Search results for: knowledge and knowledge management

Authors: Adebowale Olukayode Efunnowo

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This study was carried out to assess the awareness and utilization of Social Network Tools (SNTs) among agricultural science students in Colleges of Education in Ogun State, Nigeria. Simple random sampling techniques were used to select 280 respondents from the study area. Descriptive statistics was used to describe the objectives while Pearson Product Moment Correlation was used to test the hypothesis. The result showed that the majority (71.8%) of the respondents were single, with a mean age of 20 years. Almost all (95.7%) the respondents were aware of Facebook and 2go as a Social Network Tools (SNTs) while 85.0% of the respondents were not aware of Blackplanet, LinkedIn, MyHeritage and Bebo. Many (41.1%) of the respondents had views that using SNTs can enhance extensive literature survey, increase internet browsing potential, promote teaching proficiency, and update on outcomes of researches. However, 51.4% of the respondents perceived that SNTs usage as what is meant for the lecturers/adults only while 16.1% considered it as mainly used by internet fraudsters. Findings revealed that about 50.0% of the respondents browsed Facebook and 2go daily while more than 80% of the respondents used Blackplanet, MyHeritage, Skyrock, Bebo, LinkedIn and My YearBook as the need arise. Major constraints to the awareness and utilization of SNTs were high cost and poor quality of ICTs facilities (77.1%), epileptic power supply (75.0%), inadequate telecommunication infrastructure (71.1%), low technical know-how (62.9%) and inadequate computer knowledge (61.1%). The result of PPMC analysis showed that there was an inverse relationship between constraints and utilization of SNTs at p < 0.05. It can be concluded that constraints affect efficient and effective utilization of SNTs in the study area. It is hereby recommended that management of colleges of education and agricultural institutes should provide good internet connectivity, computer facilities, and alternative power supply in order to increase the awareness and utilization of SNTs among students.

Keywords: awareness, utilization, social network tools, constraints, students

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Authors: Sarah Bouayyad, Ajay Nigam, Meera Beena

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Acquired benign tracheoesophageal fistula is a rare medical condition that usually results from trauma, foreign bodies, or granulomatous infections. This is an unusual presentation of a male patient with a history of laryngectomy who had had over a period of several years inappropriately and vigorously used valve cleaning brushes to clean tracheal secretions, which had led to the formation of a tracheoesophageal fistula. Due to the patient’s obsessive habit, we couldn’t manage him using conventional surgical methods. Instead, we opted for the placement of a salivary bypass tube, which yielded good results and recovery. To the best of our knowledge, no other case of similar etiology has been published. We would like to highlight the importance of appropriate patient selection and education prior to performing a tracheoesophageal puncture to avoid developing life-threatening complications as demonstrated in our case report.

Keywords: tracheoesophageal fistula, speech valve, endoscopic insertion of salivary bypass tube, head and neck malignancies

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Authors: Mark Harmon, Abdolghani Ebrahimi, Patrick Lucey, Diego Klabjan

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In this paper, we predict the likelihood of a player making a shot in basketball from multiagent trajectories. Previous approaches to similar problems center on hand-crafting features to capture domain-specific knowledge. Although intuitive, recent work in deep learning has shown, this approach is prone to missing important predictive features. To circumvent this issue, we present a convolutional neural network (CNN) approach where we initially represent the multiagent behavior as an image. To encode the adversarial nature of basketball, we use a multichannel image which we then feed into a CNN. Additionally, to capture the temporal aspect of the trajectories, we use “fading.” We find that this approach is superior to a traditional FFN model. By using gradient ascent, we were able to discover what the CNN filters look for during training. Last, we find that a combined FFN+CNN is the best performing network with an error rate of 39%.

Keywords: basketball, computer vision, image processing, convolutional neural network

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Authors: Alan Walsh, Peter Walker

