, respectively. The fermentation effluents after UF and dilution were also used for cultivation of algae Scenedesmus sp. that is resistant to environmental conditions. The authors recommended the development of biorafinery based on the production of algae for the biogas production. There are examples of using a multi-stage membrane system to purify the liquid fraction from digestate. After the initial UF, RO is used to remove ammonium nitrogen and COD. To obtain a permeate with a concentration of ammonium nitrogen allowing to discharge it into the environment, it was necessary to apply three-stage RO. The composition of the permeate after two-stage RO was: COD 50–60 mg/dm³, dry solids 0 mg/dm³, ammonium nitrogen 300–320 mg/dm³, total nitrogen 320–340 mg/dm³, total phosphorus 53 mg/dm³. However compostion of permeate after three-stage RO was: COD < 5 mg/dm³, dry solids 0 mg/dm³, ammonium nitrogen 0 mg/dm³, total nitrogen 3.5 mg/dm³, total phosphorus < 0,05 mg/dm³. Last stage of RO might be replaced by ion exchange process. The negative aspect of membrane filtration systems is the fact that the permeate is about 50% of the introduced volume, the remainder is the retentate. The management of a retentate might involve recirculation to a biogas plant.

Keywords: digestate, membrane filtration, microalgae cultivation, Chlorella sp.

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Authors: Hoa Pham

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Code switching, which can be described as the use of students’ first language in second language classrooms, has long been a controversial topic in the area of language teaching and second language acquisition. While this has been widely investigated across different contexts, little empirical research has been undertaken in Vietnam. The findings of this study contribute to our understanding of bilingual discourse and code switching practices in content and language integrated classrooms, which has significant implications for language teaching and learning in general and in particular for language pedagogy at tertiary level in Vietnam. This study examines the accounts the teachers articulated for their code switching practices in content-based Business English in Vietnam. Data were collected from five teachers through the use of stimulated recall interviews facilitated by the video data to garner the teachers' cognitive reflection, and allowed them to vocalise the motivations behind their code switching behaviour in particular contexts. The literature has recommended that when participants are provided with a large amount of stimuli or cues, they will experience an original situation again in their imagination with great accuracy. This technique can also provide a valuable "insider" perspective on the phenomenon under investigation which complements the researcher’s "outsider" observation. This can create a relaxed atmosphere during the interview process, which in turn promotes the collection of rich and diverse data. Also, participants can be empowered by this technique as they can raise their own concerns and discuss instances which they find important or interesting. The data generated through this study were analysed using a constant comparative approach. The study found that the teachers indicated their support for the use of code switching in their pedagogical practices. Particularly, as a pedagogical resource, the teachers saw code switching to the L1 playing a key role in facilitating the students' comprehension of both content knowledge and the target language. They believed the use of the L1 accommodates the students' current language competence and content knowledge. They also expressed positive opinions about the role that code switching plays in stimulating students' schematic language and content knowledge, encouraging retention and interest in learning and promoting a positive affective environment in the classroom. The teachers perceived that their use of code switching to the L1 helps them meet the students' language needs and prepares them for their study in subsequent courses and addresses functional needs so that students can cope with English language use outside the classroom. Several factors shaped the teachers' perceptions of their code switching practices, including their accumulated teaching experience, their previous experience as language learners, their theoretical understanding of language teaching and learning, and their knowledge of the teaching context. Code switching was a typical phenomenon in the observed classes and was supported by the teachers in certain contexts. This study reinforces the call in the literature to recognise this practice as a useful instructional resource.

Keywords: codeswitching, language teaching, teacher beliefs, tertiary level

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Authors: Tatyana Savchuk, Yelena Grinvald, Mohamed Ali, Ramune Sepetiene, Dinara Sadvakassova, Saniya Saussakova, Kuralay Zhangazieva, Dulat Imashpayev

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Introduction. The problem of viral hepatitis B (HBV) takes a vital place in the global health system. The existing risk of HBV transmission through blood transfusions is associated with transfusion of blood taken from infected individuals during the “serological window” period or from patients with latent HBV infection, the marker of which is anti-HBcore. In the absence of information about other markers of hepatitis B, the presence of anti-HBcore suggests that a person may be actively infected or has suffered hepatitis B in the past and has immunity. Aim. To study the risk factors influencing the positive anti-HBcore indicators among the donor population. Materials and Methods. The study was conducted in 2021 in the Scientific and Production Center of Transfusiology of the Ministry of Healthcare in Kazakhstan. The samples taken from blood donors were tested for anti-HBcore, by CLIA on the Architect i2000SR (ABBOTT). A special questionnaire was developed for the blood donors’ socio-demographic characteristics. Statistical analysis was conducted by the R software (version 4.1.1, USA, 2021). Results.5709 people aged 18 to 66 years were included in the study, the proportion of men and women was 68.17% and 31.83%, respectively. The average age of the participants was 35.7 years. A weighted multivariable mixed effects logistic regression analysis showed that age (p<0.001), ethnicity (p<0.05), and marital status (p<0.05) were statistically associated with anti-HBcore positivity. In particular, analysis adjusting for gender, nationality, education, marital status, family history of hepatitis, blood transfusion, injections, and surgical interventions, with a one-year increase in age (adjOR=1.06, 95%CI:1.05-1.07), showed an 6% growth in odds of having anti-HBcore positive results. Those who were russian ethnicity (adjOR=0.65, 95%CI:0.46-0.93) and representatives of other nationality groups (adjOR=0.56, 95%CI:0.37-0.85) had lower odds of having anti-HBcore when compared to Kazakhs when controlling for other covariant variables. Among singles, the odds of having a positive anti-HBcore were lower by 29% (adjOR = 0.71, 95%CI:0.57-0.89) compared to married participants when adjusting for other variables. Conclusions.Kazakhstan is one of the countries with medium endemicity of HBV prevalence (2%-7%). Results of the study demonstrated the possibility to form a profile of risk factors (age, nationality, marital status). Taking into account the data, it is recommended to increase attention to donor questionnaires by adding leading questions and to improve preventive measures to prevent HBV. Funding. This research was supported by a grant from Abbott Laboratories.

Keywords: anti-HBcore, blood donor, donation, hepatitis B virus, occult hepatitis

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Authors: Tsirekidze M., Aprasidze T.

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Introduction: The problem of dissocial behavior is at the heart of the social sciences and psychiatry; however, it should be noted that its psychiatric aspect is little studied, and some issues of the problem are still controversial. This is complicated by the diversity of terminological concepts in defining “dissocial behavior”, “behavioral disorder”, “abnormal behavior”, “deviant behavior”, “delinquent behavior”, etc. In literature, there is no comprehensive definition of the essence of dissociative behavior. Numerous attempts to systematize dissociative disorders should also be considered unsatisfactory, which is primarily related to the lack of solid criteria for defining this group of disorders. According to the clinical classification, dissocial behavior is divided into psychotic and non-psychotic forms. Such differentiation is conditional in nature since it is not always possible to draw precise, clear distinctions between these forms, and in addition, there is a transition of a behavior disorder or so-called intermediate forms. One group of authors distinguishes two main forms of deviant behavior in terms of both theoretical and practical significance - non-pathological and pathological. In recent years, especially, the non-pathological form of behavior disorder has become topical. It refers to a large group of forms of deviant behavior, the emergence of which is associated with psychologically full-fledged reactions of children and adolescents to stressful situations and extreme conditions. According to the authors, its concept is understandable-it is difficult to draw a line between psychologically understandable reactions and psychogenically induced reactive states. In addition, the concept of "normal" child and adolescent is, to some extent, a vague concept, as in medicine, any definition of the norm. From a practical (more precisely, pragmatic) point of view, the term "abnormal behavioral disorder" undoubtedly makes sense, especially for the purpose of forensic psychiatric examination. Non-pathological deviation mainly includes transient situational reactions, microsocial-pedagogical backwardness, and character accentuation.Deviant behavior was predominantly manifested in a non-pathological form, which, in our opinion, is due to the difficult socio-economic situation of the country, moral-ethical deprivation, and expressed frustration. By itself, society is an indicator of deviation. Add to this situation complicated factors such as micro-social-pedagogical leave, unfavorable family environment, and parenting defects. Consideration is also given to the connection of acceptable deviation with the personal structural features of the adolescent. Aim: The topic of our discussion is the dissocial behavior of the non-psychotic register. Methods: We surveyed 120 adolescents with deviant behaviors. 61% of them were diagnosed with various neuropsychiatric disorders. Results: Abnormal forms of deviant behavior were observed in 13%, and non-pathological forms in -69%. A combination of non-pathological and pathological forms was present in 10% of cases. In the case of non-pathological deviation, microsocial-pedagogical acceptance was revealed in 62%, character accentuation in 22%; during the pathological forms, pathological reactions were observed in 21%, and abnormal formation of the person -21%. Conclusion: It should be emphasized that in case of any of the above defects, if the so-called family psychosis, and medical and pedagogical habilitation measures for the adolescent, it is quite possible to prevent the abnormal development of the child's personality, correct his character, regulate behavior and develop positive labor-social relations.

