Search results for: professional women

Authors: Karen V. Lee

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The background and significance of this study involves autoethnographic research about a music teacher learning how education and curriculum planning can help her overcome harmful and lasting career consequences from sexual violence. Curriculum surrounding intervention resources from education helps her cope with consequences influencing her career as music teacher. Basic methodology involves the qualitative method of research as theoretical framework where the author is drawn into a deep storied reflection about political issues surrounding teachers who need to overcome social, psychological, and health risk behaviors from violence. Sub-themes involve counseling, curriculum, adult education to ensure teachers receive social, emotional, physical, spiritual, and intervention resources that evoke visceral, emotional responses from the audience. Major findings share how stories provide helpful resources to teachers who have been victims of violence. It is hoped the research dramatizes an episodic yet incomplete story that highlights the circumstances surrounding the protagonist’s life as teacher with previous sexual violence. In conclusion, the research has a reflexive storied framework with video and music from curriculum planning that embraces harmful and lasting consequences from sexual violence. The reflexive story of the sensory experience critically seeks verisimilitude by evoking lifelike and believable feelings from others. Thus, the scholarly importance of using education and curriculum as intervention resources to accompany storied research can provide transformative aspects that can contribute to social change. Overall, the circumstance surrounding the story about sexual violence is not uncommon in society. Thus, continued education and curriculum that supports the moral mission to help teachers overcome sexual violence that socially impacts their professional lives as victims.

Keywords: education, curriculum, sexual violence, storied autoethnography

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Authors: Soleen Karim, Meira Yasin, Rezhin Qader

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Children’s books present a colorful life for kids around the world, their current environment or what they could potentially have- a home, two loving parents, a playground, and a safe school within a short walk or bus ride. These images are only pages in a donated book for children displaced by war. The environment they live in is significantly different. Displaced children are faced with a temporary life style filled with fear and uncertainty. Children of war associate various structural institutions with a trauma and cannot enter the space, even if it is for their own future development, such as a school. This paper is a collaborative effort with students of the Kennesaw State University architecture department, architectural designers and a mental health professional to address and link the design challenges and the psychological trauma for children of war. The research process consists of a) interviews with former refugees, b) interviews with current refugee children, c) personal understanding of space through one’s own childhood, d) literature review of tested design methods to address various traumas. Conclusion: In addressing the built environment for children of war, it is necessary to address mental health and well being through the creation of space that is sensitive to the needs of children. This is achieved by understanding critical design cues to evoke normalcy and safe space through program organization, color, and symbiosis of synthetic and natural environments. By involving the children suffering from trauma in the design process, aspects of the design are directly enhanced to serve the occupant. Neglecting to involve the participants creates a nonlinear design outcome and does not serve the needs of the occupant to afford them equal opportunity learning and growth experience as other children around the world.

Keywords: activist architecture, childhood education, childhood psychology, adverse childhood experiences

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Authors: Fauziahtion A. G. Samad, Imelda Albert Gisip

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Community-Based Ecotourism (CBET) is one of the most significant parts of the sustainability in tourism. To achieve the goal of sustainability, the Framework for Sustainable Community Based Ecotourism (FSCBE) was developed from the experience in setting and implementing Community-Based Ecotourism (CBE) under IMPAK (Community-Based Tourism Development Initiative, Kota Kinabalu City Hall) program. Desa Cinta Kobuni located in Inanam, a sub-district of Kota Kinabalu city was the first project under this program. The goal was to transform the village into a sustainable tourism destination. After five years of the program, there are three tourism destination were established included Homestay Id Kalangadan and Homestay Darau Wetland. They currently are still in the growth stage and now becoming a model for other inspiring villages to emulate. There are three major impacts to the villages, which are 1) the increment of secondary income; 2) the advancement of women’s empowerment; and 3) the enhanced sustainability initiatives of the villagers. The experience in developing the CBET has resulted the Kota Kinabalu City Hall to produce the Framework for Sustainable Community Based Ecotourism (FSCBE) that integrates Sustainable Development Goals and Global Sustainable Tourism Criteria (GSTC) for future CBET development in other villages in the city.

Keywords: community-based ecoturism, sustainability, Sabah, Malaysia

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Authors: Stephanie A. Schauder, Gosia Sylwestrzak

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Overweight and obese women report avoiding preventive care due to fear of weight-related bias from medical professionals. Gynecological exams, due to their sensitive and personally invasive nature, are especially susceptible to avoidance. This research investigates the association between body mass index (BMI) and screening rates for breast and cervical cancer using claims data from 1.3 million members of a large health insurance company. Because obesity is associated with increased cancer risk, screenings for these cancers should increase as BMI increases. However, this paper finds that the distribution of cancer screening rates by BMI take an inverted U-shape with underweight and obese members having the lowest screening rates. For cervical cancer screening, those in the target population with a BMI of 23 have the highest screening rate at 68%, while Obese Class III members have a screening rate of 50%. Those in the underweight category have a screening rate of 58%. This relationship persists even after controlling for health and demographic covariates in regression analysis. Interestingly, there is no association between BMI and BRCA (BReast CAncer gene) genetic testing. This is consistent with the narrative that stigma causes avoidance because genetic testing does not involve any assessment of a person’s body. More work must be done to determine how to increase cancer screening rates in those who may feel stigmatized due to their weight.