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Differences in commercial, professional and personal cultural traditions between western consultants and project sponsors in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region are potentially significant in the workplace, and this can impact on project outcomes. These cultural differences can, for example, result in conflict amongst senior managers, which can negatively impact the megaproject. New entrants to the GCC often experience ‘culture shock’ as they attempt to integrate into their unfamiliar environments. Megaprojects are unique ventures with individual project characteristics, which need to be considered when managing their associated risks. Megaproject research to date has mostly ignored the significance of the absence of cultural congruence in the GCC, which is surprising considering that there are large volumes of megaprojects in various stages of construction in the GCC. An initial step to dealing with cultural issues is to acknowledge culture as a significant risk factor (SRF). This paper seeks to understand the criticality for western consultants to address these risks. It considers the cultural barriers that exist between GCC sponsors and western consultants and examines the cultural distance between the key actors. Initial findings suggest the presence to a certain extent of ethnocentricity. Other cultural clashes arise out of a lack of appreciation of the customs, practices and traditions of ‘the Other’, such as the need for avoiding public humiliation and the hierarchal significance rankings. The concept and significance of cultural shock as part of the integration process for new arrivals are considered. Culture shock describes the state of anxiety and frustration resulting from the immersion in a culture distinctly different from one's own. There are potentially substantial project risks associated with underestimating the process of cultural integration. This paper examines two distinct but intertwined issues: the societal and professional culture differences associated with expatriate assignments. A case study examines the cultural congruences between GCC sponsors and American, British and German consultants, over a ten-year cycle. This provides indicators as to which nationalities encountered the most profound cultural issues and the nature of these. GCC megaprojects are typically intensive fast track demanding ventures, where consultant turnover is high. The study finds that building trust-filled relationships is key to successful project team integration and therefore, to successful megaproject execution. Findings indicate that both professional and social inclusion processes have steep learning curves. Traditional risk management practice is to approach any uncertainty in a structured way to mitigate the potential impact on project outcomes. This research highlights cultural risk as a significant factor in the management of GCC megaprojects. These risks arising from high staff turnover typically include loss of project knowledge, delays to the project, cost and disruption in replacing staff. This paper calls for cultural risk to be recognised as an SRF, as the first step to developing risk management strategies, and to reduce staff turnover for western consultants in GCC megaprojects.

Keywords: western consultants in megaprojects, national culture impacts on GCC megaprojects, significant risk factors in megaprojects, professional culture in megaprojects

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Authors: Tarmi A'Vard

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This paper discusses the transformative learning experience for students participating in the Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program (Inside-out) and explores the value this pedagogical approach may have in youth justice centers. Inside-Out is a semester-long university course which is unique as it takes 15 university students, with their textbook and theory-based knowledge, behind the walls to study alongside 15 incarcerated students, who have the lived experience of the criminal justice system. Inside-out is currently offered in three Victorian prisons, expanding to five in 2020. The Inside-out pedagogy which is based on transformative dialogic learning is reliant upon the participants sharing knowledge and experiences to develop an understanding and appreciation of the diversity and uniqueness of one another. Inside-out offers the class an opportunity to create its own guidelines for dialogue, which can lead to the student’s sense of equality, which is fundamental in the success of this program. Dialogue allows active participation by all parties in reconciling differences, collaborating ideas, critiquing and developing hypotheses and public policies, and encouraging self-reflection and exploration. The structure of the program incorporates the implementation of circular seating (where the students alternate between inside and outside), activities, individual reflective tasks, group work, and theory analysis. In this circle everyone is equal, this includes the educator, who serves as a facilitator more so than the traditional teacher role. A significant function of the circle is to develop a group consciousness, allowing the whole class to see itself as a collective, and no one person holds a superior role. This also encourages participants to be responsible and accountable for their behavior and contributions. Research indicates completing academic courses, like Inside-Out, contributes positively to reducing recidivism. Inside-Out’s benefits and success in many adult correctional institutions have been outlined in evaluation reports and scholarly articles. The key findings incorporate the learning experiences for the students in both an academic capability and professional practice and development. Furthermore, stereotypes and pre-determined ideas are challenged, and there is a promotion of critical thinking and evidence of self-discovery and growth. There is empirical data supporting positive outcomes of education in youth justice centers in reducing recidivism and increasing the likelihood of returning to education upon release. Hence, this research could provide the opportunity to increase young people’s engagement in education which is a known protective factor for assisting young people to move away from criminal behavior. In 2016, Tarmi completed the Inside-Out educator training in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and has developed an interest in exploring the pedagogy of Inside-Out, specifically targeting young offenders in a Youth Justice Centre.

Keywords: dialogic transformative learning, inside-out prison exchange program, prison education, youth justice

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Authors: Payal Abichandani, Rishi Prakash, Paras Nath Barwal, B. K. Murthy

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Information generated from various computerization processes is a potential rich source of knowledge for its designated community. To pass this information from generation to generation without modifying the meaning is a challenging activity. To preserve and archive the data for future generations it’s very essential to prove the authenticity of the data. It can be achieved by extracting the metadata from the data which can prove the authenticity and create trust on the archived data. Subsequent challenge is the technology obsolescence. Metadata extraction and standardization can be effectively used to resolve and tackle this problem. Metadata can be categorized at two levels i.e. Technical and Domain level broadly. Technical metadata will provide the information that can be used to understand and interpret the data record, but only this level of metadata isn’t sufficient to create trustworthiness. We have developed a tool which will extract and standardize the technical as well as domain level metadata. This paper is about the different features of the tool and how we have developed this.

