Search results for: public relations activities

Authors: Rati Sandeep Choudhari

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Mobility flows are considered one of the most important elements of urbanisation, with transport infrastructure serving as a backbone of urban fabrics. Although rapid urbanisation and changing land use patterns have led to an increase in urban mobility levels around the globe, mobility, in general, has become an unpleasant experience for city dwellers, making locations around the city inconvenient to access. With public transport featured in almost every sustainable mobility plan in developing countries, the intermodality and integration with appropriate non–motorised transport infrastructure is often neglected. As a result, people choose to use private cars and two-wheelers to travel, rendering public transit systems underutilised, and encroaching onto pedestrian space on streets, thus making urban mobility unsafe and inconvenient for a major section of society. On the other hand, cities in the West, especially in Europe, depend heavily on inter–modal transit systems, allowing people to shift between metros, buses, trams, walking, and cycling to access even the remote locations of the city. Keeping accessibility as the focal point while designing urban mobility plans and policies, these cities have appropriately refined their urban form, optimised urban densities, developed a multimodal transit system, and adopted place-making strategies to foster a sense of place, thus, improving the quality of urban mobility experience in cities. Using a qualitative research approach, the research looks in detail into the existing literature on what kind of strategies can be applied to improve the urban mobility experience for city dwellers. It further studies and draws out a comparative analysis of cities in both developed and developing parts of the world where these strategies have been used to create people-centric mobility systems, fostering a sense of place with respect to urban mobility and how these strategies affected their social, economic, and environmental dynamics. The examples reflect on how different strategies like redefining land use patterns to form close knit neighbourhoods, development of non – motorise transit systems, and their integration with public transport infrastructure and place-making approach has helped in enhancing the quality and experience of mobility infrastructure in cities. The research finally concludes by laying out strategies that can be adopted by cities of the Global South to develop future mobility systems in a people-centric and sustainable way.

Keywords: urban mobility, sustainable transport, strategic planning, people-centric approach

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Authors: Omar bin Mihat

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The number of sudden deaths is increasing over the past years. These deaths occur not during physical activities but upon cessation. Post-mortem confirms these deaths as cardiac arrest non-specifically. Congenital heart disease is a condition undiagnosed whereby only surface upon physical exertion leading to sudden death is unavoidable. Channelopathy, a condition that refers to any disease from the defect in iron-channel function, particularly the sodium-potassium pump, during the cessation of the exercise can be controlled. The derivation of heart rate return (HRrtn) is a procedure of a control cooling down process according to the heart rate (HR). Empirically, potassium rises linearly with intensity and falls sharply upon abrupt cessation of exertion, resulting in fatal arrhythmia due to hypokalaemia. It is vital that the flux of potassium should be maintained within the normal range during physical activities. To achieve this, the dosage of physical exertion (exercise) should be identified. Various percentages of the intensity of maximum heart rate (MHR) will precipitate different adaptations and remodeling of various organs. 70% of MHR will surface physiological adaptations, including enhancement of endurance, fitness level, and general health, and there was no significant rise of serum potassium (K+) during the entire phase of the treadmill brisk walk at a different rate of perceived exertion (RPE) from the subject of various fitness background. There was also no significant rise in blood pressure (BP) during the entire phase of the treadmill brisk walk, substantiating 70% MHR is the safe dosage across different parameters of health and fitness level.

Keywords: potassium, maximal heart rate, exercise dosage, fitness level

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Authors: Sara Matsuzaka

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At the center of emerging policy debates on the rights of transgender individuals in public accommodations is the collision of gender binary views with transgender perspectives that challenge conventional gender norms. The results of such socio-political debates could have significant ramifications for the policies and infrastructures of public and private institutions nationwide, including within the addiction treatment field. Despite having disproportionately high rates of substance use disorder compared to the general population, transgender individuals experience significant barriers to engaging in addiction treatment programs. Inpatient addiction treatment centers were originally designed to treat heterosexual cisgender populations and, as such, feature gender segregated housing, bathrooms, and counseling sessions. Such heteronormative structural barriers, combined with exposures to stigmatic al attitudes, may dissuade transgender populations from benefiting from the addiction treatment they so direly need. A literature review is performed to explore the mechanisms by which gender segregation alienates transgender populations within inpatient addiction treatment. The constituent parts of the current debate on the rights of transgender individuals in public accommodations are situated the context of inpatient addiction treatment facilities. Minority Stress Theory is used as a theoretical framework for understanding substance abuse issues among transgender populations as a maladaptive behavioral response for coping with chronic stressors related to gender minority status and intersecting identities. The findings include that despite having disproportionately high rates of substance use disorder compared to the general population, transgender individuals experience significant barriers to engaging in and benefiting from addiction treatment. These barriers are present in the form of anticipated or real interpersonal stigma and discrimination by service providers and structural stigma in the form of policy and programmatic components in addiction treatment that marginalize transgender populations. Transphobic manifestations within addiction treatment may dissuade transgender individuals from seeking help, if not reinforce a lifetime of stigmatic experience, potentially exacerbating their substance use issues. Conclusive recommendations for social workers and addiction treatment professionals include: (1) dismantling institutional policies around gender segregation that alienate transgender individuals, (2) developing policies that provide full protections for transgender clients against discrimination based on their gender identity, and (3) implementing trans-affirmative cultural competency training requirements for all staff. Directions for future research are provided.