Keywords: cancer screening, cervical cancer, breast cancer, weight stigma, avoidance of care

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Authors: Tianyu Chen

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The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) of 2001 was a major federal education policy that aimed to improve academic outcomes for all students in the United States. This study examines whether NCLB improved college readiness, measured by access to higher education, for different demographic groups. Using data from the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series (IPUMS) from 2003-2008, regression analyses explore the relationship between gender, race, family income, and region with occupational education score. The results indicate that NCLB implementation had a positive effect on college access for women and Asian students compared to other groups. Higher family income was also associated with an increased likelihood of pursuing higher education, especially for families in the South. While NCLB intended to close achievement gaps, disparities in college readiness remained five years after implementation. Further research could examine longer-term trends and additional factors influencing the policy's effectiveness across student subgroups. This study provides evidence that simply holding schools accountable for test scores may not sufficiently improve equitable educational outcomes. More targeted support of disadvantaged groups may be needed to fulfill the goal of "no child left behind."

Keywords: no child left behind act, college readiness, achievement gaps, educational equity

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Authors: Bao Trang Thi Nguyen, Stephen Moore

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A large number of Vietnamese lecturers leave their home institutions every year to pursue an education in Australia and in other countries and most of whom return home to careers back in the Vietnamese work context. However, to the authors’ best knowledge, there is little empirical knowledge about these Vietnamese returnees. Much less is about how these overseas-trained returnees continue doing research while taking a lecturing role, though research has recently received growing heightened attention in Vietnamese Higher Education institutions and returnees are an important source of human resources. The research is mixed-methods in nature with questionnaires and interviews as the main instruments of data collection. Seven-six Vietnamese returnees working from a broad range of disciplines from different higher education institutions in central Vietnam completed a questionnaire on their perceived constraints and affordances in teaching and continuing doing research upon return from their overseas education. Twenty-five of these returnees took part in a subsequent in-depth interview which lasted from 30 minutes to an hour, which further seeks understanding of their lived individual experiences and stories. The overall results show that time constraint, heavy teaching loads, and varied administrative and familial roles are among inhibiting factors. However, these factors were more constraining for some returnees more than others. Their motivations to do research varied, from passion to work pressure and self-perceived responsibilities. Above all, these were mediated by personal, institutional and disciplinary contexts. The paper argues for a nuanced understanding of returnee academics’ life as complex and layered with the multiple identities they associated themselves with and the differing trajectories they embarked on as to what they perceived important as a university lecturer. Implications for Higher Education management and administration and professional development are addressed.

Keywords: Vietnamese overseas-trained returnees, higher education, teaching, doing research, constraints, affordances

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Authors: Emad A. S. Abu-Ayyash

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Cohesive devices, the linguistic tools that are usually employed to hold the different parts of the text together, have been the focus of a significant number of discourse analysis studies. These linguistic tools have grabbed the attention of researchers since the inception of the first and most comprehensive model of cohesion in 1976. However, it was noticed that some cohesive devices (e.g., endophoric reference, conjunctions, ellipsis, substitution, and lexical ties) – being thought of as more popular than others (e.g., exophoric reference) – were over-researched. The present paper explores the usage of two cohesive devices that have been evidently almost absent from discourse analysis studies. These cohesive devices are exophoric and homophoric references, the linguistic items that can be interpreted in terms of the physical and cultural contexts of discourse. The significance of the current paper, therefore, stems from the fact that it attempts to fill a gap in the research conducted so far on cohesive devices. This study provides an explanation of the concepts of the cohesive devices that have been employed in a plethora of research on cohesion and elucidates the relevant context-related concepts. The paper also identifies the gap in cohesive devices research. Exophora and homophora, the least visited cohesive devices in previous studies, were qualitatively and quantitatively explored in six opinion articles, four produced by eight postgraduate English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students in a university in the United Arab Emirates and two by professional NS writers in the Independent and the Guardian. The six pieces were about the United Kingdom Independent Party (UKIP) leader’s call to ban the burqa in the UK and were analysed vis-a-vis the employment and function of homophora and exophora. The study found that both EFL students and native speakers employed exophora and homophora considerably in their writing to serve a variety of functions, including building assumptions, supporting main ideas, and involving the readers among others.

Keywords: cohesive devices, context, culture, exophoric reference, homophoric reference

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Authors: R. Gharari, N. Kojouri, R. Hosseini Aghdam, E. Alibeigi, B. Salmasian

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In this research, the WWER1000/V446 (a PWR Russian type reactor) is chosen as the case study. It is assumed that radioactive materials that release into the environment are more than allowable limit due to a complete failure of the ventilation system (reactor stack). In the following, the HOTSPOT and the RASCAL computational codes have been used and coupled with a developed program using MATLAB software to evaluate Total effective dose equivalent (TEDE) and cancer risk according to the BEIR equations for various human organs. In addition, effects of the containment spray system and climate conditions on the TEDE have been investigated. According to the obtained results, there is an inverse correlation between the received dose and the wind speed; the amount of the TEDE for wind speed 2 m/s and is more than wind speed for 14 m/s during the class A of the climate (2.168 and 0.444 mSv, respectively). Also, containment spray system can effect and reduce the amount of the fission products and TEDE. Furthermore, the probability of the cancer risk for women is more than men, and for children is more than adults. In addition, a specific emergency zonal planning is proposed. Results are promising in which the site selection of the WWER1000/V446 were considered safe for the public in this situation.