Keywords: digital preservation, metadata, OAIS, PDI, XML

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Authors: Abdelhammid Chibane

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This study summarizes state-of-the-art knowledge in the seismic response of vertically irregular building frames. Criteria defining vertical irregularity as per the current building codes have been discussed. A review of studies on the seismic behaviour of vertically irregular structures along with their findings has been presented. It is observed that building codes provide criteria to classify the vertically irregular structures and suggest dynamic analysis to arrive at design lateral forces. Most of the studies agree on the increase in drift demand in the tower portion of set-back structures and on the increase in seismic demand for buildings with discontinuous distributions in mass, stiffness, and strength. The largest seismic demand is found for the combined-stiffness-and-strength irregularity.

Keywords: mass irregularity, set-back structure, stiffness irregularity, strength irregularity, vertical irregularity

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Authors: Tracy B.E. Omorogiuwa

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Understanding the role of social work in improving societal well-being cannot be separated from the place of field education, which is an integral aspect of social work education. Field learning provides students with knowledge and opportunities to experience solving issues in the field and giving them a clue of the practice situation. Despite being a crucial component in social work curriculum, field education occupies a large space in learning outcome, given the issues and challenges pertaining to its purpose and significance in the society. The drive of this paper is to provide insight on the specific ways in which field education has been conceived, realized and valued in the society. Emphasis is on the significance of field instruction; the link with classroom learning; and the structure of field experience in social work education. Given documented analysis and experience, this study intends to contribute to the development of social work curriculum, by analyzing the pattern, issues and challenges fronting the social work field education in the University of Benin, Nigeria.

Keywords: challenges, curriculum, field education, social work education

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Authors: Deepika Bhalla, Raj Kumar Bansal, Hari Om Gupta

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Dissolved Gas Analysis (DGA) has been widely used for fault diagnosis in a transformer. Artificial neural networks (ANN) have high accuracy but are regarded as black boxes that are difficult to interpret. For many problems it is desired to extract knowledge from trained neural networks (NN) so that the user can gain a better understanding of the solution arrived by the NN. This paper applies a pedagogical approach for rule extraction from function approximating neural networks (REFANN) with application to incipient fault diagnosis using the concentrations of the dissolved gases within the transformer oil, as the input to the NN. The input space is split into subregions and for each subregion there is a linear equation that is used to predict the type of fault developing within a transformer. The experiments on real data indicate that the approach used can extract simple and useful rules and give fault predictions that match the actual fault and are at times also better than those predicted by the IEC method.

Keywords: artificial neural networks, dissolved gas analysis, rules extraction, transformer

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Authors: Marta Polec

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The paper outlines the problem of street performances in Poland in context of humanistic management studies. The Author perceives activity of street performers of various art and entertainment actions as a phenomenon of informal organizing, self-management and cultural entrepreneurship in urban sphere. What has to be highlighted, performative street art is not currently being an interest of scientific research as often as visual street art. That is why the Author indicates the need of including new approaches of humanistic and social disciplines, especially different management paradigms, in examining various aspects of the activity of street performers. The paper shows the results of ethnographic study based on anthropological interviews, participant observation non-participant observation, shadowing, field notes, audiovisual documentation and text analysis. The fieldwork was performed since 2014 in the old towns and major areas of several the most popular touristic Polish cities, mainly in Gdansk, Cracow, Lublin, Warsaw, and Wroclaw. The research group included street artists of various kinds of performative arts. The investigation was prepared within the ‘Ethnography of the informal organization of street artists in Poland’ project, as a part of Diamond Grant programme (the Ministry of Science and Higher Education in Poland). The first conclusion of the study is that street shows form a way of artistic self-realization and unusual promotion of creative activity in public space. As street performance helps to make some extra money and even earning a living in general, it seems to constitute a new profession. Street performers as a specific environment usually know each other and in many ways cooperate informally to carry on their shows successfully. Secondly, this activity brings plenty benefits for the local communities. Street shows attract inhabitants and tourists quite often by appealing to intangible cultural heritage and memorializing it. They also pose a space for discussing current social issues. Moreover, they disseminate relatively inexpensive public access to culture, but also state an example of social courage of choosing unconventional occupation. Finally, currently being used terms of street performers/street artists/buskers in different languages, as instance as in Polish, are still fluent and undefined. As a consequence, it brings implications for existing common knowledge about street performers, for example in establishing and implementing public policies. It impedes solving many ethical and social dilemmas concerning the question of performances in public sphere, which in some cases seem to be related to, as: children’s work, beggars’ practices or question of harmony of public space. The main aim of this study was to expose street performances as yet undefined profession, including different possibilities of interacting with the audience, based on providing impressions, experiences and memories. Although the issue seems to be current and common, in indicated context there is a lack of equal and unified approach of managing urban sphere, which in practice differs both in informal rules and official policies concerning street performances not only in cities in Poland, but also generally in Europe.