Keywords: addiction treatment, gender segregation, stigma, transgender

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Authors: Rebekah Granger Ellis, Richard B. Speaker, Pat Austin

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This study used two psychological scales to examine the level of social and emotional intelligence and moral judgment of over 500 gifted and talented high school students in various academic and creative arts programs in a large metropolitan area in the southeastern United States. For decades, numerous models and programs purporting to encourage socio-affective characteristics of adolescent development have been explored in curriculum theory and design. Socio-affective merges social, emotional, and moral domains. It encompasses interpersonal relations and social behaviors; development and regulation of emotions; personal and gender identity construction; empathy development; moral development, thinking, and judgment. Examining development in these socio-affective domains can provide insight into why some gifted and talented adolescents are not successful in adulthood despite advanced IQ scores. Particularly whether nonintellectual characteristics of gifted and talented individuals, such as emotional, social and moral capabilities, are as advanced as their intellectual abilities and how these are related to each other. Unique characteristics distinguish gifted and talented individuals; these may appear as strengths, but there is the potential for problems to accompany them. Although many thrive in their school environments, some gifted students struggle rather than flourish. In the socio-affective domain, these adolescents face special intrapersonal, interpersonal, and environmental problems. Gifted individuals’ cognitive, psychological, and emotional development occurs asynchronously, in multidimensional layers at different rates and unevenly across ability levels. Therefore, it is important to examine the long-term effects of participation in various gifted and talented programs on the socio-affective development of gifted and talented adolescents. This quasi-experimental longitudinal study examined students in several gifted and talented education programs (creative arts school, urban charter schools, and suburban public schools) for (1) socio-affective development level and (2) whether a particular gifted and talented program encourages developmental growth. The following research questions guided the study: (1) How do academically and artistically talented gifted 10th and 11th grade students perform on psychometric scales of social and emotional intelligence and moral judgment? Do they differ from their age or grade normative sample? Are their gender differences among gifted students? (2) Does school environment impact 10th and 11th grade gifted and talented students’ socio-affective development? Do gifted adolescents who participate in a particular school gifted program differ in their developmental profiles of social and emotional intelligence and moral judgment? Students’ performances on psychometric instruments were compared over time and by type of program. Participants took pre-, mid-, and post-tests over the course of an academic school year with Defining Issues Test (DIT-2) assessing moral judgment and BarOn EQ-I: YV assessing social and emotional intelligence. Based on these assessments, quantitative differences in growth on psychological scales (individual and school) were examined. Change scores between schools were also compared. If a school showed change, artifacts (culture, curricula, instructional methodology) provided insight as to environmental qualities that produced this difference.

Keywords: gifted and talented education, moral development, socio-affective development, socio-affective education

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Authors: E. Dehghan, R. Dehghan

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Generally, the slender structural walls have flexural behavior. Since behavior of bending members can be explained by moment–curvature relation, therefore, an analytical model is proposed based on moment–curvature relation for slender structural walls. The moment–curvature relationships of RC sections are constructed through section analysis. Governing equations describing the bond-slip behavior in walls are derived and applied to moment–curvature relations. For the purpose of removing the imprecision in analytical results, the plastic hinge length is included in the finite element modeling. Finally, correlation studies between analytical and experimental results are conducted with the objective to establish the validity of the proposed algorithms. The results show that bond-slip effect is more significant in walls subjected to larger axial compression load. Moreover, preferable results are obtained when ultimate strain of concrete is assumed conservatively.

Keywords: nonlinear analysis, slender structural walls, moment-curvature relation, bond-slip, plastic hinge length

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Authors: Helena Costa Oliveira, Carmem Oliveira, Rita Moutinho

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The Balanced Scorecard (BSC) is a continuous strategic monitoring model focused not only on financial issues but also on internal processes, patients/users, and learning and growth. Initially dedicated to business management, it currently serves organizations of other natures - such as hospitals. This paper presents a BSC designed for a Portuguese Acute Pain Unit (APU). This study is qualitative and based on the experience of collaborators at the APU. The management of APU is based on four perspectives – users, internal processes, learning and growth, and financial and legal. For each perspective, there were identified strategic objectives, critical factors, lead indicators and initiatives. The strategic map of the APU outlining sustained strategic relations among strategic objectives. This study contributes to the development of research in the health management area as it explores how organizational insufficiencies and inconsistencies in this particular case can be addressed, through the identification of critical factors, to clearly establish core outcomes and initiatives to set up.

Keywords: acute pain unit, balanced scorecard, hospital management, organizational performance, Portugal

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Authors: Boikanyego Sebina

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The present study investigates the effects of socioeconomic status (SES) and bilingualism on the Setswana speech rhythm of Batswana (citizens) children aged 6-7 years with typical development born and residing in Botswana. Botswana is a country in which there is a diglossic Setswana/English language setting, where English is the dominant high-status language in educational and public contexts. Generally, children from low SES have lower linguistic and cognitive profiles than their age-matched peers from high SES. A greater understanding of these variables would allow educators to distinguish between underdeveloped language skills in children due to impairment and environmental issues for them to successfully enroll children in language development enhancement programs specific to the child’s needs. There are 20 participants: 10 high SES private English-medium educated early sequential Setswana-English bilingual children, taught full-time in English (L2) from the age of 3 years, and for whom English has become dominant; and 10 low SES children who are educated in public schools for whom English is considered a learner language, i.e., L1 Setswana is dominant. The aim is to see whether SES and bilingualism, have had an effect on the Setswana speech rhythm of children in either group. The study primarily uses semi-spontaneous speech based on the telling of the wordless picture storybook. A questionnaire is used to elicit the language use pattern of the children and that of their parents, as well as the education level of the parents and the school the children attend. A comparison of the rhythm shows that children from high SES have a lower durational variability than those from low SES. The findings of the study are that the low durational variability by children from high SES may suggest an underdeveloped rhythm. In conclusion, the results of the present study are against the notion that children from high SES outperform those from low SES in linguistic development.