Keywords: TEDE, total effective dose equivalent, RASCAL and HOTSPOT codes, BEIR equations, cancer risk

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Authors: Citlali Aguilera Lira, David Lynch Steinicke, Andrea León García

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One of the challenges that higher education faces is to find how to approach the sustainability in an inclusive way to the student within all the different academic areas, how to move the sustainable development from the abstract field to the operational field. This research comes from the ecoliteracy and the pedagogical praxis as tools for rebuilding the teaching processes inside of universities. The purpose is to determine and describe which are the factors involved in the process of learning particularly in the Greenhouse-School Siembra UV. In the Greenhouse-School Siembra UV, of the University of Veracruz, are cultivated vegetables, medicinal plants and small cornfields under the usage of eco-technologies such as hydroponics, Wickingbed and Hugelkultur, which main purpose is the saving of space, labor and natural resources, as well as function as agricultural production alternatives in the urban and periurban zones. The sample was formed with students from different academic areas and who are actively involved in the greenhouse, as well as institutes from the University of Veracruz and governmental and non-governmental departments. This project comes from a pedagogic praxis approach, from filling the needs that the different professional profiles of the university students have. All this with the purpose of generate a pragmatic dialogue with the sustainability. It also comes from the necessity to understand the factors that intervene in the students’ praxis. In this manner is how the students are the fundamental unit in the sphere of sustainability. As a result, it is observed that those University of Veracruz students who are involved in the Greenhouse-school, Siembra UV, have enriched in different levels the sense of urban and periurban agriculture because of the diverse academic approaches they have and the interaction between them. It is concluded that the eco-technologies act as fundamental tools for ecoliteracy in society, where it is strengthen the nutritional and food security from a sustainable development approach.

Keywords: farming eco-technologies, food security, multidisciplinary, pedagogical praxis

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Authors: Khiari Nor El Houda, Hiouani Amira Sarra

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

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

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Authors: Adeyinka Adeniran, Omowunmi Bakare, Esther Oluwole, Florence Chieme, Temitope Durojaiye, Modupe Akinyinka, Omobola Ojo, Babatunde Olujobi, Marcus Ilesanmi, Akintunde Ogunsakin

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Introduction: Globally, COVID-19 has greatly impacted the human race physically, socially, mentally, and economically. However, healthcare workers seemed to bear the greatest impact. The study, therefore, sought to assess the impact of COVID-19 on the primary healthcare workers in Ekiti, South-west Nigeria. Methods: The study was a cross-sectional descriptive study using a quantitative data collection method of 716 primary healthcare workers in Ekiti state. Respondents were selected using an online convenience sampling method via their social media platforms. Data was collected, collated, and analyzed using SPSS version 25 software and presented as frequency tables, mean and standard deviation. Bivariate and multivariate analyses were conducted using a t-test, and the level of statistical significance was set at p<0.05. Results: Less than half (47.1%) of respondents were between 41-50 age group and a mean age of 44.4+6.4SD. A majority (89.4%) were female, and almost all (96.2%) were married. More than (90%) had ever heard of Coronavirus, and (85.8%) had to spend more money on activities of daily living such as transportation (90.1%), groceries (80.6%), assisting relations (95.8%) and sanitary measures (disinfection) at home (95.0%). COVID-19 had a huge negative impact on about (89.7%) of healthcare workers, with a mean score of 22+4.8. Conclusion: COVID-19 negatively impacted the daily living and professional duties of primary healthcare workers, which reflected their psychological, physical, social, and economic well-being. Disease outbreaks are unlikely to disappear in the near future. Hence, global proactive interventions and homegrown measures should be adopted to protect healthcare workers and save lives.

Keywords: Covid-19, health workforce, primary health care, health systems, depression

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Authors: Shakhawath Hossain, Tazkia Tahsin

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Introduction/Background: Intellectual disability is a disability characterized by significant limitations both in intellectual functioning and in adaptive behavior, which covers many everyday social and practical skills. Vocational education is a multi-professional approach that is provided to individuals of working age with health-related impairments, limitations, or restrictions with work functioning and whose primary aim is to optimize work participation. Instrumental Activities of Daily Living activities to support daily life within the home and community. Like as community mobility, financial management, meal preparation, and clean-up, shopping. Material and Method: Electronic searches of Medline, PubMed, Google scholar, OT Seeker literature using the key terms of intellectual disability, vocational rehabilitation, instrumental activities of daily living and Occupational Therapy, as well as a thorough manual search for relevant literature. Results: There were 13 articles, all qualitative and quantitative, which are included in this review. All studies were mixed methods in design. To take the Occupational Therapy services, there is a significant improvement in their children's various areas like as sensory issues, cognitive abilities, perceptual skills, visual, motor planning, and group therapy. After taking the vocational and instrumental activities of daily living training children with intellectual disabilities to participate in their daily activities and work as an employee different company or organizations. Conclusion: The persons with intellectual disability are an integral part of our society who deserves social support and opportunities like other human beings. From the result section of the project papers, it is found that the significant benefits of Occupational Therapy services in the aspects of vocational and instrumental activities of daily living.