Keywords: informal, organizing, street performance, urban sphere

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Authors: Cheng Xu, Rui Zhong

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Utilizing a preregistered randomized experiment, this study explores the effects of anonymity and curated identity on trust within the Metaverse. Participants were randomly assigned to different conditions of anonymity and identity curation and engaged in a series of tasks designed to mirror the complexities of trust in real-world social interactions. Trust was measured using the classical trust game, allowing for a nuanced understanding of how these factors interact and influence trust. The findings reveal that higher levels of anonymity negatively impact trust, while identity curation can moderate this effect. Mechanism analysis uncovers how anonymity influences perceived reciprocity and group cohesion, and how curation can moderate these relationships. The results demonstrate a nuanced interaction between anonymity and trust, with variations across different curation levels. These insights provide a multifaceted understanding of trust within virtual environments, contributing valuable knowledge to the design, policy-making, and ethical considerations of the Metaverse

Keywords: metaverse, anonymity, curated identity, social behavior, trust

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Authors: Timea Harmath-Tánczos

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Drug-resistant epilepsy (DRE) is defined as the persistence of seizures despite at least two syndrome-adapted antiseizure drugs (ASD) used at efficacious daily doses. About a third of patients with epilepsy suffer from drug resistance. Cognitive assessment has a crucial role in the diagnosis and clinical management of epilepsy. Previous studies have addressed the clinical targets and indications for measuring neuropsychological functions; best to our knowledge, no studies have examined it in a Hungarian therapy-resistant population. To fill this gap, we investigated the Hungarian diagnostic protocol between 18 and 65 years of age. This study aimed to describe and analyze neuropsychological functions in patients with drug-resistant epilepsy and identify factors associated with neuropsychology deficits. We perform a prospective case-control study comparing neuropsychological performances in 50 adult patients and 50 healthy individuals between March 2023 and July 2023. Neuropsychological functions were examined in both patients and controls using a full set of specific tests (general performance level, motor functions, attention, executive facts., verbal and visual memory, language, and visual-spatial functions). Potential risk factors for neuropsychological deficit were assessed in the patient group using a multivariate analysis. The two groups did not differ in age, sex, dominant hand and level of education. Compared with the control group, patients with drug-resistant epilepsy showed worse performance on motor functions and visuospatial memory, sustained attention, inhibition and verbal memory. Neuropsychological deficits could therefore be systematically detected in patients with drug-resistant epilepsy in order to provide neuropsychological therapy and improve quality of life. The analysis of the classical and complex indices of the special neuropsychological tasks presented in the presentation can help in the investigation of normal and disrupted memory and executive functions in the DRE.

Keywords: drug-resistant epilepsy, Hungarian diagnostic protocol, memory, executive functions, cognitive neuropsychology

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Authors: Piyanut Sujit

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The purposes of this study were to: 1) create knowledge and develop web based instruction on the puppet show, 2) evaluate the effectiveness of the web based instruction on the puppet show by using the criteria of 80/80, and 3) compare and analyze the achievement of the students before and after learning with web based instruction on the puppet show. The population of this study included 53 students in the Program of Library and Information Sciences who registered in the subject of Reading and Reading Promotion in semester 1/2011, Suansunandha Rajabhat University. The research instruments consisted of web based instruction on the puppet show, specialist evaluation form, achievement test, and tests during the lesson. The research statistics included arithmetic mean, variable means, standard deviation, and t-test in SPSS for Windows. The results revealed that the effectiveness of the developed web based instruction was 84.67/80.47 which was higher than the set criteria at 80/80. The student achievement before and after learning showed statistically significant difference at 0.05 as in the hypothesis.

Keywords: puppet, puppet show, web based instruction, library and information sciences

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Authors: Luiz Carlos Dias Lima De Oliveira

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Psychology does not have the task of being confined only to the knowledge of losses, weaknesses or diseases, because it is necessary to give analogous dedication to the investigation of human virtues, efforts and aptitudes. The reasons for living with greater constancy and expressiveness act as a protective condition for risk behaviors, but with less constancy and expressiveness they can be a viable parameter of suicidal ideation or potential suicidal initiatives. In other words, Positive Psychology scientifically studies human strengths and virtues. In the same way, we refer to the basic psychological needs of the human being, according to the Theory of Self-Determination: the need for belonging, competence and autonomy to live the best possible life or the ability to make positive decisions in life. In this sense, following the assumptions of Positive Psychology, we raise the question of what are the reasons for living, seeking a way to draw attention to positive aspects of life.