Keywords: bilingualism, Setswana English, socio-economic status, speech-rhythm

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Authors: Priscilla Adoley Moffat

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One common element of African cultures is gender role socialization. This is a significant component of African cultures because gender roles are considered in these cultures, to define males and females and distinguish males from females. Various studies have established the impact of gender role socialization on individuals, on activities of individuals, including business activities, and on society, in general. This study further examined the effect of gender role socialization on the marketing of gendered products. The study sought to establish whether gender role socialization affects marketing, particularly word-of-mouth marketing, of gender-specific products. For a comprehensive examination of the influence of gender role socialization on word-of-mouth marketing of gendered products, 2150 respondents (1075 males and 1075 females), comprising 550 students of Marketing from various Ghanaian universities/colleges and 1600 other individuals (100 from each of the 16 regions of Ghana, representing the various cultures) were randomly sampled and interviewed. The study found that females are more willing to market male products than males when tasked to market female products. Also, females are more efficient in marketing male products than males in marketing female products. Again, most female audiences feel uncomfortable or embarrassed and are less receptive when approached by a male marketer of female products. Then, the study found that the fear of stigmatization is a major influencer of males’ negative attitude towards marketing of female products and that female marketers of male products, however, suffer less or no stigma. Aside from its addition to the literature on the impact of gender role socialization on marketing and, for that matter, the influence of socialization on marketing, the findings of the study are useful to multinational companies, which become better informed in their strategy when assigning marketing roles, especially in Africa.

Keywords: gender, socialization, marketing, gendered, role, Ghana

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Authors: John Zanetich

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Designing an educational activity that encourages inquiry and collaboration is key to engaging students in meaningful learning. Educational Information and Communications Technology (EICT) plays an important role in facilitating cooperative and collaborative learning in the classroom. The EICT also facilitates students’ learning and development of the critical thinking skills needed to solve real world problems. Projects and activities based on constructivism encourage students to embrace complexity as well as find relevance and joy in their learning. It also enhances the students’ capacity for creative and responsible real-world problem solving. Classroom activities based on constructivism offer students an opportunity to develop the higher–order-thinking skills of defining problems and identifying solutions. Participating in a classroom project is an activity for both acquiring experiential knowledge and applying new knowledge to practical situations. It also provides an opportunity for students to integrate new knowledge into a skill set using reflection. Classroom projects can be developed around a variety of learning objects including social media, knowledge management and learning communities. The construction of meaning through project-based learning is an approach that encourages interaction and problem-solving activities. Projects require active participation, collaboration and interaction to reach the agreed upon outcomes. Projects also serve to externalize the invisible cognitive and social processes taking place in the activity itself and in the student experience. This paper describes a classroom project designed to elicit interactions by helping students to unfreeze existing knowledge, to create new learning experiences, and then refreeze the new knowledge. Since constructivists believe that students construct their own meaning through active engagement and participation as well as interactions with others. knowledge management can be used to guide the exchange of both tacit and explicit knowledge in interpersonal interactions between students and guide the construction of meaning. This paper uses an action research approach to the development of a classroom project and describes the use of technology, social media and the active use of tacit knowledge in the college classroom. In this project, a closed group Facebook page becomes the virtual classroom where interaction is captured and measured using engagement analytics. In the virtual learning community, the principles of knowledge management are used to identify the process and components of the infrastructure of the learning process. The project identifies class member interests and measures student engagement in a learning community by analyzing regular posting on the Facebook page. These posts are used to foster and encourage interactions, reflect a student’s interest and serve as reaction points from which viewers of the post convert the explicit information in the post to implicit knowledge. The data was collected over an academic year and was provided, in part, by the Google analytic reports on Facebook and self-reports of posts by members. The results support the use of active tacit knowledge activities, knowledge management and social media to enhance the student learning experience and help create the knowledge that will be used by students to construct meaning.

Keywords: constructivism, knowledge management, tacit knowledge, social media

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Authors: Naima Mohammadi

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The present paper critically reports on the emergency of Iranian international students in a large public university in Italy. Although the most sizeable diaspora of Iranians dates back to the 1979 revolution, a huge wave of Iranian female students travelled abroad after the Iranian Green Movement (2009) due to the intensification of gender discrimination and Islamization. To explore the experience of Iranian female students at an Italian public university, two complementary methods were adopted: a focus group and individual interviews. Focus groups yield detailed collective conversations and provide researchers with an opportunity to observe the interaction between participants, rather than between participant and researcher, which generates data. Semi-structured interviews allow participants to share their stories in their own words and speak about personal experiences and opinions. Research participants were invited to participate through a public call in a Telegram group of Iranian students. Theoretical and purposive sampling was applied to select participants. All participants were assured that full anonymity would be ensured and they consented to take part in the research. A two-hour focus group was held in English with participants in the presence and some online. They were asked to share their motivations for studying in Italy and talk about their experiences both within and outside the university context. Each of these interviews lasted from 45 to 60 minutes and was mostly carried out online and in Farsi. The focus group consisted of 8 Iranian female post-graduate students. In analyzing the data a blended approach was adopted, with a combination of deductive and inductive coding. According to research findings, although 9/11 was the beginning of the West’s challenges against Muslims, the nuclear threats of Islamic regimes promoted the toughest international sanctions against Iranians as a nation across the world. Accordingly, carrying an Iranian identity contributes to social, political, and economic exclusion. Research findings show that geopolitical factors such as international sanctions and Islamophobia, and a lack of reciprocity in terms of recognition, have created a sense of stigmatization for veiled and unveiled Iranian female students who are the largest groups of ‘non-European Muslim international students’ enrolled in Italian universities. Participants addressed how their nationality has devalued their public image and negatively impacted their self-confidence and self-realization in academia. They highlighted the experience of an unwelcoming atmosphere by different groups of people and institutes, such as receiving marked students’ badges, rejected bank account requests, failed visa processes, secondary security screening selection, and hyper-visibility of veiled students. This study corroborates the need for institutions to pay attention to geopolitical factors and religious diversity in student recruitment and provide support mechanisms and access to basic rights. Accordingly, it is suggested that Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) have a social and moral responsibility towards the discrimination and both social and academic exclusion of Iranian students.