Keywords: occupational therapy, daily living activities, intellectual disabilities, instrumental ADL

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Authors: Bushra Alghamdi, Alla Alsharif, Hamzah Aljohani, Saba Kassim

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Introduction: Collaborative work has always been acknowledged as a fundamental concept in delivering oral health care. Aim: This study aimed to assess the perception and attitude of pharmacists in oral health promotion and to determine the confident levels of pharmacists in delivering advice on oral health problems. Methods: An observational cross-sectional survey, using self-administered anonymous questionnaires, was conducted between March and April 2017. The study recruited a convenience sample of registered community pharmacists who were working in local private pharmaceutical stores in the urban area of Madinah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). A preliminary descriptive analysis was performed. Results: Thirty-five pharmacists have completed the surveys. All participants were males, with a mean age of 35.5 ( ± 6.92) years. Eighty-six percent of the participants reported that pharmacists should have a role in oral health promotion. Eighty percent have reported adequate level of confident when giving advice on most of the common oral health problems that include; oral health related risk behaviors such as tobacco cessation (46%), bleeding gums (63%) and sensitive teeth (60%). However, higher percentages of pharmacists have reported low confident levels when giving advice in relation to specific domain of dentistry, such as lost dental fillings (57%), loose crowns (60%), trauma to teeth (40%), denture-related problems (51%) and oral cancer (6.9%). Conclusion: Community pharmacists recognized their potential role in promoting oral health in KSA. Community pharmacists had varying levels of ability and confidence to offer support for oral health. The study highlighted that inner professional collaboration between pharmacists and dental care healthcare should be enhanced.

Keywords: community, oral health, promotion, pharmacist

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Authors: Riyona Chetty, Raisuyah Bhagwan, Nalini Govender

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Background: A myriad of physical, psychosocial, and environmental sequelae are associated with limb loss. However, there is a paucity of empirical South African data, which focuses on these sequelae, how they interface with the amputee’s quality of life as well as the challenges they experience following amputation. Objective: This study sought to explore the biopsychosocial effects of amputation and how amputation affected the quality of life of transtibial amputees. Setting: Participants were recruited from a medical facility, under the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Health in South Africa. Methods: A qualitative approach guided this study. Data was collected using one-on-one interviews with 14 unilateral transtibial amputees. Data was analysed thematically. Results: Five broad themes emerged from the inquiry, which captured amputees’ experiences of phantom limb pain, body image disturbances, and their challenges related to adapting to daily activities. Participants also expressed the salience of familial support as well as the importance of psychological interventions to cope. Conclusion: The findings suggested that support networks and professional psychological intervention are imperative in facilitating successful adjustment to the amputation experience. Raising awareness of limb loss in both, rural and urban settings may help reduce the stigma attached to it. Contribution: Quality of life comprises several domains, namely physical, psychological, environmental, and social albeit limited local and international data exists regarding the environmental and social effects. This study brought to the fore the positive and negative effects of amputation in each domain, as well as various strategies that facilitate successful adjustment to amputation.

Keywords: amputation, quality of life, biopsychosocial, phantom limb pain, body image, support

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Authors: Shahryar Eslamitabar

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Currently, the internet plays an important role in the various scientific, commercial and service practices. Thanks to information and communication technology, the healthcare industry via the internet, generally known as cyber-medicine, can offer professional medical service in a wider geographical area. Having some appealing benefits such as convenience in offering healthcare services, improved accessibility to the services, enhanced information exchange, cost-effectiveness, time-saving, etc. Tele-health has increasingly developed innovative models of healthcare delivery. However, it presents many potential hazards to cyber-patients, inherent in the use of the system. First, there are legal issues associated with the communication and transfer of information on the internet. These include licensure, malpractice, liabilities and jurisdictions as well as privacy, confidentiality and security of personal data as the most important challenge brought about by this system. Additional items of concern are technological and ethical. Although, there are some rules to deal with pitfalls associated with cyber-medicine practices in the USA and some European countries, yet for all developments, it is being practiced in a legal vacuum in many countries. In addition to the domestic legislations to deal with potential problems arisen from the system, it is also imperative that some international or regional agreement should be developed to achieve the harmonization of laws among countries and states. This article discusses some implications posed by the practice of cyber-medicine in the healthcare system according to the experience of some developed countries using a comparative study of laws. It will also review the status of tele-health laws in Iran. Finally, it is intended to pave the way to outline a plan for countries like Iran, with newly-established judicial system for health laws, to develop appropriate regulations through providing some recommendations.