Keywords: psychology, positive, self-determination, belonging, competence, autonomy, depression, suicide.

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Authors: Qitao Xie, Qingquan Zhang, Xiaofei Zhang, Di Tian, Ruixuan Wen, Ting Zhu, Ping Yi, Xin Li

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Inspired by the recent movement of digital currency, we are building a question answering system concerning the subject of cryptocurrency using Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers (BERT). The motivation behind this work is to properly assist digital currency investors by directing them to the corresponding knowledge bases that can offer them help and increase the querying speed. BERT, one of newest language models in natural language processing, was investigated to improve the quality of generated responses. We studied different combinations of hyperparameters of the BERT model to obtain the best fit responses. Further, we created an intelligent chatbot for cryptocurrency using BERT. A chatbot using BERT shows great potential for the further advancement of a cryptocurrency market tool. We show that the BERT neural networks generalize well to other tasks by applying it successfully to cryptocurrency.

Keywords: bidirectional encoder representations from transformers, BERT, chatbot, cryptocurrency, deep learning

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Authors: Mohamed Asaad Abdelrazek, Amir Taher El-Sheikh, M. Zayan, A.M. Elhady

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The successful realization of complex systems is dependent not only on the technology issues and the process for implementing them, but on the management issues as well. Managing the systems development lifecycle requires technical management. Systems engineering management is the technical management. Systems engineering management is accomplished by incorporating many activities. The three major activities are development phasing, systems engineering process and lifecycle integration. Systems engineering management activities are performed across the system development lifecycle. Due to the ever-increasing complexity of systems as well the difficulty of managing and tracking the development activities, new ways to achieve systems engineering management activities are required. This paper presents a systematic approach used as a design management tool applied across systems engineering management roles. In this approach, Transdisciplinary System Development Lifecycle (TSDL) Model has been modified and integrated with Quality Function Deployment. Hereinafter, the name of the systematic approach is the Transdisciplinary Quality System Development Lifecycle (TQSDL) Model. The QFD translates the voice of customers (VOC) into measurable technical characteristics. The modified TSDL model is based on Axiomatic Design developed by Suh which is applicable to all designs: products, processes, systems and organizations. The TQSDL model aims to provide a robust structure and systematic thinking to support the implementation of systems engineering management roles. This approach ensures that the customer requirements are fulfilled as well as satisfies all the systems engineering manager roles and activities.

Keywords: axiomatic design, quality function deployment, systems engineering management, system development lifecycle

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Authors: A. Karasek

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Rapid growth of Information Technologies (IT) has had huge influence on enterprises, and it has contributed to its promotion and increasingly extensive use in enterprises. Information Technologies have to a large extent determined the processes taking place in a enterprise; what is more, IT development has brought the need to adopt a brand new approach to human resources management in an enterprise. The use of IT in Human Resource Management (HRM) is of high importance due to the growing role of information and information technologies. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the use of information technologies in human resources management in enterprises. These practices will be presented in the following areas: Recruitment and selection, development and training, employee assessment, motivation, talent management, personnel service. Results of conducted survey show diversity of solutions applied in particular areas of human resource management. In the future, further development in this area should be expected, as well as integration of individual HRM areas, growing mobile-enabled HR processes and their transfer into the cloud. Presented IT solutions applied in HRM are highly innovative, which is of great significance due to their possible implementation in other enterprises.

Keywords: e-HR, human resources management, HRM practices, HRMS, information technologies

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Authors: Sara Cumming, Julianne DiSanto, Leah Burton

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Homelessness in Canada is a persistent problem. It has been widely argued that the best tactic for eradicating homelessness is to approach social issues from a Housing First perspective—an approach that centers on quickly moving people into permanent and independent housing and then providing them additional support and services as needed. It is recognized that life skills training is both necessary and an effective way to reduce cyclical homelessness; however, there is a scarcity of research on effective ways to teach life skills; this problem was exacerbated in a pandemic context, where in-person delivery was severely restricted or no longer possible. Very little attention has been paid to the diverse cultural needs of clients in a multicultural context and the need to foster cultural knowledge/awareness in individuals to successfully contribute to the cultural safety of communities. This research attempts to fill these gaps in the literature and in practice by employing a community-engaged research (CER) approach. Academic, government, funders, front-line staff, and clients at 15 not-for-profits from across the Greater Toronto Area in Ontario, Canada, collaborated to co-create a virtual, client-centric, equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) informed life skill learning management system. We employed a triangulation methodology for this research. An environmental scan was conducted for best practices. Two separate Creative Problem Solving Sessions were held with over 100 front-line workers, managers, and executive directors who work with homeless populations. Quantitative and open-ended surveys were completed by over 200 individuals with experience with homelessness. All sections of this research aimed to discover the areas of skills that individuals need to maintain housing and to ascertain what a more client-driven EDI approach to life skills training should include. This research will showcase which life skills are deemed essential for homeless and precariously housed individuals.