Keywords: Iranian diaspora, female students, recognition theory, inclusive university

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Authors: Hanan F. Aly, Fateheya M. Metwally, Hanaa H. Ahmed

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The current study is undertaken to elucidate a possible neuroprotective role of dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) against the development of Alzheimer’s disease in experimental rat model. Alzheimer’s disease was produced in young female ovariectomized rats by intraperitoneal administration of AlCl3 (4.2 mg/kg body weight) daily for 12 weeks. Half of these animals also received orally DHEA (250 mg/kg body weight, three times weekly) for 18 weeks. Control groups of animals received either DHAE alone, or no DHEA, or were not ovariectomized. After such treatment the animals were analyzed for oxidative stress biomarkers such as hydrogen peroxide, nitric oxide and malondialdehyde, total antioxidant capacity, reduced glutathione, glutathione peroxidase, glutathione reductase, superoxide dismutase and catalase activities, antiapoptotic marker Bcl-2 and brain derived neurotrophic factor. Also, brain cholinergic markers (acetylcholinesterase and acetylcholine) were determined. The results revealed significant increase in oxidative stress parameters associated with significant decrease in the antioxidant enzyme activities in Al-intoxicated ovariectomized rats. Significant depletion in brain Bcl-2 and brain-derived neurotrophic factor levels were also detected. Moreover, significant elevations in brain acetylcholinesterase activity accompanied with significant reduction in acetylcholine level were recorded. Significant amelioration in all investigated parameters was detected as a result of treatment of Al-intoxicated ovariectomized rats with DHEA. These results were confirmed by histological examination of brain sections. These results clearly indicate a neuroprotective effect of DHEA against Alzheimer’s disease.

Keywords: Alzheimer’s disease, oxidative stress, apoptosis, dehydroepiandrosterone

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Authors: Bolawole F. Ogunbodede, Mokolade Johnson, Adetunji Adejumo

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High population growth rate, reactive infrastructure provision, inability of physical planning to cope with developmental pace are responsible for waste water crisis in the Lagos Metropolis. Septic tank is still the most prevalent waste-water holding system. Unfortunately, there is a dearth of septage treatment infrastructure. Public waste-water treatment system statistics relative to the 23 million people in Lagos State is worrisome. 1.85 billion Cubic meters of wastewater is generated on daily basis and only 5% of the 26 million population is connected to public sewerage system. This is compounded by inadequate budgetary allocation and erratic power supply in the last two decades. This paper explored community participatory waste-water management alternative at Oworonshoki Municipality in Lagos. The study is underpinned by decentralized Waste-water Management systems in built-up areas. The initiative accommodates 5 step waste-water issue including generation, storage, collection, processing and disposal through participatory decision making in two Oworonshoki Community Development Association (CDA) areas. Drone assisted mapping highlighted building footage. Structured interviews and focused group discussion of land lord associations in the CDA areas provided collaborator platform for decision-making. Water stagnation in primary open drainage channels and natural retention ponds in framing wetlands is traceable to frequent of climate change induced tidal influences in recent decades. Rise in water table resulting in septic-tank leakage and water pollution is reported to be responsible for the increase in the water born infirmities documented in primary health centers. This is in addition to unhealthy dumping of solid wastes in the drainage channels. The effect of uncontrolled disposal system renders surface waters and underground water systems unsafe for human and recreational use; destroys biotic life; and poisons the fragile sand barrier-lagoon urban ecosystems. Cluster decentralized system was conceptualized to service 255 households. Stakeholders agreed on public-private partnership initiative for efficient wastewater service delivery.

Keywords: health, infrastructure, management, septage, well-being

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Authors: Avigail Moor

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A decline in women’s sexual desire over the course of long-term relationships, relative to men’s, has been frequently noted. Yet, while there is ample evidence that this change in women is quite common, it is still generally pathologized. Moreover, little is known regarding its true meaning for women and the effect it has on their wellbeing. In light of that, our primary goal was to investigate women's subjective experiences of this reality. Do they connect it to dysfunction in self or marriage, or rather they don't equate love and sex, which for them simply become less connected with time, even as the relationship remains entirely fulfilling? A second goal was to explore how such gender-based differences in sexual desire impact women, and indirectly the couple and partner, in terms of wellbeing and satisfaction from the relationship. In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with 15 women in committed long-term relations, aged 25 and over. The findings indicate that for women, there is no contradiction between a loving relation and a decline in spontaneous sexual desire. At the same time, while not rooted in a problem, it does create some. Tension, frustration, conflict, and pressure are some of the negative sequelae that carry adverse effects for women’s wellbeing, the solution to which requires, in their opinion, honest dialogue, mutual respect, and reasonable compromise.

Keywords: gender, sexuality, sexual desire, well being

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Authors: Lilla Dorina Habsz, Marta Rado

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Popularity is affected by a variety of factors in the primary school such as academic achievement and ethnicity. The main goal of our study was to analyse whether acting white exists in Hungarian elementary schools. In other words, we observed whether Roma students penalize those in-group members who obtain the high academic achievement. Furthermore, to show how popularity is influenced by changes in academic achievement in inter-ethnic relations. The empirical basis of our research was the 'competition and negative networks' longitudinal dataset, which was collected by the MTA TK 'Lendület' RECENS research group. This research followed 11 and 12-year old students for a two-year period. The survey was analysed using fixed and random effect models. Overall, we found a positive correlation between grades and popularity, but no evidence for the acting white effect. However, better grades were more positively evaluated within the majority group than within the minority group, which may further increase inequalities.