Keywords: tele-health, cyber-medicine, telemedicine, criminal laws, legislations, time-saving

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Authors: Lisete Barlach, Guilherme Ary Plonski

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Innovative ideas are not always synonymous with business opportunities. Any idea can be creative and not recognized as a potential project in which money and time will be invested, among other resources. Even in firms that promote and enhance innovation, there are two 'check-points', the first corresponding to the acknowledgment of the idea as creative and the second, its consideration as a business opportunity. Both the recognition of new business opportunities or new ideas involve cognitive and psychological frameworks which provide individuals with a basis for noticing connections between seemingly independent events or trends as if they were 'connecting the dots'. It also involves prototypes-representing the most typical member of a certain category–functioning as 'templates' for this recognition. There is a general assumption that these kinds of evaluation processes develop through experience, explaining why expertise plays a central role in this process: the more experienced a professional, the easier for him (her) to identify new opportunities in business. But, paradoxically, an increase in expertise can lead to the inflexibility of thought due to automation of procedures. And, besides this, other cognitive biases can also be present, because new ideas or business opportunities generally depend on heuristics, rather than on established algorithms. The paper presents a literature review about the Einstellung effect by tracking famous cases of rejected ideas, extracted from historical records. It also presents the results of empirical research, with data upon rejected ideas gathered from two different environments: projects rejected during first semester of 2017 at a large incubator center in Sao Paulo and ideas proposed by employees that were rejected by a well-known business company, at its Brazilian headquarter. There is an implicit assumption that Einstellung effect tends to be more and more present in contemporaneity, due to time pressure upon decision-making and idea generation process. The analysis discusses desirability, viability, and feasibility as elements that affect decision-making.

Keywords: cognitive biases, Einstellung effect, recognition of business opportunities, rejected ideas

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Authors: Deepa Shokeen, Bani Tamber Aeri

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Non-communicable diseases in general and cardiovascular diseases (CVD) in particular are a big cause of concern worldwide especially in fast growing economy like India. CVD is one of the leading causes of deaths in India. Risk factors for cardiovascular disease are now significant in all populations. At least one-third of all CVD is attributable to five risk factors: tobacco use, alcohol use, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and obesity. Methods: This article aspires to collate data gathered by relevant studies conducted after year 2000 and provide an overview of the prevalence of CVD in India and worldwide. Results: Studies show an increased prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors in India as compared to other developing and developed countries with recent trends showing incidence in younger age group. It is seen to affect almost all sections of the society from young to old and most affluent to least affluent. High blood pressure, high cholesterol, tobacco and alcohol use, as well as low vegetable and fruit intake, already figure among the top risk factors. Conclusion: The prevalence of risk factors associated with CVD has increased and will keep on increasing in India as indicated by studies in the last decade and as predicted by the projections for future estimates. Some major risks are modifiable in that they can be prevented, treated, and controlled. There are considerable health benefits at all ages, for both men and women, in stopping smoking, reducing cholesterol and blood pressure, eating a healthy diet and increasing physical activity.

Keywords: prevalence, cardiovascular disease, India, risk factors

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Authors: Marchant Van Der Schyff

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South Africa remains one of the most dangerous places for women – lesbians in particular – to live freely and safely, where a culture of patriarchy and a lack of socio-economic opportunity are ubiquitous throughout its communities. While the Internet has given a wider platform to provide insights to issues plaguing lesbians, very little information exists regarding the elements used in the construction of these online reports. This is not only due to the lack of language required to contextualise lesbian issues, but also persistent institutional and societal homophobia. This article describes the technical frames used in the online news reporting of four case studies of ‘queercide’. Through using a thematic coding sheet, data was collected from 70 online articles purposively selected based on priori population characteristics. The study found technical elements, such as the length of online reports, credible sources used, ‘code driven’-, and ‘user driven’ elements which were identified in the coded online articles. From the conclusions some clear trends emerged enabling the construction of a Venn-type diagram which present insights to how the murder of lesbians (referred to as ‘queercide’ in the article) is being reported on by online news media compared to the contemporary theoretical discussions on how these cases should be reported on.

Keywords: journalism, lesbian murder, queercide, technical frames, reporting, online

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Authors: Lulu Liao, Huijing Chen, Yinan Zhao, Hongting Ning, Hui Feng

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Urinary tract infection rate is an important index of care quality in nursing homes. The aim of the study is to understand the nursing assistant's current knowledge and attitudes of urinary incontinence and to explore related stakeholders' viewpoint about urinary incontinence training. This explanatory sequential study used Knowledge, Practice, and Attitude Model (KAP) and Adult Learning Theories, as the conceptual framework. The researchers collected data from 509 nursing assistants in sixteen nursing homes in Hunan province in China. The questionnaire survey was to assess the knowledge and attitude of urinary incontinence of nursing assistants. On the basis of quantitative research and combined with focus group, training demands were identified, which nurse managers should adopt to improve nursing assistants’ professional practice ability in urinary incontinence. Most nursing assistants held the poor knowledge (14.0 ± 4.18) but had positive attitudes (35.5 ± 3.19) toward urinary incontinence. There was a significant positive correlation between urinary incontinence knowledge and nursing assistants' year of work and educational level, urinary incontinence attitude, and education level (p < 0.001). Despite a general awareness of the importance of prevention of urinary tract infections, not all nurse managers fully valued the training in urinary incontinence compared with daily care training. And the nursing assistants required simple education resources to equip them with skills to address problem about urinary incontinence. The variety of learning methods also highlighted the need for educational materials, and nursing assistants had shown a strong interest in online learning. Related education material should be developed to meet the learning need of nurse assistants and provide suitable training method for planned quality improvement in urinary incontinence.