Keywords: homelessness, Housing First, life skills, community engaged research

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Authors: Adela Mariana Vadastreanu, Adrian Bot, Andreea Maier, Dorin Maier

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This paper approaches the need for innovation management in the context of an existing integrated management system implemented in an organization. The road to success for companies in today’s economic environment is more demanding than ever and the capacity of adapting to the rapid changes is compensatory in order to resist on the market. The managers struggle, daily, with increasingly complex problems, caused by fierce competition in the market but also from the rising demands of customers. Innovation seems to be the solution for these problems. During the last decade almost all companies have been certificated according to various management systems, like quality management system, environmental management system, health and safety management system and others; furthermore many companies have implemented an integrated management system, by integrating two or more management systems. The problem rising today is how to integrate innovation in this integrated management systems. The challenge of the problem is that the development of an innovation management system is in the early phase. In this paper we have studied the possibility of integrating some of the innovation request in an existing management system, we have identify the innovation performance request and we proposed some recommendations regarding innovation management and its implementation as a part of an integrated management system. This paper lies down the bases for developing an model of integration management systems that include innovation as a main part of it. Organizations are becoming more aware of the importance of Integrated Management Systems (IMS). Integrating two or more management systems into an integrated management system can have much advantages.This paper examines various models of management systems integration in accordance with professional references ISO 9001, ISO 18001 and OHSAS 18001, highlighting strengths and weaknesses, creating a basis for future development of integrated management systems, and their involvement in various other processes within the organization, such as innovation management. The more and more demanding economic context emphasizes the awareness of the importance of innovation for organizations. This paper highlights the importance of the innovation for an organization and also gives some practical solution in order to improve the overall success of the business through a better approach of innovation. Various standards have been developed in order to certificate organizations that they respect the requirements. Applying an integrated standards model is shown to be a more effective way then applying the standards independently. The problem that arises is that in order to adopt the integrated version of standards there have to be made some changes at the organizational level. Every change that needs to be done has an effect on its activity, and in this sense the paper tries to deal with the changes needed for adopting an integrated management system and if those changes have an influence over the performance. After the analysis of the results, we can conclude that in order to improve the performance a necessary step is the implementation of innovation in the existing integrated management system.

Keywords: innovation, integrated management systems, innovation management, quality

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Authors: Ouassim Chemrouk, Naima Chabbi-Chemrouk

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Contemporary settlements and urban places are becoming increasingly complex involving technologically advanced building materials, and mechanical systems for controlling environmental quality such as thermal comfort, lighting, acoustics and other building performances. These systems, which rely exclusively on the utilization of nonrenewable energy are often expensive and environment pollutants. The proposed paper illustrates the important role of traditional knowledge and practice and what is sometimes called intangible cultural heritage assume in the design of the built environment. It shows that some traditional “ways of doing” that are transmitted at local scales from generation to generation could be built upon to become key resources for more livable urban places. Based on evidence from documentary sources and field surveys, it also shows how different attempts were made to translate some traditional practices and local know-how in the proposal of new urban schemes.

Keywords: key resource, know-how, local people, capacity building, liveable built environments

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Authors: Yifang Gong

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Pulse diagnosis is one of the most important diagnosis methods in traditional Chinese medicine. It is also the trickiest method to learn. It is known as that it can only to be sensed not explained. This becomes a serious threat to the survival of this diagnostic method. However, there are a large amount of experiences accumulated during the several thousand years of practice of Chinese doctors. A pulse pattern called 'Slippery pulse' is one of the indications of pregnancy. A simple fluid dynamic model is proposed to simulate the effects of the existence of a placenta. The placenta is modeled as an extra plenum in an extremely simplified fluid network model. It is found that because of the existence of the extra plenum, indeed the pulse pattern shows a secondary peak in one pulse period. As for the author’s knowledge, this work is the first time to show the link between Pulse diagnoses and basic physical principle. Key parameters which might affect the pattern are also investigated.