Keywords: academic achievement, elementary school, ethnicity, popularity

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Authors: G. Melo, J. Felix, S. Maciel, C. Fernandes, W. Rodrigues

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In Brazilian public policy, the Centres of Reference for Social Assistance (CRAS in Portuguese) are part of the Unified Social Assistance System (SUAS in Portuguese). SUAS is responsible for addressing spontaneous or currently active cases that are brought forth from other services in the social assistance network. The following case was reviewed by CRAS’s team in Recife, Brazil, after a complaint of child abuse was filed against the mother of a 7-year-old girl by the girl’s aunt. The girl is the daughter of an incestuous relationship between her mother and her older brother. The complaint was registered by service staff and five interventions were subsequently carried out on behalf of the child. These interventions provided a secure place for dialogue with both the child and her family and allowed for an investigation of the abuse to proceed. They took place in the child’s school as well as her aunt’s residence. At school, the child (with her classmates) watched a video and listened to a song about the prevention of child abuse. This was followed up with a second intervention to determine any signs of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), by having the child play with the mobile app ‘My Angela’. Books on the themes of family and fear were also read to the child on different occasions at her school – after every intervention she was asked to draw something related to fear and her concept of a family. After the interventions and discussing the case as a team, we reached several conclusions: 1) The child did not appear to show any symptoms of PTSD; 2) She normally fantasized about her future and life story; 3) She did not allow herself to be touched by strangers with whom she lacks a close relationship (such as classmates or her teacher); 4) Through her drawings, she reproduced the conversations she had had with the staff; 5) She habitually covered her drawings when asked questions about the abuse. In this particular clinical case, we want to highlight that the role of the Psychologist’s intervention at CRAS is to attempt to resolve the issue promptly (and not to develop a prolonged clinical study based on traditional methods), by making use of the available tools from the social assistance network, and by making referrals to the relevant authorities, such as the Public Ministry, so that final protective actions can be taken and enforced. In this case, the Guardian Council of the Brazilian Public Ministry was asked to transfer the custody of the child to her uncle. The mother of the child was sent to a CAPS (Centre for Psychosocial Care), having been diagnosed with psychopathology. The child would then participate in NGO programs that allow for a gradual reduction of social exposure to her mother before being transferred to her uncle’s custody in Sao Paulo.

Keywords: child abuse, intervention, social psychology, violence

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Authors: Wilailuk Meepracha

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The results of the study on the project evaluation to develop the competencies, capabilities, and skills in repairing computers of people in Jompluak Local Municipality, Bang Khonthi District, Samut Songkram Province showed that the overall result was good (4.33). When considering on each aspect, it was found that the highest one was on process evaluation (4.60) followed by product evaluation (4.50) and the least one was on feeding factor (3.97). When considering in details, it was found that: 1) the context aspect was high (4.23) with the highest item on the arrangement of the training situation (4.67) followed by the appropriateness of the target (4.30) and the least aspect was on the project cooperation (3.73). 2) The evaluation of average overall primary factor or feeding factor showed high value (4.23) while the highest aspect was on the capability of the trainers (4.47) followed by the suitable venue (4.33) while the least aspect was on the insufficient budget (3.47). 3) The average result of process evaluation was very high (4.60). The highest aspect was on the follow-op supervision (4.70) followed by responsibility of each project staffs (4.50) while the least aspect was on the present situation and the problems of the community (4.40). 4) The overall result of the product evaluation was very high (4.50). The highest aspect was on the diversity of the activities and the community integration (4.67) followed by project target achievement (4.63) while the least aspect was on continuation and regularity of the activities (4.33). The trainees reported high satisfaction on the project management at very high level (43.33%) while 40% reported high level and 16.67% reported moderate level. Suggestions for the project were on the additional number of the computer sets (37.78%) followed by longer training period especially on computer skills (43.48%).

Keywords: project evaluation, competency development, the capability on computer repairing and computer skills

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Authors: Francesca Spagnoli, Shenja van der Graaf, Pieter Ballon

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Humans do not behave rationally. We are emotional, easily influenced by others, as well as by our context. The study of human behaviour became a supreme endeavour within many academic disciplines, including economics, sociology, and clinical and social psychology. Understanding what motivates humans and triggers them to perform certain activities, and what it takes to change their behaviour, is central both for researchers and companies, as well as policy makers to implement efficient public policies. While numerous theoretical approaches for diverse domains such as health, retail, environment have been developed, the methodological models guiding the evaluation of such research have reached for a long time their limits. Within this context, digitisation, the Information and communication technologies (ICT) and wearable, the Internet of Things (IoT) connecting networks of devices, and new possibilities to collect and analyse massive amounts of data made it possible to study behaviour from a realistic perspective, as never before. Digital technologies make it possible to (1) capture data in real-life settings, (2) regain control over data by capturing the context of behaviour, and (3) analyse huge set of information through continuous measurement. Within this complex context, this paper describes a new framework for initiating behavioural change, capitalising on the digital developments in applied research projects and applicable both to academia, enterprises and policy makers. By applying this model, behavioural research can be conducted to address the issues of different domains, such as mobility, environment, health or media. The Modular Behavioural Analysis Approach (MBAA) is here described and firstly validated through a concrete use case within the domain of health. The results gathered have proven that disclosing information about health in connection with the use of digital apps for health, can be a leverage for changing behaviour, but it is only a first component requiring further follow-up actions. To this end, a clear definition of different 'behavioural profiles', towards which addressing several typologies of interventions, it is essential to effectively enable behavioural change. In the refined version of the MBAA a strong focus will rely on defining a methodology for shaping 'behavioural profiles' and related interventions, as well as the evaluation of side-effects on the creation of new business models and sustainability plans.

Keywords: behavioural change, framework, health, nudging, sustainability

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Authors: Petra Buzkova, Milos Kopa

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Reliability of the credit default swap market had been questioned repeatedly during the EMU debt crisis. The article examines whether this development influenced sovereign EMU CDS prices in general. We regress the CDS market price on a model risk neutral CDS price obtained from an adopted reduced form valuation model in the 2009-2013 period. We look for a break point in the single-equation and multi-equation econometric models in order to show the changes in relations between CDS market and model prices. Our results differ according to the risk profile of a country. We find that in the case of riskier countries, the relationship between the market and model price changed when market participants started to question the ability of CDS contracts to protect their buyers. Specifically, it weakened after the change. In the case of less risky countries, the change happened earlier and the effect of a weakened relationship is not observed.