Keywords: dissocial personality, deviant behavior, dissocial, delinquent behavior

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Authors: Abiola O. Temitayo-Oboh, Olugbenga L. Abodunrin, Wasiu O. Adebimpe, Micheal C. Asuzu

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Introduction: Many women who are sexually active would prefer to avoid becoming pregnant but are not using any method of contraception. These women are considered to have an unmet need for contraception. In an ideal situation, all women who want to space or limit their births and are exposed to the risk of conception would use some kind of conception; in practice, however, some women fail to use contraception which put them at risk of having mistimed or unwanted births, induced abortion, or maternal death. This study, therefore, aimed to assess the determinants of unmet need for contraception among currently married women in rural and urban communities of Osun State, South-West Nigeria. Methods: This was an analytical cross-sectional comparative study, which was carried out among currently married women. Three hundred and twenty respondents each were selected for the rural and urban groups from four Local Government Areas using multi-stage sampling technique. Data were collected using a pre-tested semi-structured interviewer-administered questionnaire and focus group discussion (FGD) guide; data analysis was done with Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 17.0 and detailed content analysis method respectively. Statistical analysis of the difference between proportions was done by the use of the Chi-square test and T-test was used to compare the means of the continuous variables. The study also utilized descriptive, bivariate and multivariate analytical techniques to examine the effect of some variables on unmet need. Level of statistical significance was set at p-value < 0.05 for all values. Results: Two hundred and ninety-six (92.5%) of the rural and 306 (95.6%) of the urban study population had heard of contraception, 365 (57.0 %) of the total respondents had good knowledge [162 (50.6 %) for rural respondents and 203 (63.4 %) for urban respondents]. This difference was statistically significant (p < 0.001). Five hundred and twenty-one (81.4%) respondents had a positive attitude towards contraception [243 (75.9%) in the rural and 278 (86.9%) in the urban area], and the difference was also statistically significant (p < 0.001). Only 47 (14.7%) and 59 (18.4%) of rural and urban women were current contraceptive users respectively. The total unmet need for contraception among rural women was 138 (43.1%) of which 82 (25.6%) was for spacing and 56 (17.5%), for limiting. While the total unmet need for contraception among urban women was 145 (45.3%) of which 96 (30.0%) was for spacing and 49 (15.3%) for limiting. Number of living children, knowledge of contraceptive methods, discussion with health workers about family planning, couples discussion about family planning and availability of family planning services were found to be predictors of women’s unmet need for contraception (p < 0.05). Conclusion: It is, therefore, recommended that there is need to intensify reproductive health education in bridging the knowledge gap, improving attitude and modifying practices regarding use of contraception in Nigeria. Hence, this will help to enhance the utilization of family planning services among Nigerian women.

Keywords: contraception, married women, Nigeria, rural, urban, unmet need

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Authors: Melissa Langevin, Natalie Ward, Colleen Fitzgibbons, Christa Ramsey, Melanie Hogue, Anna Theresa Lobos

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Description: Root Cause Analysis (RCA) is used by health care teams to examine adverse events (AEs) to identify causes which then leads to recommendations for prevention Despite widespread use, RCA has limitations. Best practices have not been established for implementing recommendations or tracking the impact of interventions after AEs. During phase 1 of this study, we used simulation to analyze two fictionalized AEs that occurred in hospitalized paediatric patients to identify and understand how the errors occurred and generated recommendations to mitigate and prevent recurrences. Scenario A involved an error of commission (inpatient drug error), and Scenario B involved detecting an error that already occurred (critical care drug infusion error). Recommendations generated were: improved drug labeling, specialized drug kids, alert signs and clinical checklists. Aim: Use simulation to optimize interventions recommended post critical event analysis prior to implementation in the clinical environment. Methods: Suggested interventions from Phase 1 were designed and tested through scenario simulation in the clinical environment (medicine ward or pediatric intensive care unit). Each scenario was simulated 8 times. Recommendations were tested using different, voluntary teams and each scenario was debriefed to understand why the error was repeated despite interventions and how interventions could be improved. Interventions were modified with subsequent simulations until recommendations were felt to have an optimal effect and data saturation was achieved. Along with concrete suggestions for design and process change, qualitative data pertaining to employee communication and hospital standard work was collected and analyzed. Results: Each scenario had a total of three interventions to test. In, scenario 1, the error was reproduced in the initial two iterations and mitigated following key intervention changes. In scenario 2, the error was identified immediately in all cases where the intervention checklist was utilized properly. Independently of intervention changes and improvements, the simulation was beneficial to identify which of these should be prioritized for implementation and highlighted that even the potential solutions most frequently suggested by participants did not always translate into error prevention in the clinical environment. Conclusion: We conclude that interventions that help to change process (epinephrine kit or mandatory checklist) were more successful at preventing errors than passive interventions (signage, change in memory aids). Given that even the most successful interventions needed modifications and subsequent re-testing, simulation is key to optimizing suggested changes. Simulation is a safe, practice changing modality for institutions to use prior to implementing recommendations from RCA following AE reviews.

Keywords: adverse events, patient safety, pediatrics, root cause analysis, simulation

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Authors: Hafsa Kamran, Asma Afreen, Zaheer Ahmed

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Internet addiction, an emerging mental health disorder from last two decades, is manifested by the inability in the controlled use of internet leading to academics, social, physiological and/or psychological difficulties. The present study aimed to assess the levels of internet addiction among university students in Lahore and to explore the effects of internet addiction on their dietary behavior and lifestyle. It was an analytical cross-sectional study. Data was collected from October to December 2016 from students of four universities selected through two-stage sampling method. The numbers of participants were 500 and 13 questionnaires were rejected due to incomplete information. Levels of Internet Addiction (IA) were calculated using Young Internet Addiction Test (YIAT). Data was also collected on students’ demographics, lifestyle factors and dietary behavior using self-reported questionnaire. Data was analyzed using SPSS (version 21). Chi-square test was applied to evaluate the relationship between variables. Results of the study revealed that 10% of the population had severe internet addiction while moderate Internet Addiction was present in 42%. High prevalence was found among males (11% vs. 8%), private sector university students (p = 0.008) and engineering students (p = 0.000). The lifestyle habits of internet addicts were significantly of poorer quality than normal users (p = 0.05). Internet addiction was found associated with lesser physically activity (p = 0.025), had shorter duration of physical activity (p = 0.016), had more disorganized sleep pattern (p = 0.023), had less duration of sleep (p = 0.019), reported being more tired and sleepy in class (p = 0.033) and spending more time on internet as compared to normal users. Severe and moderate internet addicts also found to be more overweight and obese than normal users (p = 0.000). The dietary behavior of internet addicts was significantly poorer than normal users. Internet addicts were found to skip breakfast more than a normal user (p = 0.039). Common reasons for meal skipping were lack of time and snacking between meals (p = 0.000). They also had increased meal size (p = 0.05) and habit of snacking while using the internet (p = 0.027). Fast food (p = 0.016) and fried items (p = 0.05) were most consumed snacks, while carbonated beverages (p = 0.019) were most consumed beverages among internet addicts. Internet Addicts were found to consume less than recommended daily servings of dairy (p = 0.008) and fruits (p = 0.000) and more servings of meat group (p = 0.025) than their no internet addict counterparts. In conclusion, in this study, it was demonstrated that internet addicts have unhealthy dietary behavior and inappropriate lifestyle habits. University students should be educated regarding the importance of balanced diet and healthy lifestyle, which are critical for effectual primary prevention of numerous chronic degenerative diseases. Furthermore, it is necessary to raise awareness concerning adverse effects of internet addiction among youth and their parents.