Keywords: Chinese medicine, flow network, pregnancy, pulse

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Authors: Lisa Listiana

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ASEAN leader agreed to accelerate ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) implementation by 2015. The AEC Blueprint has set up obligations for its members to follow which include the establishment of (a) free trade in goods, according to ASEAN Free Trade Area: AFTA, (b) free trade in services, according to ASEAN Framework Agreement on Services: AFAS, (c) free trade in investment, according to ASEAN Comprehensive Investment Agreement: ACIA, (d) free capital flow, and (e) free flow of skilled labors. Consequently, these obligations bring both challenges and opportunities for its members. As accountant is included in the coverage of 8 skilled labors, the readiness of accounting profession to embrace AEC 2015 is pivotal. If Indonesian accountants do not accelerate their learning effort, the knowledge gap between Indonesian accountants and their international colleagues will only be worsened. This paper aims to analyze the current progress of AEC preparation and its challenges and opportunities for Indonesian accountants, and also to propose recommendation as necessary.

Keywords: AEC, ASEAN, readiness, Indonesian accountants

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Authors: Polychronis Voultsos, Theodora Pandelidou, Alexandra K. Tsaroucha

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Aim: To explore child molesters' perceptions of their sexually offensive behavior in Greece. To our knowledge, there is a relative research gap on this topic. Method: A prospective qualitative study using in-depth interviews with eight child molesters who were convicted and imprisoned in a Greek prison. The research was conducted in May 2022. Results: Child molesters' cognitive distortions including justifications, rationalizations and minimizations emerged from our data analysis (content analysis). Importantly, child molesters. adopted a particularly daring ‘role reversal’. Participants reported themselves as being ‘victims’. They said that the children (namely, their victims) were the ones who made the first move and got them in the mood for having sex with the children. Furthermore, we discuss our results in the context of the existing international academic literature on the area of this research. Conclusions: Child molesters' different cognitive distortions emerged from our data analysis, with ‘role reversal’ being prevalent.

Keywords: child molesters, sex offenders, cognitive distortions, Greece

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Authors: Policarpio Jr. Joves

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Physicians in most teaching hospitals are commonly promoted into managerial roles, yet their training is mostly in clinical and scientific skills but not in leadership competencies. When they shift into roles of physician leadership, the majority hold on to their primary identity of physicians. These conflicting roles affect their identity and eventually their work. The physician leaders also face additional challenges related to academics which include incorporation of new knowledge into the existing curriculum, use of technology in the delivery of teaching, the need to train medical students outside of hospital wards, etc. The study aims to explore how physician leaders in teaching hospitals of private medical schools enact their leadership roles and how they face the challenges as physician leaders. The study setting shall be teaching hospitals of three private medical schools situated in the National Capital Region, Philippines. A multiple case study design shall be adopted in this research. Physicians shall be eligible to participate in the study if they are practicing clinicians limited to the five major clinical specialty: Internal Medicine, Pediatrics, Family Medicine, Surgery, Obstetrics and Gynecology. They must be teaching in the College of Medicine prior to their appointments as physician leaders in both medical school and teaching hospital. Semi-structured face-to-face interviews shall be utilized as a means of data collection, with open-ended questions, enabling physician leaders to present narratives about their identity, role enactment, conflicts, reaction of colleagues, and the challenges encountered in their day-to-day work as physician leaders. Interviews shall be combined with observations and review of records to gain more insights into how the physician leaders are 'doing' management. Within-case analysis shall be done initially followed by a thematic analysis across the cases, referred to as cross–case analysis or cross-case synthesis.

Keywords: academic leaders, academic managers, physician leaders, physician managers

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Authors: Domagoj Hruska, Drazen Milkovic, Maja Darabos

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This paper empirically investigates the performance of Croatian initial public offerings (IPOs) throughout 20 years period, from 1996 until 2016. By proving the comprehensive evaluation of reasons and consequences of IPO initiatives in Croatia we give analytic evidence on the influence of this corporate action on the development of corporate governance. Furthermore, the paper discusses the relationship between internal and external corporate governance mechanisms in companies that initialize entering the financial markets. The paper will provide a synthesis of evidence of IPO-s in Croatia based on in-depth case studies of 13 cases of IPO-s. The major findings of the paper include identification of reasons for conducting IPO-s and calculation of underpricing effect and change of market capitalization. To the best of the author's knowledge, the results of the paper provide the analytical framework for understanding the impact of IPOs on the corporate governance system in transition countries.