Keywords: mixed methods, nursing assistants, nursing homes, urinary incontinence

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Authors: C. Mothobiso, D. Root

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Purpose: This study attempts to identify the clients’ main priorities when delivering green projects. The aim is to compare if the clients have the same interest that are similar in delivery of convectional buildings as compared to green buildings. The main purpose is to find why other clients are investing in green buildings while others are reluctant and adopting green building at a slow pace. Design/methodology/approach: A sample of construction professional accredited by the Green Building Council of South Africa (GBCSA) was sent a questionnaire to participate in the research. Since GBSCSA accredited professionals have knowledge and experience about the green buildings, they are chosen as the sample. The research is qualitative because it evaluates the perceptions and knowledge around the subject matter. Research limitations: The research focuses only on the South African construction clients. Findings: Findings reveal that private clients invest more on green buildings as compared to government and parastatal entities. Private clients prioritise on maximising returns on investments and they mainly invest on buildings that save energies and have low life cycle costs. Private clients are perceived to be more knowledgeable about the benefits of green building project as compared to government and Parastatals clients. Shortage of expertise and managerial skill leads to low adaptation of green buildings in the government and parastatal projects. Other factors, which seem to disintegrate the adoption of green buildings, are the readiness of supply chain within the industry and inappropriate procurements strategies adopted by clients. The evaluation of the clients’ priorities will enable the design team to come up with innovative ways to approach the design process so that clients’ priorities and needs are identified and met. Practical implications: The findings are indicating that clients’ needs and priorities have a huge impact on the delivery of the project in terms of time, quality and cost of the project.

Keywords: construction clients, design team, green construction and project deliver

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Authors: Pinhas Dannon, Aviv Weinstein

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Impulsivity is raising major interest clinically because it is associated with various clinical conditions such as delinquency, antisocial behavior, suicide attempts, aggression, and criminal activity. The evolutionary perspective argued that impulsivity relates to self-regulation and it has predicted that female individuals should have evolved a greater ability to inhibit pre-potent responses. There is supportive evidence showing that female individuals have better performance on cognitive tasks measuring impulsivity such as delay in gratification and delayed discounting mainly in childhood. During adolescence, brain imaging studies using diffusion tensor imaging on white matter architecture indicated contrary to the evolutionary perspective hypothesis, that young adolescent male individuals may be less vulnerable than age-matched female individuals to risk- and reward- related maladaptive behaviors. In adults, the results are mixed presumably owing to hormonal effects on neuro-biological mechanisms of reward. Consequently, female individuals were less impulsive than male individuals only during fertile stages of the menstrual cycle. Finally, there is evidence the serotonin (5-HT) system is more involved in the impulsivity of men than in that of women. Overall, there seem to be sex differences in impulsivity but these differences are more pronounced in childhood and they are later subject to maturational and hormonal changes during adolescence and adulthood and their effects on the brain, cognition, and behavior.

Keywords: impulse control, male population, female population, gender differences, reward, neurocognitive tests

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Authors: Pooja Rawat, Rakhi Tyagi

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Globally, almost 3 billion people rely on biomass (wood, charcoal, dung and crop residues) and coal as their primary source of domestic energy. Cooking and heating with solid fuels on open fire give rise to major pollutants. Women are primarily affected by these pollutants as they spend most of their time in the house. The WHO World Health Report 2002 estimates that indoor air pollution (IAP) is responsible for 2.7% of the loss of disability adjusted life years (DALYs) worldwide and 3.7% in high mortality developing countries. Indoor air pollution has the potential to not only impact health, but also impact the general economic well-being of the household. Exposure to high level of household pollution lead to acute and chronic respiratory conditions (e.g.: pneumonia, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, lung cancer and cataract). There has been many strategies for reducing IAP like subsidize cleaner fuel technologies, for example use of kerosene rather than traditional biomass fuels. Another example is development, promotion of 'improved cooking stoves'. India, likely ranks second- distributing over 12 million improved stoves in the first seven years of a national program to develop. IAP should be reduced by understanding the welfare effects of reducing IAP within households and to understanding the most cost effective way to reduce it.

Keywords: open fire, indoor pollution, lung diseases, indoor air pollution

Procedia PDF Downloads 284

Authors: Parmeet Kaur, Nighat Yaseen Sofi, Shakti Kumar Gupta, Veena Pandey, Rajvaedhan Azad

Abstract:

Nutritional status and prevailing blood glucose level trends amongst hospitalized patients has been linked to clinical outcome. Therefore, the present study was undertaken to assess hospitalized Diabetic Eye Disease (DED) patients' anthropometric and dietary intake trends. DED patients with type 1 or 2 diabetes > 20 years were enrolled. Actual food intake was determined by weighed food record method. Mifflin St Joer predictive equation multiplied by a combined stress and activity factor of 1.3 was applied to estimate caloric needs. A questionnaire was further administered to obtain reasons of inadequate dietary intake. Results indicated validity of joint analyses of body mass index in combination with waist circumference for clinical risk prediction. Dietary data showed a significant difference (p < 0.0005) between average daily caloric and carbohydrate intake and actual daily caloric and carbohydrate needs. Mean fasting and post-prandial plasma glucose levels were 150.71 ± 72.200 mg/dL and 219.76 ± 97.365 mg/dL, respectively. Improvement in food delivery systems and nutrition educations were indicated for reducing plate waste and to enable better understanding of dietary aspects of diabetes management. A team approach of nurses, physicians and other health care providers is required besides the expertise of dietetics professional. To conclude, findings of the present study will be useful in planning nutritional care process (NCP) for optimizing glucose control as a component of quality medical nutrition therapy (MNT) in hospitalized DED patients.