Keywords: dietary behavior, internet addiction, lifestyle, university students

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Authors: Ashleigh Dawn Moeller

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This is a comparative case study which examines the language attitudes and behaviors of descendants of Volga German immigrants in North America and how these attitudes combined with surrounding social conditions have caused their heritage language to develop differently within each community. Of particular interest for this study are the accounts of second- and third-generation descendants in Oregon, Kansas, and North Dakota regarding their parents’ and grandparents’ attitudes toward their language and how this correlates with the current sentiment as well as visibility of their heritage language and culture. This study discusses the point at which cultural identity could diverge from language identity and what elements play a role in this development, establishing the potential for environments (linguistic landscapes) which uphold their heritage yet have detached from the language itself. Emigrating from Germany in the 1700s, these families settled for over a hundred years along the Volga Region of Imperial Russia. Subsequently, many descendants of these settlers immigrated to the Americas in the 1800-1900s. Identifying neither as German nor Russian, they called themselves Wolgadeutche (Volga Germans). During their time in Russia, the German language was maintained relatively homogenously, yet the use and status of their heritage language diverged considerably upon settlement across the Americas. Data shows that specific conditions, such as community isolation, size, religion, location as well as language policy established prior to and following the Volga German immigration to North America have had a substantial impact on the maintenance of their heritage language—causing complete loss in some areas and peripheral use or even full rebirth in others. These past conditions combined with the family accounts correlate directly with the general attitudes and ideologies of the descendants toward their heritage language. Data also shows that in many locations, despite a strong presence of German within the linguistic landscape, minimal to no German is spoken nor understood; the attitude toward the language is indifferent while a staunch holding to the heritage is maintained and boasted. Data for this study was gathered from historical accounts, archived records and newspapers, and published biographies as well as from formal interviews with second- and third-generation descendants of Volga German immigrants conducted in Oregon and Kansas. Through the interviews, members of the community have shared and provided their family genealogies as well as biographies published by family members. These have helped to trace their relatives back to specific locations, thus allowing for comparisons within the same families residing in distinctly different areas of North America. This study is part of a larger ongoing project which researches the immigration of Volga and Black Sea Germans to North America and diachronically examines the over-arching sociological factors which have directly impacted the maintenance, loss, or rebirth of their heritage language. This project follows specific families who settled in areas of Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, Illinois, Minnesota, North and South Dakota, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba, and who later had relatives move west to areas of Oregon and Washington State. Interviews for the larger project will continue into the following year.

Keywords: heritage language, immigrant language, language change, language contact, linguistic landscape, Volga Germans, Wolgadeutsche

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Authors: Iris Alkaher, Nurit Carmi

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It is widely agreed among scientists that population growth (PG) is a major factor that drives the global environmental crisis. Many researchers recognize that explicitly addressing the impact of PG on the environment and human quality of life through education systems worldwide could play a significant role in improving understanding regarding the links between rapid PG and environmental degradation and changing perceptions, attitudes, and behaviors concerning the necessity to reduce the fertility rate. However, the issue of PG is still rarely included in schools' curricula, mainly because of its complexity and controversiality. This study aims to explore the perspectives of teachers with an academic background in environmental and sustainability education (ESEteachers) and teachers with no such background (non-ESE teachers) regarding PG as an environmental risk. The study also explores the teachers’ willingness to include PG in their teaching and identifies what predicts their inclusion of it. In this mixed-methods research study, data were collected using questionnaires and interviews. The findings portray a complex picture concerning the debate aboutPG as a major factor that drives the global environmental crisis in the Israeli context. Consistent with other countries, we found that the deep-rooted pronatalist culture in the Israeli society, as well as a robust national pronatalist agenda and policies, have a tremendous impact on the education system. Therefore, we found that an academic background in ESE had a limited impact on teachers' perceptions concerning PG as a problem and on their willingness to include it in their teaching and discuss its controversiality. Teachers' attitudes related to PG demonstrated social, cultural, and politically oriented disavowal justification regarding the negative impacts of rapid PG, identified in the literature as population-skepticism and population-fatalism. Specifically, factors such as the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the Jewish anxiety of destruction, and the religious command to“be fruitful and multiply”influenced the perceptions of both ESE and non-ESE teachers. While these arguments are unique to the Israeli context, pronatalist policies are international. In accordance with the pronatalist policy, we also found that the absence of PG from both school curricula and the Israeli public discourse was reported by ESE and non-ESE teachers as major reasons for their disregarding PG in their teaching. Under these circumstances, the role of the education system to bring the population question to the front stage in Israel and elsewhere is more challenging. To encourage science and social studies teachers to incorporate the controversial issue of PG in their teaching and successfully confront dominant pronatalist cultures, they need strong and ongoing scaffolding and support. In accordance with scientists' agreement regarding the role of PG as a major factor that drives the global environmental crisis, we call on stakeholders and policymakers in the education system to bring the population debate into schools' curricula, the sooner, the better. And not only as part of human efforts to mitigate environmental degradation but also to use this controversial topic as a platform for shaping critical learners and responsible and active citizens who are tolerant of different people’s opinions.

Keywords: population growth, environmental and sustainability education, controversial environmental sustainability issues, pronatalism

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Authors: Judith Sue Hwa Joo

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Guanyin (Avalokiteśvara in Sanskrit), the Bodhisattva of Mercy and Compassion, is the most widely worshipped Buddhist Divinity in Chinese societies and is also believed by more than half of Asian populations across various countries. The most overwhelming reason for the popularity of Guanyin in Chinese societies is, according to the Lotus Sutra, that Guanyin would apperceive voices of those suffering from immense afflictions and troubles, and liberate them upon crying for his/her holy name with wholeheartedness. Its pervasive social influence has spanned more than two thousand years and is still deeply affecting the lives of most Chinese people. This study aimed to investigate whether Guanyin Worship has evolved and changed in modern Chinese societies across the Taiwan Strait. Taiwan and China, albeit having the same language and culture, have been territorially divided and governed by two different political regimes for over 70 years. It would be scientifically intriguing to unveil any substantial changes in religious behaviors in the context of Guanyin Worship. A comprehensive anonymous questionnaire survey in Chinese communities was conducted from October 2017 to May 2019 across various countries, mostly in China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong areas. Since the religious survey is officially prohibited in China, the study was difficult and could only be exercised by means of snowball sampling. Demographic data (age, sex, education, religious belief) were registered and Guanyin’s salvation functions under various confronting situations were investigated. Psychological dimensions of religious belief in Guanyin were probed in terms of the worship experience, the willingness of veneration, and egoistic or altruistic ideations. A literature review on documented functional attributes was carried out in parallel for comparison analyses with traditional roles. Effective 1123 out of 1139 samples were obtained. Statistical analysis revealed that Guanyin Worship is still commonly practiced and deeply rooted in the hearts of all Chinese people regardless of gender, age, education, and residential area, even though they may not enshrine Guanyin at home nowadays. The conventional roles of Guanyin Bodhisattva are still valid and best satisfy the real interests of lifestyles in modern times. When comparing the traditional Buddhist Sutra and the documented literature, the divine power of modern Guanyin has notably empowered to recover, protect and transform fetal and infant spirits due to the sexual liberation, increased abortion rate, gender awakening and enhanced female autonomy in the reproductive decision. However, the One-Child policy may have critically impacted the trajectory of Guanyin Worship so that people in China prevail over those in Taiwan praying for aborted lives or premature deaths. Furthermore, particularly in Hong Kong and Macao, Guanyin not only serves as the sea guardian for the fishermen but also additional services a new function as the God of Wealth. The divine powers and salvation functions of Guanyin are indeed evolving and expanding to comply with the modern psychosocial, cultural and societal needs. This study sheds light on the modernization process of the two-thousand-year-old Guanyin Worship of contemporary Chinese societies.

Keywords: Buddhism, Guanyin, religious behavior, salvation function

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Authors: Abdullah S. Alghamdi, Khaled Alghamdi, Richard O. Jenkins, Parvez I. Haris

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Background: Unhealthy diet is one of the modifiable risk factors for developing type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Improvement in diet can be beneficial for countering diabetes. For example, HbA1c, an important biomarker for diabetes, can be reduced by 1.1% through only alteration in diet. Ramadan fasting has been reported to provide positive health benefits. However, optimal benefits are not achieved, often due to poor dietary habits and lifestyle. There is a need to better understand the dietary habits of people fasting during Ramadan, so that necessary improvements can be made to develop this form of fasting as a non-pharmacological strategy for management and prevention of T2DM. Aim: This study aimed to assess the dietary patterns of Saudi adult patients with T2DM over three different periods (before, during, and after Ramadan) and relate this to HbA1c levels. Methods: This study recruited 82 Saudi with T2DM, who chose to fast during Ramadan, from the Endocrine and Diabetic Centre of Al Iman General Hospital, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Ethical approvals for the study were obtained from De Montfort University and Saudi Ministry of Health. Dietary patterns were assessed by a self-administered questionnaire in each period. This assessment included the diet type and frequency. Blood samples were collected in each period for determination of HbA1c. Results: The number of meals per day for the participants significantly decreased during Ramadan (P < 0.001). The consumption of fruit and vegetables significantly increased during Ramadan (P = 0.017). However, the consumption of sugary drinks significantly increased during and after Ramadan (P = 0.005). Approximately 60% of the patients indicated that they ate sugary foods at least once per week. The consumption of bread and rice was reported to be at least two times per week. The consumption of rice significantly reduced during Ramadan (P = 0.002). The mean HbA1c significantly varied between periods (P = 0.001), with lowest level during Ramadan compared to before and after Ramadan. The increase in the consumption of fruits and vegetables had a medium effect size on the reduction in HbA1c during Ramadan. There was a variance of 7.7% in the mean difference in HbA1c levels between groups (who changed their fruit and vegetable consumption) which can be accounted for by the increase in the consumption of fruits and vegetables. Likewise, 9.3% of the variance in the mean HbA1c difference between the groups was accounted for by a decrease in the consumption of rice. Conclusion: The increase in the frequency of fruit and vegetables intake, and especially the reduction in the frequency of rice consumption, during Ramadan produce beneficial effects in reducing HbA1c level. Therefore, further improving the dietary habits of patients with T2DM, such as reducing their sugary drinks intake, may help them to obtain greater benefits from Ramadan fasting in the management of their diabetes. It is recommended that dietary guidance is provided to the public to maximise health benefits through Ramadan fasting.