Keywords: chow stability test, credit default swap, debt crisis, reduced form valuation model, seemingly unrelated regression

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Authors: Kveta Olsanova, Gina Cook, Marija Zlatic

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This paper discusses the theoretical framework suggesting the dependencies between luxury brands’ CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) variables and the purchase intention of luxury shoppers. The framework is based on a literature review and in-depth individual interviews with a sample of luxury users and buyers. The measures of the model are based on existing research and the authors' qualitative research results. The model suggests that purchase intention in the luxury segment is dependent on the luxury values (symbolic, experiential, functional and social), individual sustainable dimension (composed of societal, environmental and economic variables) and awareness of the brand’s CSR, the last two relationships being potentially moderated by certain conditions such as demographics and general attitudes towards CSR and sustainability. The model’s output is in the formulation of several hypotheses, to be tested in an upcoming quantitative study. The qualitative phase indicated that the perceived symbolic, functional and experiential value dimensions of luxury brands were stronger drivers of purchase intention compared to the sustainable dimension. The contribution of the research consists of highlighting CSR’s impact on customer purchase intent as a potential implication for luxury brand management due to two aspects: (i) consumer awareness of the existing CSR activities of luxury brands is low, and this might be challenged by the demands of Gen Z entrants into the lux industry as they are known for their positive approach to CSR; (ii) the UN’s SDGs will bring CSR to the attention of all industries, including currently 'CSR silent' segments represented by luxury. Our research should contribute to incorporation of strategic CSR into the policies and strategies of the luxury segment by providing evidence that luxury customers do care.

Keywords: CSR, luxury shoppers, purchase intention, sustainability

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Authors: Yassir Mahmood, Nadia Ehsan

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In current research stream, empirical work regarding knowledge and motivation management along their dimensions is sparse. This study partially filled this void by investigating the influence of knowledge management (tacit and explicit) and motivation management (intrinsic and extrinsic) on firm performance with the mediating effects of innovative performance. Based on the quantitative research method, data were collected through questionnaire from 284 employees working in 18 different firms across the citrus industry located in Sargodha region (Pakistan). The proposed relationships were tested through regression analysis while mediation relations were analyzed through Barron and Kenny (1986) technique. The results suggested that knowledge management (KM) and motivation management (MM) have significant positive impacts on innovative performance (IP). In addition, the role of IP as full mediator between KM and firm performance (FP) is confirmed. Also, IP proved to be a partial mediator between MM and FP. From the managerial perspective, the findings of the study are vital as some of the important constituents of FP have been highlighted. The study produced important underpinnings for managers. In last, implications for policymakers along with future research directions are discussed.

Keywords: innovative performance, firm performance, knowledge management, motivation management, Sargodha

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Authors: Alexandros Pournaras, Anastasia Papadopoulou, Serafim Kontos, Anastasios Karakostas

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The air quality of modern cities is an important concern, as poor air quality contributes to human health and environmental issues. Reliable air quality forecasting has, thus, gained scientific and governmental attention as an essential tool that enables authorities to take proactive measures for public safety. In this study, the potential of Machine Learning (ML) models to forecast PM2.5 at local scale is investigated in the city of Thessaloniki, the second largest city in Greece, which has been struggling with the persistent issue of air pollution. ML models, with proven ability to address timeseries forecasting, are employed to predict the PM2.5 concentrations and the respective Air Quality Index 5-days ahead by learning from daily historical air quality and meteorological data from 2014 to 2016 and gathered from two stations with different land use characteristics in the urban fabric of Thessaloniki. The performance of the ML models on PM2.5 concentrations is evaluated with common statistical methods, such as R squared (r²) and Root Mean Squared Error (RMSE), utilizing a portion of the stations’ measurements as test set. A multi-categorical evaluation is utilized for the assessment of their performance on respective AQIs. Several conclusions were made from the experiments conducted. Experimenting on MLs’ configuration revealed a moderate effect of various parameters and training schemas on the model’s predictions. Their performance of all these models were found to produce satisfactory results on PM2.5 concentrations. In addition, their application on untrained stations showed that these models can perform well, indicating a generalized behavior. Moreover, their performance on AQI was even better, showing that the MLs can be used as predictors for AQI, which is the direct information provided to the general public.

Keywords: Air Quality, AQ Forecasting, AQI, Machine Learning, PM2.5

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Authors: Asma Mosbah, Hanane Khither, Kamelia Mosbah, Noreddine Kacem Chaouche, Mustapha Benboubetra

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In the present investigation, total oil (TO) and its neutral lipid fraction (NLF) extracted from the seed of the well know studied medicinal plant Nigella sativa were tested for their therapeutically effect on alcohol-induced liver injury in rat model. Male Albino rats were divided into five groups of eight animals each and fed a Lieber–DeCarli liquid diet containing 5% ethanol for experimental groups and dextran for control group, for a period of six weeks. Afterwards, rats received, orally, treatments with Nigella sativa extracts (TO, NLF) and N- acetylcysteine (NAC) as a positive control for four weeks. Activities of antioxidant enzymes; superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT), as well as malondialdehyde (MDA) and reduced glutathione (GSH). Biochemical parameters for kidney and liver functions, in treated and non treated rats, were evaluated throughout the time course of an experiment. Liver histological changes were taken into account. Enzymatic activities of both SOD and CAT increased significantly in rats treated with NLF and TO. While MDA level decreased in TO and NLF treated rats, GSH level increased significantly in TO and NLF treated rats. We noted equally a decrease in liver enzymes AST, ALT, and ALP. Microscopic observation of slides from the liver of ethanol treated rats showed a severe hepatotoxicity with lesions. Treatment with fractions leads to an improvement in liver lesions and a marked reduction in necrosis and infiltration. As a conclusion, both extracts of Nigella sativa seeds, TO and NLF, possess an important therapeutic protective potential against ethanol-induced hepatotoxicity in rats.