Keywords: nutritional status, diabetic eye disease, nutrition care process, medical nutrition therapy

Procedia PDF Downloads 341

Authors: Alireza Taghdiri, Sara Ghanbarzade Ghomi

Abstract:

Existing buildings are permanently subjected to change, continuously renovated and repaired in their long service life. Old buildings are destroyed and their material and components are recycled or reused for constructing new ones. In this process, importance of sustainability principles for building construction is obviously known and great significance must be attached to consumption of resources, resulting effects on the environment and economic costs. Utilization strategies for extending buildings service life and delay in destroying have positive effect on environment protection. In addition, simpler alterability or expandability of buildings’ structures and reducing energy and natural resources consumption have benefits for users, producers and environment. To solve these problems, by applying theories of open building, structural components of some conventional building systems have been analyzed and then, a new geometry adaptive building system is developed which can transform and support different imposed loads. In order to achieve this goal, various research methods and tools such as professional and scientific literatures review, comparative analysis, case study and computer simulation were applied and data interpretation was implemented using descriptive statistics and logical arguments. Therefore, hypothesis and proposed strategies were evaluated and an adaptable and reusable 2-dimensional building system was presented which can respond appropriately to dwellers and end-users needs and provide reusability of structural components of building system in new construction or function. Investigations showed that this incremental building system can be successfully applied in achieving the architectural design objectives and by small modifications on components and joints, it is easy to obtain different and adaptable load-optimized component alternatives for flexible spaces.

Keywords: adaptability, durability, open building, service life, structural building system

Procedia PDF Downloads 562

Authors: Selina Schwaabe

Abstract:

Community pharmacies deliver high-quality health care and are responsible for medication safety. During the pandemic, accessibility to the nearest pharmacy became more essential to get vaccinated against Covid-19 and to get medical aid. The government's goal is to ensure nationwide, reachable, and affordable medical health care services by pharmacies. Therefore, the density of community pharmacies matters. Overall, the density of community pharmacies is fluctuating, with slightly decreasing tendencies in some countries. So far, the literature has shown that changes in the system affect prices and density. However, a European overview of the development of the density of community pharmacies and its triggers is still missing. This research is essential to counteract against decreasing density consulting in a lack of professional health care through pharmacies. The analysis focuses on liberal versus regulated market structures, mail-order prescription drug regulation, and third-party ownership consequences. In a panel analysis, the relative influence of the measures is examined across 27 European countries over the last 21 years. In addition, the paper examines seven selected countries in depth, selected for the substantial variance in their pharmacy system: Germany, Austria, Portugal, Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Poland. Overall, the results show that regulated pharmacy markets have over 10.75 pharmacies/100.000 inhabitants more than liberal markets. Further, mail-order prescription drugs decrease the density by -17.98 pharmacies/100.000 inhabitants. Countries allowing third-party ownership have 7.67 pharmacies/100.000 inhabitants more. The results are statistically significant at a 0.001 level. The output of this analysis recommends regulated pharmacy markets, with a ban on mail-order prescription drugs allowing third-party ownership to support nationwide medical health care through community pharmacies.

Keywords: community pharmacy, market conditions, pharmacy, pharmacy market, pharmacy lobby, prescription, e-prescription, ownership structures

Procedia PDF Downloads 112

Authors: Alireza Taghdiri, Sara Ghanbarzade Ghomi

Abstract:

Existing buildings are permanently subjected to change, continuously renovated and repaired in their long service life. Old buildings are destroyed and their material and components are recycled or reused for constructing new ones. In this process, importance of sustainability principles for building construction is obviously known and great significance must be attached to consumption of resources, resulting effects on the environment and economic costs. Utilization strategies for extending buildings service life and delay in destroying have positive effect on environment protection. In addition, simpler alterability or expandability of buildings’ structures and reducing energy and natural resources consumption have benefits for users, producers and environment. To solve these problems, by applying theories of open building, structural components of some conventional building systems have been analyzed and then, a new geometry adaptive building system is developed which can transform and support different imposed loads. In order to achieve this goal, various research methods and tools such as professional and scientific literatures review, comparative analysis, case study and computer simulation were applied and data interpretation was implemented using descriptive statistics and logical arguments. Therefore, hypothesis and proposed strategies were evaluated and an adaptable and reusable 2-dimensional building system was presented which can respond appropriately to dwellers and end-users needs and provide reusability of structural components of building system in new construction or function. Investigations showed that this incremental building system can be successfully applied in achieving the architectural design objectives and by small modifications on components and joints, it is easy to obtain different and adaptable load-optimized component alternatives for flexible spaces.