Keywords: Diabetes, Diet, Fasting, HbA1c, Ramadan

Procedia PDF Downloads 141

Authors: Tim Vollmer, Andrea Greven, Malte Brettel

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Family firms represent the predominant business structure worldwide, accounting for 90 percent of all operational businesses. These firms are essential to society and the economy. In the past decade, family firm exits increased by 72%; and in the next five years, 95,000 German family firms will be sold, acquired, or liquidated. For family firms, socioemotional wealth represents the frame of reference and value to preserve when making decisions. Family firm exits threaten the socioemotional wealth, as in extreme scenarios, economic logic may take over. So, a dilemma arises: Maintaining socioemotional wealth versus pursuing financial wealth. Family firm researchers agree that family involvement leads to specific goals, behaviors, and outcomes. For instance, the desire to protect socioemotional wealth when selling the firm and the focus on particular exit success dimensions, depending on the family's role inside the firm. However, despite the regularity of family firm exits, there is little research on the effect of family involvement on the family firm CEOs' perceived exit performance. We investigate the family firm CEOs' perceived exit performance, which we call exit success. Considering the deficiencies in the literature, we identify two research gaps. First, it remains unclear how family involvement affects the dimensions of exit success. Hence, we provide evidence of which success dimensions matter most depending on the family's involvement and how to differentiate successful from unsuccessful exits. Second, prior work has analyzed family involvement in the socioemotional wealth context but found contradictory findings. This work considers, for example, the family generation in control and identifies the tipping point of economic objectives becoming preferable over socioemotional wealth-related goals. This paper theorizes and empirically investigates, through the lens of socioemotional wealth and conflict theory, how socioemotional wealth mediates the relationship between family involvement and family firms' exit success. We analyze family firms' exit success dimensions of personal financial benefits, personal reputation, employee benefits, and firm mission persistence. Family involvement considers the family firms' heterogeneity in ownership, management, and generation. We use a quantitative approach in the form of an online survey by drawing on 116 responses from former family firm CEOs'. This study highlights that socioemotional wealth mediates the relationship between the dimensions of family involvement and exit success. The greater socioemotional wealth, the greater the family firm CEOs focus on the pro-organizational exit success dimensions of employee benefits and firm mission persistence. In contrast, the self-regarding dimension of personal financial benefits is significantly negatively affected. An important finding is that later generations and the number of family managers involved significantly negatively affect the two pro-organizational dimensions of exit success. Family ownership does not show any significant effect. Our work widens implications for research, theory, and practice by contributing in two meaningful ways. First, our results offer insights to differentiate successful from unsuccessful family firm exits and provide evidence of which success dimensions matter and which to focus on, most dependent on the family's role inside the firm. Second, our article advances research and empirical understanding of family firms and socioemotional wealth by clarifying contradictory findings.

Keywords: exit success, family firm exit, perceived exit performance, socioemotional wealth

Procedia PDF Downloads 51

Authors: Şefika Dilek Güven, Gülden Küçükakça

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Objective: Learning the process of interaction with patient occurs within the process of nursing education. For this reason, it is considered to provide an opportunity for questioning and rearrangement of nursing education programs by assessing attitudes of nursing students towards caring nurse-patient interaction. Method: This is a descriptive study conducted in order to assess attitudes of nursing students towards caring nurse-patient interaction. The study was conducted with 318 students who were studying at nursing department of Semra and Vefa Küçük Health High School, Nevşehir Hacı Bektaş Veli University in 2015-2016 academic year and agreed to participate in the study. “Personal Information Form” prepared by the researchers utilizing the literature and “Caring Nurse-Patient Interaction Scale (CNPIS)”, who Turkish validity and reliability were conducted by Atar and Aştı, were used in the study. The Cronbach α coefficient of CNPIS was found as 0.973 in the study. Permissions of the institution and participants were received before starting to conduct study. Significance test of the difference between two means, analysis of variance, and correlation analysis were used to assess the data. Results: Average age of nursing students participating in the study was 20.72±1.91 and 74.8% were female, and 28.0% were the fourth-year students. 52.5% of the nursing students stated that they chose nursing profession willingly, 80.2% did not have difficulty in their interactions with patients, and 84.6% did not have difficulty in their social relationships. CNPIS total mean score of nursing students was found to be 295.31±40.95. When the correlation between total CNPIS mean score of the nursing students in terms of some variables was examined; it was determined there was a significant positive correlation between ages of the nursing students and total mean score of CNPIS (r=0.184, p=0.001). CNPIS total mean score was found to be higher in female students compared to male students, in 3rd–year students compared to students studying at other years, in those choosing their profession willingly compared to those choosing their profession unwillingly, in those not having difficulty in relations with the patients compared to those having difficulty, and in those not having difficulty in social relationships compared to those having difficulty. It was determined there was a significant difference between CNPIS total mean scores in terms of the year and state of having difficulty in social relationships (p<0,005). Conclusion: Nursing students had positive attitudes towards caring nurse-patient interactions, attitudes of nursing students, who were female, studying at 3rd year, chose nursing profession willingly, did not have difficulty in patient relations, and did not have difficulty in social relationships, towards caring nurse-patient interaction were found to be more positive. In the line with these results; it can be recommended to organize activities for introducing nursing profession to the youth preparing for the university, to use methods that will increase further communication skills to nursing students during their education, to support students in terms of communication skills, and to involve activities that will strengthen their social relationships.

Keywords: nurse-patient interaction, nursing student, patient, communication

Procedia PDF Downloads 203

Authors: Arvind Kumar

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The city of Kanpur is located in the terrestrial plain area on the bank of the river Ganges and is the second largest city in the state of Uttar Pradesh. The city generates approximately 1400-1600 tons per day of MSW. Kanpur has been known as a major point and non-points-based pollution hotspot for the river Ganges. The city has a major industrial hub, probably the largest in the state, catering to the manufacturing and recycling of plastic and other dry waste streams. There are 4 to 5 major drains flowing across the city, which receive a significant quantity of waste leakage, which subsequently adds to the Ganges flow and is carried to the Bay of Bengal. A river-to-sea flow approach has been established to account for leaked waste into urban drains, leading to the build-up of marine litter. Throughout its journey, the river accumulates plastic – macro, meso, and micro, from various sources and transports it towards the sea. The Ganges network forms the second-largest plastic-polluting catchment in the world, with over 0.12 million tonnes of plastic discharged into marine ecosystems per year and is among 14 continental rivers into which over a quarter of global waste is discarded 3.150 Kilo tons of plastic waste is generated in Kanpur, out of which 10%-13% of plastic is leaked into the local drains and water flow systems. With the Support of Kanpur Municipal Corporation, 1TPD capacity MRF for drain waste management was established at Krishna Nagar, Kanpur & A German startup- Plastic Fisher, was identified for providing a solution to capture the drain waste and achieve its recycling in a sustainable manner with a circular economy approach. The team at Plastic Fisher conducted joint surveys and identified locations on 3 drains at Kanpur using GIS maps developed during the survey. It suggested putting floating 'Boom Barriers' across the drains with a low-cost material, which reduced their cost to only 2000 INR per barrier. The project was built upon the self-sustaining financial model. The project includes activities where a cost-efficient model is developed and adopted for a socially self-inclusive model. The project has recommended the use of low-cost floating boom barriers for capturing waste from drains. This involves a one-time time cost and has no operational cost. Manpower is engaged in fishing and capturing immobilized waste, whose salaries are paid by the Plastic Fisher. The captured material is sun-dried and transported to the designated place, where the shed and power connection, which act as MRF, are provided by the city Municipal corporation. Material aggregation, baling, and transportation costs to end-users are borne by Plastic Fisher as well.