Keywords: alcohol-induced hepatotoxicity, antioxidant enzymes, Nigella sativa seeds, oil fractions

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Authors: Haggag H. Mohamed, Ghatass F. Zekry, Shalaby A. Elsayed

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Most sources of air pollution in Egypt are of anthropogenic origin. Alexandria Governorate is located at north of Egypt. The main contributing sectors of air pollution in Alexandria are industry, transportation and area source due to human activities. Alexandria includes more than 40% of the industrial activities in Egypt. Cement manufacture contributes a significant amount to the particulate pollution load. Alexandria Portland Cement Company (APCC) surrounding was selected to be the study area. APCC main kiln stack Total Suspended Particulate (TSP) continuous monitoring data was collected for assessment of dust emission control technology. Electro Static Precipitator (ESP) was fixed on the cement kiln since 2002. The collected data of TSP for first quarter of 2012 was compared to that one in first quarter of 2013 after installation of new bag house filter. In the present study, based on these monitoring data and metrological data a detailed air dispersion modeling investigation was carried out using the Industrial Source Complex Short Term model (ISC3-ST) to find out the impact of applying new bag house filter control technology on the neighborhood ambient air quality. The model results show a drastic reduction of the ambient TSP hourly average concentration from 44.94μg/m3 to 5.78μg/m3 which assures the huge positive impact on the ambient air quality by applying bag house filter technology on APCC cement kiln

Keywords: air pollution modeling, ambient air quality, baghouse filter, cement industry

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Authors: Min Chen, Rubi Gupta

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Understanding and predicting stock market movements is a challenging problem. It is believed stock markets are partially driven by public sentiments, which leads to numerous research efforts to predict stock market trend using public sentiments expressed on social media such as Twitter but with limited success. Recently a microblogging website StockTwits is becoming increasingly popular for users to share their discussions and sentiments about stocks and financial market. In this project, we analyze the text content of StockTwits tweets and extract financial sentiment using text featurization and machine learning algorithms. StockTwits tweets are first pre-processed using techniques including stopword removal, special character removal, and case normalization to remove noise. Features are extracted from these preprocessed tweets through text featurization process using bags of words, N-gram models, TF-IDF (term frequency-inverse document frequency), and latent semantic analysis. Machine learning models are then trained to classify the tweets' sentiment as positive (bullish) or negative (bearish). The correlation between the aggregated daily sentiment and daily stock price movement is then investigated using Pearson’s correlation coefficient. Finally, the sentiment information is applied together with time series stock data to predict stock price movement. The experiments on five companies (Apple, Amazon, General Electric, Microsoft, and Target) in a duration of nine months demonstrate the effectiveness of our study in improving the prediction accuracy.

Keywords: machine learning, sentiment analysis, stock price prediction, tweet processing

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Authors: Fariba Ebrahimi, Mehdi Ghorbani

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Achieving to integrated Water management fundamentally needs to effective relation, coordination, collaboration and synergy among various actors who have common but different responsibilities. In this sense, the foundation of comprehensive and integrated management is not compatible with centralization and top-down strategies. The aim of this paper is analysis institutional network of water relevant stakeholders and water policy monitoring in Shemiranat. In this study collaboration networks between informal and formal institutions co-management process have been investigated. Stakeholder network analysis as a quantitative method has been implicated in this research. The results of this study indicate that institutional cohesion is medium; sustainability of institutional network is about 40 percent (medium). Additionally the core-periphery index has measured in this study according to reciprocity index. Institutional capacities for integrated natural resource management in regional level are measured in this study. Furthermore, the necessity of centrality reduction and promote stakeholders relations and cohesion are emphasized to establish a collaborative natural resource governance.

Keywords: policy monitoring, water management, social network, stakeholder, shemiranat

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Authors: Joshua Loiselle

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This paper discusses the challenges engineering teams face in conducting Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) studies. This paper focuses on the specific topic of improving the efficiency and effectiveness of FMEA studies. Modern economic needs and increased business competition require engineers to constantly develop newer and better solutions within shorter timeframes and tighter margins. In addition, documentation requirements for meeting standards/regulatory compliance and customer needs are becoming increasingly complex and verbose. Managing open actions and continuous improvement activities across all projects, product variations, and processes in addition to daily engineering tasks is cumbersome, time consuming, and is susceptible to errors, omissions, and non-conformances. FMEA studies are proven methods for improving products and processes while subsequently reducing engineering workload and improving machine and resource availability through a pre-emptive, systematic approach of identifying, analyzing, and improving high-risk components. If implemented correctly, FMEA studies significantly reduce costs and improve productivity. However, the value of an effective FMEA is often shrouded by a lack of clarity and structure, misconceptions, and previous experiences and, as such, FMEA studies are frequently grouped with the other required information and documented retrospectively in preparation of customer requirements or audits. Performing studies in this way only adds cost to a project and perpetuates the misnomer that FMEA studies are not value-added activities. This paper discusses the benefits of effective FMEA studies, the challenges related to conducting FMEA studies, best practices for efficiently overcoming challenges via structure and automation, and the benefits of implementing those practices.