Keywords: adaptability, durability, open building, service life, structural building system

Procedia PDF Downloads 347

Authors: Candela Contero Urgal

Abstract:

Using realia to teach English for Specific Purposes (ESP) is a must, as it is thought to be designed to meet the students’ real needs in their professional life. Teachers are then expected to offer authentic materials and set students in authentic contexts where their learning outcomes can be highly meaningful. One way of engaging students is using social networks as a way to bridge the gap between their everyday life and their ESP learning outcomes. It is in ESP, particularly in Business English teaching, that our study focuses, as the ongoing process of digitalization is leading firms to use social media to communicate with potential clients. The present paper is aimed at carrying out a case study in which different digital tools are employed as a way to offer a collection of formats businesses are currently using so as to internationalize and advertise their products and services. A secondary objective of our study will then be to progress on the development of multidisciplinary competencies students are to acquire during their degree. A two-phased study will be presented. The first phase will cover the analysis of course tasks accomplished by undergraduate students at the University of Cadiz (Spain) in their third year of the Degree in Business Management and Administration by comparing the results obtained during the years 2019 to 2021. The second part of our study will present a survey conducted to these students in 2021 and 2022 so as to verify their interest in learning new ways to digitalize as well as internationalize their future businesses. Findings will confirm students’ interest in working with updated realia in their Business English lessons, as a consequence of their strong belief in the necessity to have authentic contexts and didactic resources. Despite the limitations social media can have as a means to teach business English, students will still find it highly beneficial since it will foster their familiarisation with the digital tools they will need to use when they get to the labour market.

Keywords: English for specific purposes, business English, internationalization of higher education, foreign language teaching

Procedia PDF Downloads 97

Authors: Renee Fabian, Jordan Davidson

Abstract:

Current research on non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) provides ample insights on best practices for caregivers and clinicians to address and reduce NSSI behavior among adolescents. However, the efficacy of evidenced-based NSSI interventions and their delivery from the perspective of adolescent patients does not receive significant attention, creating a gap between the efficacy of research-based NSSI interventions and adolescent perceptions of NSSI treatment and adolescent willingness to engage in NSSI interventions. To address the gap between practice and patient perspectives and inform more effective treatment outcomes, the current survey aims to identify major patient-reported adverse reactions to NSSI disclosures from caregivers, treating mental health clinicians, and medical professionals using a mixed methods survey of 2,500 people with a history of NSSI completed by editors at a consumer-facing health publication. Based on the analyzed results of the survey, a majority of adolescents with a history of NSSI found parents and caregivers ineffective at empathetically addressing NSSI, and a significant number of participants reported at least one treating mental health professional inadequately responded to NSSI behaviors, in addition to other findings of adverse reactions to NSSI disclosures that serve as a barrier to treatment. NSSI is a significant risk factor for future suicide attempts. Addressing patient-reported adverse reactions to NSSI disclosures in the adolescent population can remove barriers to the effectiveness of caregiver and clinician NSSI interventions and reduce the risk of NSSI-related harm and lower the risk of future suicide attempts or completions.

Keywords: adolescent self-injury, non-suicidal self-injury, patient perspectives, self-harm interventions

Procedia PDF Downloads 95

Authors: To Que Nga

Abstract:

College-bound males may experience considerable maladjustment during the crucial developmental time between high school and college. By participating in stereotypically male actions, men may feel under pressure to "prove" their masculinity, which may be harmful to their general well-being. Although adherence to multidimensional male standards has been linked to worse mental health, no research has considered the impact of these norms on college men's potential depressive symptoms. A viable theoretical framework to explain within-group variation in depression symptomatology can be provided by longitudinally examining college men's adherence to multidimensional masculine standards. An overview of recent studies on the connection between masculine norms and depression among Vietnamese men in college is given in this article. 208 males from different Hanoi colleges were included in the study. Male norms were evaluated at the start of their first semester. Six months following the initial round of data collection, depressive symptomatology was evaluated. Men who approved the male norms of Self-Reliance, Playboy, and Power Over Women showed a positive relationship between masculine norms and depression scores. The impact of multidimensional masculine norms on college men's depressive symptomatology was first examined in this study. The findings imply that professionals who interact with males should think about determining whether their clients conform to particular masculine standards and investigating how these could be affecting their present mental health.

Keywords: masculinity, conformity to masculinity, depression, psycho-social issues, men, college

Procedia PDF Downloads 51

Authors: Maurizio E. Picarella, Ludovica Fumelli, Francesca Siligato, Andrea Mazzucato

Abstract:

Studies on reproductive dynamics in crops subjected to heat stress are crucial to breed more tolerant cultivars. In tomato, cultivars, breeding lines, and wild species have been thoroughly evaluated for the response to heat stress in several studies. Here, we address the reaction to temperature stress in a panel of selected landraces representing genotypes cultivated before the advent of professional varieties that usually show high adaptation to local environments. We adopted an experimental design with two open field trials, where transplanting was spaced by one month. In the second field, plants were thus subjected to mild stress with natural temperature fluctuations. The genotypes showed wide variation for both vegetative (plant height) and reproductive (stigma exsertion, pollen viability, number of flowers per inflorescence, and fruit set) traits. On average, all traits were affected by heat conditions; except for the number of flowers per inflorescence, the “G*E” interaction was always significant. In agreement with studies based on different materials, estimated broad sense heritability was high for plant height, stigma exsertion, and pollen viability and low for the number of flowers per inflorescence and fruit set. Despite the interaction, traits recorded in control and in heat conditions were positively correlated. The first two principal components estimated by multivariate analysis explained more than 50% of the total variability. The study indicated that landraces present a wide variability for the response of reproductive traits to temperature stress and that such variability could be very informative to dissect the traits with higher heritability and identify new QTL useful for breeding more resilient varieties.

Keywords: fruit set, heat stress, solanum lycopersicum L., style exsertion, tomato

Procedia PDF Downloads 118