Keywords: Kanpur, marine environment, drain waste management, plastic fisher

Procedia PDF Downloads 33

Authors: Nancy A. Delich, Stephen D. Roberts

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This case study explores using self-efficacy theory in counseling deaf and hard of hearing students in one California school district. Self-efficacy is described as the confidence a student has for performing a set of skills required to succeed at a specific task. When students need to learn a skill, self-efficacy can be a major factor in influencing behavioral change. Self-efficacy is domain specific, meaning that students can have high confidence in their abilities to accomplish a task in one domain, while at the same time having low confidence in their abilities to accomplish another task in a different domain. The communication isolation experienced by deaf and hard of hearing children and adolescents can negatively impact their belief about their ability to navigate life challenges. There is a need to address issues that impact deaf and hard of hearing students’ social-emotional development. Failure to address these needs may result in depression, suicidal ideation, and anxiety among other mental health concerns. Self-efficacy training can be used to address these socio-emotional developmental issues with this population. Four sources of experiences are applied during an intervention: (a) enactive mastery experience, (b) vicarious experience, (c) verbal persuasion, and (d) physiological and affective states. This case study describes the use of self-efficacy training with a coed group of 12 deaf and hard of hearing high school students who experienced bullying at school. Beginning with enactive mastery experience, the counselor introduced the topic of bullying to the group. The counselor educated the students about the different types of bullying while teaching them the terminology, signs and their meanings. The most effective way to increase self-efficacy is through extensive practice. To better understand these concepts, the students practiced through role-playing with the goal of developing self-advocacy skills. Vicarious experience is the perception that students have about their capabilities. Viewing other students advocating for themselves, cognitively rehearsing what actions they will and will not take, and teaching each other how to stand up against bullying can strengthen their belief in successfully overcoming bullying. The third source of self-efficacy beliefs is verbal persuasion. It occurs when others express belief in the capabilities of the student. Didactic training and pedagogic materials on bullying were employed as part of the group counseling sessions. The fourth source of self-efficacy appraisals is physiological and affective states. Students expect positive emotions to be associated with successful skilled performance. When students practice new skills, the counselor can apply several strategies to enhance self-efficacy while reducing and controlling emotional and physical states. The intervention plan incorporated all four sources of self-efficacy training during several interactive group sessions regarding bullying. There was an increased understanding around the issues of bullying, resulting in the students’ belief of their ability to perform protective behaviors and deter future occurrences. The outcome of the intervention plan resulted in a reduction of reported bullying incidents. In conclusion, self-efficacy training can be an effective counseling and teaching strategy in addressing and enhancing the social-emotional functioning with deaf and hard of hearing adolescents.

Keywords: counseling, self-efficacy, bullying, social-emotional development, mental health, deaf and hard of hearing students

Procedia PDF Downloads 327

Authors: Sofia Dokuka, Liz Lockhart, Alex Furman

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Organizational hierarchy, traditionally composed of individual contributors, middle management, and executives, is enhanced by the understanding of informal social roles. These roles, identified with organizational network analysis (ONA), might have an important effect on organizational functioning. In this paper, we identify three social roles – influencers, bridges, and soloists, and provide empirical analysis based on real-world organizational networks. Influencers are employees with broad networks and whose contacts also have rich networks. Influence is calculated using PageRank, initially proposed for measuring website importance, but now applied in various network settings, including social networks. Influencers, having high PageRank, become key players in shaping opinions and behaviors within an organization. Bridges serve as links between loosely connected groups within the organization. Bridges are identified using betweenness and Burt’s constraint. Betweenness quantifies a node's control over information flows by evaluating its role in the control over the shortest paths within the network. Burt's constraint measures the extent of interconnection among an individual's contacts. A high constraint value suggests fewer structural holes and lesser control over information flows, whereas a low value suggests the contrary. Soloists are individuals with fewer than 5 stable social contacts, potentially facing challenges due to reduced social interaction and hypothetical lack of feedback and communication. We considered social roles in the analysis of real-world organizations (N=1,060). Based on data from digital traces (Slack, corporate email and calendar) we reconstructed an organizational communication network and identified influencers, bridges and soloists. We also collected employee engagement data through an online survey. Among the top-5% of influencers, 10% are members of the Executive Team. 56% of the Executive Team members are part of the top influencers group. The same proportion of top influencers (10%) is individual contributors, accounting for just 0.6% of all individual contributors in the company. The majority of influencers (80%) are at the middle management level. Out of all middle managers, 19% hold the role of influencers. However, individual contributors represent a small proportion of influencers, and having information about these individuals who hold influential roles can be crucial for management in identifying high-potential talents. Among the bridges, 4% are members of the Executive Team, 16% are individual contributors, and 80% are middle management. Predominantly middle management acts as a bridge. Bridge positions of some members of the executive team might indicate potential micromanagement on the leader's part. Recognizing the individuals serving as bridges in an organization uncovers potential communication problems. The majority of soloists are individual contributors (96%), and 4% of soloists are from middle management. These managers might face communication difficulties. We found an association between being an influencer and attitude toward a company's direction. There is a statistically significant 20% higher perception that the company is headed in the right direction among influencers compared to non-influencers (p < 0.05, Mann-Whitney test). Taken together, we demonstrate that considering social roles in the company might indicate both positive and negative aspects of organizational functioning that should be considered in data-driven decision-making.

Keywords: organizational network analysis, social roles, influencer, bridge, soloist

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Authors: M. Venegas, M. De Vega, N. García-Hernando

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Absorption cooling chillers have received growing attention over the past few decades as they allow the use of low-grade heat to produce the cooling effect. The combination of this technology with solar thermal energy in the summer period can reduce the electricity consumption peak due to air-conditioning. One of the main components, the absorber, is designed for simultaneous heat and mass transfer. Usually, shell and tubes heat exchangers are used, which are large and heavy. Cooling water from a cooling tower is conventionally used to extract the heat released during the absorption and condensation processes. These are clear inconvenient for the generalization of the absorption technology use, limiting its benefits in the contribution to the reduction in CO2 emissions, particularly for the H2O-LiBr solution which can work with low heat temperature sources as provided by solar panels. In the present work a promising new technology is under study, consisting in the use of membrane contactors in adiabatic microchannel mass exchangers. The configuration here proposed consists in one or several modules (depending on the cooling capacity of the chiller) that contain two vapour channels, separated from the solution by adjacent microporous membranes. The solution is confined in rectangular microchannels. A plastic or synthetic wall separates the solution channels between them. The solution entering the absorber is previously subcooled using ambient air. In this way, the need for a cooling tower is avoided. A model of the configuration proposed is developed based on mass and energy balances and some correlations were selected to predict the heat and mass transfer coefficients. The concentration and temperatures along the channels cannot be explicitly determined from the set of equations obtained. For this reason, the equations were implemented in a computer code using Engineering Equation Solver software, EES™. With the aim of minimizing the absorber volume to reduce the size of absorption cooling chillers, the ratio between the cooling power of the chiller and the absorber volume (R) is calculated. Its variation is shown along the solution channels, allowing its optimization for selected operating conditions. For the case considered the solution channel length is recommended to be lower than 3 cm. Maximum values of R obtained in this work are higher than the ones found in optimized horizontal falling film absorbers using the same solution. Results obtained also show the variation of R and the chiller efficiency (COP) for different ambient temperatures and desorption temperatures typically obtained using flat plate solar collectors. The configuration proposed of adiabatic membrane-based absorber using ambient air to subcool the solution is a good technology to reduce the size of the absorption chillers, allowing the use of low temperature solar heat and avoiding the need for cooling towers.

Keywords: adiabatic absorption, air-cooled, membrane, solar thermal energy

Procedia PDF Downloads 258

Authors: Rahimi-Movaghar Vafa, Mansouri Pejman, Chardoli Mojtaba, Rezvani Samina

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Introduction: Blunt abdominal trauma is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in all age groups, but diagnosis of serious intra-abdominal pathology is difficult and most of the damages are obscure in the initial investigation. There is still controversy about which patients should undergo abdomen/pelvis CT, which patients needs more observation and which patients can be discharged safely The aim of this study was to determine that is it safe to discharge patients with blunt abdominal trauma with normal initial findings. Methods: This non-randomized cross-sectional study was conducted from September 2013 to September 2014 at two levels I trauma centers, Sina hospital and Rasoul-e-Akram hospital (Tehran, Iran). Our inclusion criteria were all patients were admitted for suspicious BAT and our exclusion criteria were patients that have serious head and neck, chest, spine and limb injuries which need surgical intervention, those who have unstable vital signs, pregnant women with a gestational age over 3 months and homeless or without exact home address. 390 patients with blunt trauma abdomen examined and the necessary data, including demographic data, the abdominal examination, FAST result, patients’ lab test results (hematocrit, base deficit, urine analysis) on admission and at 6 and 12 hours after admission were recorded. Patients with normal physical examination, laboratory tests and FAST were discharged from the ED during 12 hours with the explanation of the alarm signs and were followed up after 24 hours and 1 week by a telephone call. Patients with abnormal findings in physical examination, laboratory tests, and FAST underwent abdomino-pelvic CT scan. Results: The study included 390 patients with blunt abdominal trauma between 12 and 80 years of age (mean age, 37.0 ± 13.7 years) and the mean duration of hospitalization in patients was 7.4 ± 4.1 hours. 88.6% of the patients were discharged from hospital before 12 hours. Odds ratio (OR) for having any symptoms for discharge after 6 hours was 0.160 and after 12 hours was 0.117 hours, which is statistically significant. Among the variables age, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, heart rate, respiratory rate, hematocrit and base deficit at admission, 6 hours and 12 hours after admission showed no significant statistical relationship with discharge time. From our 390 patients, 190 patients have normal initial physical examination, lab data and FAST findings that didn’t show any signs or symptoms in their next assessment and in their follow up by the phone call. Conclusion: It is recommended that patients with no symptoms at admission (completely normal physical examination, ultrasound, normal hematocrit and normal base deficit and lack of microscopic hematuria) and good family and social status can be safely discharged from the emergency department.