Keywords: FMEA, quality, APQP, PPAP

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Authors: C. A Osunla, A. I. Okoh

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Treated wastewater effluent has been found to encompass high levels of pollutants, including disease-causing bacteria such as Vibrio pathogens. The current study was designed to evaluate the physicochemical qualities and prevalence of Vibrio pathogens in treated effluents of two wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) in Eastern Cape Province, South Africa over the period of six months. Parameters measured include pH, temperature, electrical conductivity, salinity, turbidity, total dissolved solid (TDS), dissolved oxygen (DO), and free chlorine; and these parameters were simultaneously monitored in the treated final effluents of the two wastewater treatment plants using standard methods. The ranges of values for the physicochemical are: pH (7.0–8.6), total dissolved solids (286.3–916.5 mg/L), electrical conductivity (572.57–1704.5 mS/m), temperature (10.3–28.6 °C), turbidity (4.02–43.20 NTU), free chlorine (0.00–0.19 mg/L), dissolve oxygen (2.06–6.32 mg/L) and biochemical oxygen demand (0.1–9.0 mg/L). The microbiological assessment for both WWTPs revealed the presence of Vibrio counts ranging between 0 and 8.76×104 CFU/100 mL. The obtained values of the measured parameters and Vibrio loads of the treated wastewater effluents were found outside the compliance levels of the South African guidelines and World Health Organization tolerance limits for effluents intended to be discharged into receiving waterbodies. Hence, we conclude that these WWTPs are important point sources of pollution in surface water with potential public health and ecological risks.

Keywords: effluents, public health, South Africa, Vibrio, wastewater

Procedia PDF Downloads 359

Authors: G. Karunakaran, M. Jagathambal, N. Van Minh, E. Kolesnikov, A. Gusev, O. V. Zakharova, E. V. Scripnikova, E. D. Vishnyakova, D. Kuznetsov

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Iron oxide nanoparticles (Fe₂O₃NPs) are widely used in different applications due to its ecofriendly nature and biocompatibility. Hence, in this investigation, biosynthesized Fe₂O₃NPs influence on flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) plant was examined. The biosynthesized nanoparticles were found to be cubic phase which is confirmed by XRD analysis. FTIR analysis confirmed the presence of functional groups corresponding to the iron oxide nanoparticle. The elemental analysis also confirmed that the obtained nanoparticle is iron oxide nanoparticle. The scanning electron microscopy and the transmission electron microscopy confirm that the average particle size was around 56 nm. The effect of Fe₂O₃NPs on seed germination followed by biochemical analysis was carried out using standard methods. The results obtained after four days and 11 days of seed vigor studies showed that the seedling length (cm), average number of seedling with leaves, increase in root length (cm) was found to be enhanced on treatment with iron oxide nanoparticles when compared to control. A positive correlation was noticed with the dose of the nanoparticle and plant growth, which may be due to changes in metabolic activity. Hence, to evaluate the change in metabolic activity, peroxidase and catalase activities were estimated. It was clear from the observation that higher concentration of iron oxide nanoparticles (Fe₂O₃NPs 1000 mg/L) has enhanced peroxidase and catalase activities and in turn plant growth. Thus, this study clearly showed that biosynthesized iron oxide nanoparticles will be an effective nano-nutrient for agriculture applications.

Keywords: catalase, fertilizer, iron oxide nanoparticles, Linum usitatissimum L., nano-nutrient, peroxidase

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Authors: Xvelian Qin

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Urban "organic renewal" based on the development of existing resources in high-density urban areas has become the mainstream of urban development in the new era. As an important stock resource of public space in high-density urban areas, promoting its value remodeling is an effective way to alleviate the shortage of public space resources. However, due to the lack of evaluation links in the process of underpass space renewal, a large number of underpass space resources have been left idle, facing the problems of low space conversion efficiency, lack of accuracy in development decision-making, and low adaptability of functional positioning to citizens' needs. Therefore, it is of great practical significance to construct the evaluation system of under-bridge space renewal potential and explore the renewal mode. In this paper, some of the under-bridge spaces in the main urban area of Chongqing are selected as the research object. Through the questionnaire interviews with the users of the built excellent space under the bridge, three types of six levels and twenty-two potential evaluation indexes of "objective demand factor, construction feasibility factor and construction suitability factor" are selected, including six levels of land resources, infrastructure, accessibility, safety, space quality and ecological environment. The analytical hierarchy process and expert scoring method are used to determine the index weight, construct the potential evaluation system of the space under the bridge in high-density urban areas of Chongqing, and explore the direction of renewal and utilization of its suitability.

Keywords: space under bridge, potential evaluation, high density urban area, updated using

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Authors: Addisu Tadesse Sahile, Tennyson Mgutshini

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Background: Periodontal disease is a common, complex, inflammatory disease characterized by the destruction of tooth-supporting soft and hard tissues of the periodontium and a major public health problem across developed and developing countries. Objectives: The study was aimed at assessing the prevalence of periodontal disease and associated factors among diabetes patients in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 2018. Methods: Institutional based cross-sectional study was conducted on 388 diabetes patients selected by systematic random sampling method from March to May 2018. The study was conducted at two conveniently selected public hospitals in Addis Ababa. Data were collected with pre-tested, structured and translated questionnaire then entered to SPSS version 23 software for analysis. Descriptive statistics as a summary, in line with chi-square and binary logistics regression to identify factors associated with periodontal disease, were applied. A 95% CI with a p-value less than 5% was used as a level of significance. Results: Ninety-one percent (n=353) of participants had periodontal disease while oral examination was done in six regions. While only 9% (n=35) of participants were free of periodontal disease. The number of tooth brushings per day, correct techniques of brushing, malocclusion, and fillings that are defective were associated with periodontal disease at p < 0.05. Conclusion and recommendation: A higher prevalence of periodontal disease among diabetes patient was observed. The frequency of tooth brushing, correct techniques of brushing, malocclusion and defective fillings were associated with periodontal disease. Emphasis has to be given to oral health of diabetes patients by every concerned body so as to control the current higher burden of periodontal disease in diabetes.

Keywords: periodontal disease, risk factors, diabetes mellitus, Addis Ababa

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