Keywords: corporate governance, Croatia, initial public offering, transition economy

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Authors: Betul Zehra Karagul

Abstract:

A game consists of strategies that each actor has in his/her own choice strategies, and a game regulates the certain rules in the strategies that the actors choose, express how they evaluate their knowledge and the utility of output results. Game theory examines the human behaviors (preferences) of strategic situations in which each actor of a game regards the action that others will make in spite of his own moves. There is a balance between each player playing a game with the final number of players and the player with a certain probability of choosing the players, and this is called Nash equilibrium. The insurance is a two-person game where the insurer and insured are the actors. Both sides have the right to act in favor of utility functions. The insured has to pay a premium to buy the insurance cover. The insured will want to pay a low premium while the insurer is willing to get a high premium. In this study, the state of equilibrium for insurance pricing was examined in terms of the insurer and insured with game theory.

Keywords: game theory, insurance pricing, Nash equilibrium, utility function

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Authors: S. Ishak, M. G. Nasuruddin

Abstract:

This paper looks at healing performances as ethnographic expressions of local knowledge and culture embedded within the Malay psyche and gemeinschaft. As society develops and progresses, these healing performances are caught within conflicting trajectories which become compounded by the contestations of tradition, religious concerns, locality and modernity. As exemplifications of the Malay ethos, these performances practice common rituals, cater to the innate needs of the practitioners and serve the targeted, closed, local community. This paper traces the ethnographic methods in documenting these practices as rituals of healing in a post-modern world. It delineates the ethnographic concepts used to analyze these rituals, and to semiotically read the varied binarial oppositions and juxtapositions. The paper concludes by highlighting the reconciliatory processes involved in maintaining these ritual performances as exemplifications of the Malay ethos playing an important role in the re-aligning, re-balancing and healing of the Malay community’s psyche.

Keywords: angina, winds, semangat, spirits, traditional theatres, trance

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Authors: Riccardo Angiuli, Michele Giannuzzi, Rodolfo Franchi, Gabriele Papadia

Abstract:

Temperature knowledge in machining is fundamental to improve the numerical and FEM models used for the study of some critical process aspects, such as the behavior of the worked material and tool. The extreme conditions in which they operate make it impossible to use traditional measuring instruments; infrared thermography can be used as a valid measuring instrument for temperature measurement during metal cutting. In the study, a large experimental program on superduplex steel (ASTM A995 gr. 5A) cutting was carried out, the relevant cutting temperatures were measured by infrared thermography when certain cutting parameters changed, from traditional values to extreme ones. The values identified were used to calibrate a FEM model for the prediction of residual life of the tools. During the study, the problems related to the detection of cutting temperatures by infrared thermography were analyzed, and a dedicated procedure was developed that could be used during similar processing.

Keywords: machining, infrared thermography, FEM, temperature measurement

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Authors: Cormac Reale, Luke J. Prendergast, Kenneth Gavin

Abstract:

While significant improvements have been made in axial pile design methods over recent years, the influence of soils natural variability has not been adequately accounted for within them. Soil variability is a crucial parameter to consider as it can account for large variations in pile capacity across the same site. This paper seeks to address this knowledge deficit, by demonstrating how soil spatial variability can be accommodated into existing cone penetration test (CPT) based pile design methods, in the form of layered non-homogeneous random fields. These random fields model the scope of a given property’s variance and define how it varies spatially. A Monte Carlo analysis of the pile will be performed taking into account parameter uncertainty and spatial variability, described using the measured scales of fluctuation. The results will be discussed in light of Eurocode 7 and the effect of spatial averaging on design capacities will be analysed.

Keywords: pile axial design, reliability, spatial variability, CPT

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Authors: Sarah Isabelle S. Torres

Abstract:

This study evaluated the curriculum and implementation of the Special Program in Journalism (SPJ). By conducting surveys, focus group discussions, and interviews and by analyzing the school publication of five national high schools, the researcher found out that SPJ is ineffective in instilling media literacy to the students. Media Literacy will help the students understand how media operates, thus, they will be able to produce outputs that are socially relevant, critical, and in-depth. For one, the curriculum includes lessons and activities that are mostly technical in nature. There are no theoretical topics such as ethics, history of the press, or media ownership. Second, most of the SPJ teachers have little background on Journalism and they are not trained enough to teach the program effectively. Third, most of the students are not really inclined in Journalism and do not see themselves as media practitioners in the future. Lastly, the Department of Education’s budget for the program is far from what the curriculum needs. All of these lead to the low Media Literacy levels of the students. SPJ, therefore, has to be reevaluated and amended. In conclusion, Media Literacy should be added in the curriculum so the students will not only be equipped with technical skills but with theoretical knowledge, as well.

Keywords: education, journalism, media, media literacy

Procedia PDF Downloads 392