Keywords: blunt abdominal trauma, patient discharge, emergency department, FAST

Procedia PDF Downloads 348

Authors: Jarrod Haar, David Brougham

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The present study explores the links between supporting employee well-being and the potential benefits to employee performance. We focus on employee innovative work behaviors (IWBs), which have three stages: (1) development, (2) adoption, and (3) implementation of new ideas and work methods. We explore the role of organizational support focusing on employee well-being via High-Performance Work Systems (HPWS). HPWS are HR practices that are designed to enhance employees’ skills, commitment, and ultimately, productivity. HPWS influence employee performance through building their skills, knowledge, and abilities and there is meta-analytic support for firm-level HPWS influencing firm performance, but less attention towards employee outcomes, especially innovation. We explore HPWS-wellbeing being offered (e.g., EAPs, well-being App, etc.) to capture organizational commitment to employee well-being. Under social exchange theory, workers should reciprocate their firm's offering of HPWS-wellbeing with greater efforts towards IWBs. Further, we explore playful work design as a mediator, which represents employees proactively creating work conditions that foster enjoyment/challenge but don’t require any design change to the job itself. We suggest HPWS-wellbeing can encourage employees to become more playful, and ultimately more innovative. Finally, beyond direct effects, we examine whether these relations are similar by gender and ultimately test a moderated mediation model. Using N=1135 New Zealand employees, we established measures with confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), and all measures had good psychometric properties (α>.80). We controlled for age, tenure, education, and hours worked and analyzed data using the PROCESS macro (version 4.2) specifically model 8 (moderated mediation). We analyzed overall IWB, and then again across the three stages. Overall, we find HPWS-wellbeing is significantly related to overall IWBs and the three stages (development, adoption, and implementation) individually. Similarly, HPWS-wellbeing shapes playful work design and playful work design predicts overall IWBs and the three stages individually. It only partially mediates the effects of HPWS-wellbeing, which retains a significant indirect effect. Moderation effects are supported, with males reporting a more significant effect from HPWS-wellbeing on playful work design but not IWB (or any of the three stages) than females. Females report higher playful work design when HPWS-wellbeing is low, but the effects are reversed when HPWS-wellbeing is high (males higher). Thus, males respond stronger under social exchange theory from HPWS-wellbeing, at least towards expressing playful work design. Finally, evidence of moderated mediation effects is found on overall IWBs and the three stages. Males report a significant indirect effect from HPWS-wellbeing on IWB (through playful work design), while female employees report no significant indirect effect. The benefits of playful work design fully account for their IWBs. The models account for small amounts of variance towards playful work design (12%) but larger for IWBs (26%). The study highlights a gap in the literature on HPWS-wellbeing and provides empirical evidence of their importance towards worker innovation. Further, gendered effects suggest these benefits might not be equal. The findings provide useful insights for organizations around how providing HR practices that support employee well-being are important, although how they work for different genders needs further exploration.

Keywords: human resource practices, wellbeing, innovation, playful work design

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Authors: Carlos M. Parra, Matthew Sutherland, Ranjita Poudel

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Reduced mental-bandwidth related to low socioeconomic status (low-SES) might lead to impulsivity and risk-taking behavior, which poses as a major hurdle towards asset building (savings) behavior. Understanding the relationship between risk-related personality metrics as well as laboratory risk behavior and real-life savings behavior can help facilitate the development of effective asset building programs, which are vital for mitigating financial vulnerability and income inequality. As such, this study explored the relationship between personality metrics, laboratory behavior in a risky decision-making task and real-life asset building (savings) behaviors among individuals with low-SES from Miami, Florida (FL). Study participants (12 male, 15 female) included racially and ethnically diverse adults (mean age 41.22 ± 12.65 years), with incomplete higher education (18% had High School Diploma, 30% Associates, and 52% Some College), and low annual income (mean $13,872 ± $8020.43). Participants completed eight self-report surveys and played a widely used risky decision-making paradigm called the Balloon Analogue Risk Task (BART). Specifically, participants played three runs of BART (20 trials in each run; total 60 trials). In addition, asset building behavior data was collected for 24 participants who opened and used savings accounts and completed a 6-month savings program that involved monthly matches, and a final reward for completing the savings program without any interim withdrawals. Each participant’s total savings at the end of this program was the main asset building indicator considered. In addition, a new effective use of average pump bet (EUAPB) indicator was developed to characterize each participant’s ability to place winning bets. This indicator takes the ratio of each participant’s total BART earnings to average pump bet (APB) in all 60 trials. Our findings indicated that EUAPB explained more than a third of the variation in total savings among participants. Moreover, participants who managed to obtain BART earnings of at least 30 cents out of their APB, also tended to exhibit better asset building (savings) behavior. In particular, using this criterion to separate participants into high and low EUAPB groups, the nine participants with high EUAPB (mean BART earnings of 35.64 cents per APB) ended up with higher mean total savings ($255.11), while the 15 participants with low EUAPB (mean BART earnings of 22.50 cents per APB) obtained lower mean total savings ($40.01). All mean differences are statistically significant (2-tailed p  .0001) indicating that the relation between higher EUAPB and higher total savings is robust. Overall, these findings can help refine asset building interventions implemented by policy makers and practitioners interested in reducing financial vulnerability among low-SES population. Specifically, by helping identify individuals who are likely to readily take advantage of savings opportunities (such as matched savings programs) and avoiding the stipulation of unnecessary and expensive financial coaching programs to these individuals. This study was funded by J.P. Morgan Chase (JPMC) and carried out by scientists from Florida International University (FIU) in partnership with Catalyst Miami.

Keywords: balloon analogue risk task (BART), matched savings programs, asset building capability, low-SES participants

Procedia PDF Downloads 122

Authors: Mansour Eslami, Fereshte Habibi

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Limb length discrepancy (LLD), or anisomeric, is defined as a condition in which paired limbs are noticeably unequal. Individuals with LLD during walking use compensatory mechanisms to dynamically lengthen the short limb and shorten the long limb to minimize the displacement of the body center of mass and consequently reduce body energy expenditure. Due to the compensatory movements created, LLD greater than 1 cm increases the odds of creating lumbar problems and hip and knee osteoarthritis. Insoles are non-surgical therapies that are recommended to improve the walking pattern, pain and create greater symmetry between the two lower limbs. However, it is not yet clear what effect insoles have on the variables related to injuries during walking. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effect of internal and external heel lift insoles on pelvic kinematic in sagittal and frontal planes and lower extremity joint moments in individuals with mild leg length discrepancy during the stance phase of walking. Biomechanical data of twenty-eight men with structural leg length discrepancy of 10-25 mm were collected while they walked under three conditions: shoes without insole (SH), with internal heel lift insoles (IHLI) in shoes, and with external heal lift insole (EHLI). The tests were performed for both short and long legs. The pelvic kinematic and joint moment were measured with a motion capture system and force plate. Five walking trials were performed for each condition. The average value of five successful trials was used for further statistical analysis. Repeated measures ANCOVA with Bonferroni post hoc test were used for between-group comparisons (p ≤ 0.05). In both internal and external heel lift insoles (IHLI, EHLI), there was a significant decrease in the peak values of lateral and anterior pelvic tilts of the long leg, hip, and knee moments of a long leg and ankle moment of short leg (p ≤ 0.05). Furthermore, significant increases in peak values of lateral and anterior pelvic tilt of short leg in IHLI and EHLI were observed as compared to Shoe (SH) condition (p ≤ 0.01). In addition, a significant difference was observed between the IHLI and EHLI conditions in peak anterior pelvic tilt of long leg and plantar flexor moment of short leg (p=0.04; p= 0.04 respectively). Our findings indicate that both IHLI and EHLI can play an important role in controlling excessive pelvic movements in the sagittal and frontal planes in individuals with mild LLD during walking. Furthermore, the EHLI may have a better effect in preventing musculoskeletal injuries compared to the IHLI.

Keywords: kinematic, leg length discrepancy, shoe insole, walking

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Authors: Raptis Sotirios

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Health and social care (HSc) services planning and scheduling are facing unprecedented challenges due to the pandemic pressure and also suffer from unplanned spending that is negatively impacted by the global financial crisis. Data-driven can help to improve policies, plan and design services provision schedules using algorithms assist healthcare managers’ to face unexpected demands using fewer resources. The paper discusses services packing using statistical significance tests and machine learning (ML) to evaluate demands similarity and coupling. This is achieved by predicting the range of the demand (class) using ML methods such as CART, random forests (RF), and logistic regression (LGR). The significance tests Chi-Squared test and Student test are used on data over a 39 years span for which HSc services data exist for services delivered in Scotland. The demands are probabilistically associated through statistical hypotheses that assume that the target service’s demands are statistically dependent on other demands as a NULL hypothesis. This linkage can be confirmed or not by the data. Complementarily, ML methods are used to linearly predict the above target demands from the statistically found associations and extend the linear dependence of the target’s demand to independent demands forming, thus groups of services. Statistical tests confirm ML couplings making the prediction also statistically meaningful and prove that a target service can be matched reliably to other services, and ML shows these indicated relationships can also be linear ones. Zero paddings were used for missing years records and illustrated better such relationships both for limited years and in the entire span offering long term data visualizations while limited years groups explained how well patients numbers can be related in short periods or can change over time as opposed to behaviors across more years. The prediction performance of the associations is measured using Receiver Operating Characteristic(ROC) AUC and ACC metrics as well as the statistical tests, Chi-Squared and Student. Co-plots and comparison tables for RF, CART, and LGR as well as p-values and Information Exchange(IE), are provided showing the specific behavior of the ML and of the statistical tests and the behavior using different learning ratios. The impact of k-NN and cross-correlation and C-Means first groupings is also studied over limited years and the entire span. It was found that CART was generally behind RF and LGR, but in some interesting cases, LGR reached an AUC=0 falling below CART, while the ACC was as high as 0.912, showing that ML methods can be confused padding or by data irregularities or outliers. On average, 3 linear predictors were sufficient, LGR was found competing RF well, and CART followed with the same performance at higher learning ratios. Services were packed only if when significance level(p-value) of their association coefficient was more than 0.05. Social factors relationships were observed between home care services and treatment of old people, birth weights, alcoholism, drug abuse, and emergency admissions. The work found that different HSc services can be well packed as plans of limited years, across various services sectors, learning configurations, as confirmed using statistical hypotheses.

Keywords: class, cohorts, data frames, grouping, prediction, prob-ability, services

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Authors: Adelaide Rethabile Motshabi Pitso-Mbili

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The disparity between universities in rural and urban areas of South Africa is still an ongoing issue. There are a lot of variations in these universities, such as the performance of the students and the lecturers, which is viewed as a worrying discrepancy related to knowledge gaps or educational inequality. According to research, rural students routinely perform worse than urban students in sub-Saharan Africa, and the disparity is wide when compared to the global average. This may be a result of the various challenges that universities in rural and urban areas face. Hence, the aim of this study was to compare the challenges faced by rural and urban universities, especially in hospitality and tourism programs, and recommend possible solutions. This study used a qualitative methodology and included focus groups and in-depth interviews. Eight focus groups of final-year students in hospitality and tourism programs from four institutions and four department heads of those programs participated in in-depth interviews. Additionally, the study was motivated by the teacher collaboration theory, which proposes that colleagues can help one another for the benefit of students and the institution. It was revealed that rural universities face more challenges than urban universities when it comes to hospitality and tourism education. The results of the interviews showed that universities in rural areas have a high staff turnover rate and offer fewer courses due to a lack of resources, such as the infrastructure, staff, equipment, and materials needed to give students hands-on training on the campus and in various hospitality and tourism programs. Urban universities, on the other hand, provide a variety of courses in the hospitality and tourism areas, and while resources are seldom an issue, they must deal with classes that have large enrolments and insufficient funding to support them all. Additionally, students in remote locations noted that having a lack of water and electricity makes it difficult for them to perform practical lessons. It is recommended that universities work together to collaborate or develop partnerships to help one another overcome obstacles and that universities in rural areas visit those in urban areas to observe how things are done there and to determine where they can improve themselves. The significance of the study is that it will truly bring rural and urban educational processes and practices into greater alignment of standards, benefits, and achievements; this will also help retain staff members within the rural area universities. The present study contributes to the literature by increasing the accumulation of knowledge on research topics, challenges, trends and innovation in hospitality and tourism education and setting forth an agenda for future research. The current study adds to the body of literature by expanding the accumulation of knowledge on research topics that contribute to trends and innovations in hospitality and tourism education and by laying out a plan for future research.

Keywords: hospitality and tourism education, rural and urban universities, collaboration, teacher and student performance, educational inequality

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Authors: Precious Ehiomogue, Ifechukwude Israel Ahuchaogu, Isiguzo Edwin Ahaneku

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Vermicompost is the product of the decomposition process using various species of worms, to create a mixture of decomposing vegetable or food waste, bedding materials, and vemicast. This process is called vermicomposting, while the rearing of worms for this purpose is called vermiculture. Several works have verified the adsorption of toxic metals using vermicompost but the application is still scarce for the retention of organic compounds. This research brings to knowledge the effectiveness of earthworm waste (vermicompost) for the remediation of crude oil contaminated soils. The remediation methods adopted in this study were two soil washing methods namely, batch and column process which represent laboratory and in-situ remediation. Characterization of the vermicompost and crude oil contaminated soil were performed before and after the soil washing using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray fluorescence (XRF), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Atomic adsorption spectrometry (AAS). The optimization of washing parameters, using response surface methodology (RSM) based on Box-Behnken Design was performed on the response from the laboratory experimental results. This study also investigated the application of machine learning models [Artificial neural network (ANN), Adaptive neuro fuzzy inference system (ANFIS). ANN and ANFIS were evaluated using the coefficient of determination (R²) and mean square error (MSE)]. Removal efficiency obtained from the Box-Behnken design experiment ranged from 29% to 98.9% for batch process remediation. Optimization of the experimental factors carried out using numerical optimization techniques by applying desirability function method of the response surface methodology (RSM) produce the highest removal efficiency of 98.9% at absorbent dosage of 34.53 grams, adsorbate concentration of 69.11 (g/ml), contact time of 25.96 (min), and pH value of 7.71, respectively. Removal efficiency obtained from the multilevel general factorial design experiment ranged from 56% to 92% for column process remediation. The coefficient of determination (R²) for ANN was (0.9974) and (0.9852) for batch and column process, respectively, showing the agreement between experimental and predicted results. For batch and column precess, respectively, the coefficient of determination (R²) for RSM was (0.9712) and (0.9614), which also demonstrates agreement between experimental and projected findings. For the batch and column processes, the ANFIS coefficient of determination was (0.7115) and (0.9978), respectively. It can be concluded that machine learning models can predict the removal of crude oil from polluted soil using vermicompost. Therefore, it is recommended to use machines learning models to predict the removal of crude oil from contaminated soil using vermicompost.

Keywords: ANFIS, ANN, crude-oil, contaminated soil, remediation and vermicompost

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Authors: Fatih Gundogan, Fatih Kafali, Abdullah Karadag, Alper Baloglu, Ersoy Pehlivan, Mustafa Eruyar, Osman Bayram, Orhan Karademiroglu, Wasim Shoman

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Nowadays many cities around the world are investing their efforts and resources for the purpose of facilitating their citizen’s life and making cities more livable and sustainable by implementing newly emerged phenomena of smart city. For this purpose, related research institutions prepare and publish smart city indices or benchmarking reports aiming to measure the city’s current ‘smartness’ status. Several functional domains, various indicators along different selection and calculation methods are found within such indices and reports. The selection criteria varied for each institution resulting in inconsistency in the ranking and evaluating. This research aims to evaluate the impact of selecting such functional domains, indicators and calculation methods which may cause change in the rank. For that, six functional domains, i.e. Environment, Mobility, Economy, People, Living and governance, were selected covering 19 focus areas and 41 sub-focus (variable) areas. 60 out of 191 indicators were also selected according to several criteria. These were identified as a result of extensive literature review for 13 well known global indices and research and the ISO 37120 standards of sustainable development of communities. The values of the identified indicators were obtained from reliable sources for ten cities. The values of each indicator for the selected cities were normalized and standardized to objectively investigate the impact of the chosen indicators. Moreover, the effect of choosing an integration method to represent the values of indicators for each city is investigated by comparing the results of two of the most used methods i.e. geometric aggregation and fuzzy logic. The essence of these methods is assigning a weight to each indicator its relative significance. However, both methods resulted in different weights for the same indicator. As a result of this study, the alternation in city ranking resulting from each method was investigated and discussed separately. Generally, each method illustrated different ranking for the selected cities. However, it was observed that within certain functional areas the rank remained unchanged in both integration method. Based on the results of the study, it is recommended utilizing a common platform and method to objectively evaluate cities around the world. The common method should provide policymakers proper tools to evaluate their decisions and investments relative to other cities. Moreover, for smart cities indices, at least 481 different indicators were found, which is an immense number of indicators to be considered, especially for a smart city index. Further works should be devoted to finding mutual indicators representing the index purpose globally and objectively.

Keywords: functional domain, urban city index, indicator, smart city

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Authors: Oto J. Okwu, Ornan Henry, Victor A. Otene

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The agricultural sector contributes a great deal to the sustenance of Nigeria’s food security and economy, with an attendant impact on rural development. In spite of the relatively high number of farmers in the country, self-sufficiency in food production is still a challenge. Farmers are faced with myriad problems which hinder their production efficiency, one of which is their access to agricultural inputs required for optimum production. To meet the challenges faced by farmers, the government at the federal level has come up with many agricultural policies, one of which is the Agricultural Transformation Agenda (ATA). The Growth Enhancement Support Scheme (GESS) is one of the critical components of ATA, which is aimed at ensuring the effective distribution of agricultural inputs delivered directly to farmers, and at a regulated cost. After about 8 years of launching this policy, it will be necessary to carry out an assessment of GESS and determine the impact it has made on rural farmers with respect to their access to farm inputs. This study was carried out to assess the Growth Enhancement Support Scheme (GESS) in Adamawa State, Nigeria. Crop farmers who registered under the GESS in Adamawa State, Nigeria, formed the population for the study. Primary data for the study were obtained through a survey, and the use of a structured questionnaire. A sample size of 167 respondents was selected using multi-stage, purposive, and random sampling techniques. The validity and reliability of the research instrument (questionnaire) were obtained through pilot testing and test-retest method, respectively. The objectives of the study were to determine the difference in the level of access to agricultural inputs before and after GESS, determine the difference in cost of agricultural inputs before and after GESS, and to determine the challenges faced by rural farmers in accessing agricultural inputs through GESS. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used in analyzing the collected data. Specifically, Mann-Whitney, student t-test, and factor analysis were used to test the stated hypotheses. Research findings revealed there was a significant difference in the level of access to farm inputs after the introduction of GESS (Z=14.216). Also, there was a significant difference in the cost of agro-inputs after the introduction of GESS (Pr |T| > |t|= 0.0000). The challenges faced by respondents in accessing agro-inputs through GESS were administrative and technical in nature. Based on the findings of the research, it was recommended that efforts be made by the government to sustain the GESS, as it has significantly improved the level of farmers’ access to agricultural inputs and has reduced the cost of agro-inputs, while administrative challenges faced by the respondents in accessing inputs be addressed by the government, and extension agents assist the farmers to overcome the technical challenges they face in accessing inputs.

Keywords: agricultural policy, agro-inputs, assessment, growth enhancement support scheme, rural farmers

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Authors: Sima E. Rugarabamu, Mecky I. Matee, Elison N. M. Simon

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Background: In Tanzania bacteriological studies of etiological agents of oro-facial infections are very limited, and very few have investigated anaerobes. The aim of this study was to determine the spectrum of bacterial agents involved in oral and maxillofacial infections in patients attending Muhimbili National Hospital, Dar-es-salaam, Tanzania. Method: This was a hospital based descriptive cross-sectional study that was conducted in the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery of the Muhimbili National Hospital in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania from 1st January 2014 to 31st August 2014. Seventy (70) patients with various forms of oral and maxillofacial infections who were recruited for the study. The study participants were interviewed using a prepared questionnaire after getting their consent. Pus aspirate was cultured on Blood agar, Chocolate Agar, MacConkey agar and incubated aerobically at 37°C. Imported blood agar was used for anaerobic culture whereby they were incubated at 37°Cin anaerobic jars in an atmosphere of generated using commercial gas-generating kits in accordance with manufacturer’s instructions. Plates were incubated at 37°C for 24 hours (For aerobic culture and 48 hours for anaerobic cultures). Gram negative rods were identified using API 20E while all other isolates were identified by conventional biochemical tests. Antibiotic sensitivity testing for isolated aerobic and anaerobic bacteria was detected by the disk diffusion, agar dilution and E-test using routine and commercially available antibiotics used to treat oral facial infections. Results: This study comprised of 41 (58.5%) males and 29 (41.5%) females with a mean age of 32 years SD +/-15.1 and a range of 19 to 70 years. A total of 161 bacteria strains were isolated from specimens obtained from 70 patients which were an average of 2.3 isolates per patient. Of these 103 were aerobic organism and 58 were strict anaerobes. A complex mix of strict anaerobes and facultative anaerobes accounted for 87% of all infections.The most frequent aerobes isolated was streptococcus spp 70 (70%) followed by Staphylococcus spp 18 (18%). Other organisms such as Klebsiella spp 4 (4%), Proteus spp 5 (5%) and Pseudomonas spp 2 (2%) were also seen. The anaerobic group was dominated by Prevotella spp 25 (43%) followed by Peptostreptococcus spp 18 (31%); other isolates were Pseudomonas spp 2 (1%), black pigmented Pophyromonas spp 4 (5%), Fusobacterium spp 3 (3%) and Bacteroides spp 5 (8%). Majority of these organisms were sensitive to Amoxicillin (98%), Gentamycin (89%), and Ciprofloxacin (100%). A 40% resistance to metronidazole was observed in Bacteroides spp otherwise this drug and others displayed good activity against anaerobes. Conclusions: Oral and maxillofacial facial infections at Muhimbili National Hospital are mostly caused by streptococcus spp and Prevotella spp. Strict anaerobes accounted for 36% of all isolates. The profile of isolates should assist in selecting empiric therapy for infections of the oral and maxillofacial region. Inclusion of antimicrobial agents against anaerobic bacteria is highly recommended.

Keywords: bacteria, oral and maxillofacial infections, antibiotic susceptibility, Tanzania

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Authors: Franco Lorenzo D. Morales

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‘Toshi-no-sakon,’ which translates to as ‘age gap marriage,’ is a term that has been popularized by celebrity couples in the Japanese entertainment industry. Japan is distinct for a developed nation for its rapidly aging population, declining marital and fertility rates, and the reinforcement of traditional gender roles. Statistical data has shown that the average age of marriage in Japan is increasing every year, showing a growing tendency for late marriage. As a result, the government has been trying to curb the declining trends by encouraging marriage and childbirth among the populace. This graduate thesis seeks to analyze the ‘toshi-no-sakon’ phenomenon in lieu of Japan’s current economic and social situation, and to see what the implications are for these kinds of married couples. This research also seeks to expound more on age gaps within married couples, which is a factor rarely-touched upon in Japanese family studies. A literature review was first performed in order to provide a framework to study ‘toshi-no-sakon’ from the perspective of four fields of study—marriage, family, aging, and gender. Numerous anonymous online statements by ‘toshi-no-sakon’ couples were then collected and analyzed, which brought to light a number of concerns. Couples wherein the husband is the older partner were prioritized in order to narrow down the focus of the research, and ‘toshi-no-sakon’ is only considered when the couple’s age gap is ten years or more. Current findings suggest that one of the perceived merits for a woman to marry an older man is that financial security would be guaranteed. However, this has been shown to be untrue as a number of couples express concern regarding their financial situation, which could be attributed to their husband’s socio-economic status. Having an older husband who is approaching the age of retirement presents another dilemma as the wife would be more obliged to provide care for her aging husband. This notion of the wife being a caregiver likely stems from an arrangement once common in Japanese families in which the wife must primarily care for her husband’s elderly parents. Childbearing is another concern as couples would be pressured to have a child right away due to the age of the husband, in addition to limiting the couple’s ideal number of children. This is another problematic aspect as the husband would have to provide income until his child has finished their education, implying that retirement would have to be delayed indefinitely. It is highly recommended that future studies conduct face-to-face interviews with couples and families who fall under the category of ‘toshi-no-sakon’ in order to gain a more in-depth perspective into the phenomenon and to reveal any undiscovered trends. Cases wherein the wife is the older partner in the relationship should also be given focus in future studies involving ‘toshi-no-sakon’.

Keywords: age gap, family structure, gender roles, marriage trends

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