Search results for: knowledge sharing oriented organizational climate

Authors: Mohammadamin Hashemi, Mohammadreza Kashizadeh

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Droughts pose a significant threat to sustainable water resource management, agriculture, and socioeconomic sectors, particularly in the field of climate change. This study investigates drought simulation using rainfall-runoff modelling in the Cuneo district, Italy, over the past 60-year period. The study leverages the TUW model, a lumped conceptual rainfall-runoff model with a semi-distributed operation capability. Similar in structure to the widely used Hydrologiska Byråns Vattenbalansavdelning (HBV) model, the TUW model operates on daily timesteps for input and output data specific to each catchment. It incorporates essential routines for snow accumulation and melting, soil moisture storage, and streamflow generation. Multiple catchments' discharge data within the Cuneo district form the basis for thorough model calibration employing the Kling-Gupta Efficiency (KGE) metric. A crucial metric for reliable drought analysis is one that can accurately represent low-flow events during drought periods. This ensures that the model provides a realistic picture of water availability during these critical times. Subsequent validation of monthly discharge simulations thoroughly evaluates overall model performance. Beyond model development, the investigation delves into drought analysis using the robust Standardized Runoff Index (SRI). This index allows for precise characterization of drought occurrences within the study area. A meticulous comparison of observed and simulated discharge data is conducted, with particular focus on low-flow events that characterize droughts. Additionally, the study explores the complex interplay between land characteristics (e.g., soil type, vegetation cover) and climate variables (e.g., precipitation, temperature) that influence the severity and duration of hydrological droughts. The study's findings demonstrate successful calibration of the TUW model across most catchments, achieving commendable model efficiency. Comparative analysis between simulated and observed discharge data reveals significant agreement, especially during critical low-flow periods. This agreement is further supported by the Pareto coefficient, a statistical measure of goodness-of-fit. The drought analysis provides critical insights into the duration, intensity, and severity of drought events within the Cuneo district. This newfound understanding of spatial and temporal drought dynamics offers valuable information for water resource management strategies and drought mitigation efforts. This research deepens our understanding of drought dynamics in the Cuneo region. Future research directions include refining hydrological modelling techniques and exploring future drought projections under various climate change scenarios.

Keywords: hydrologic extremes, hydrological drought, hydrological modelling, machine learning, rainfall-runoff modelling

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Authors: Shane R. Jackson

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Gluteal augmentation with fat grafting, commonly referred to as the Brazilian Butt Lift, is the fastest-growing cosmetic surgical procedure, despite the risks and controversy that surrounds it. While many commentators attribute this rise in popularity with current societal trends towards public sharing of private life, the fascination with buttock size is in fact a much older human trait. By searching beyond medical literature and delving into historical sources, from ancient civilisations, through the Renaissance and Victorian eras to the ‘Instagram generation’ of the present day, this paper examines the differences – and similarities – in society’s ideal buttock shape and size. Furthermore, the ways in which these various cultures have altered their appearance to achieve this ideal are also examined, looking at the influence of the broader historical context. A deeper understanding of the historical, cultural and psychosocial factors that influence a patient’s desire for buttock augmentation allows the clinician to formulate a well-rounded surgical plan.

Keywords: augmentation, Brazilian butt lift, buttock, fat graft, gluteal

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Authors: Vistorina Amputu, Katja Tielboerger, Nichola Knox

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Primary productivity in dry savannahs is constraint by moisture availability and under increasing anthropogenic pressure. Thus, considering climate change and the unprecedented pace and scale of rangeland deterioration, methods for assessing the status of such rangelands should be easy to apply, yield reliable and repeatable results that can be applied over large spatial scales. Global and local scale monitoring of rangelands through satellite data and labor-intensive field measurements respectively, are limited in accurately assessing the spatiotemporal heterogeneity of vegetation dynamics to provide crucial information that detects degradation in its early stages. Fortunately, newly emerging techniques such as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), associated miniaturized sensors and improving digital photogrammetric software provide an opportunity to transcend these limitations. Yet, they have not been extensively calibrated in natural systems to encompass their complexities if they are to be integrated for long-term monitoring. Limited research using drone technology has been conducted in arid savannas, for example to assess the health status of this dynamic two-layer vegetation ecosystem. In our study, we fill this gap by testing the relationship between UAV-estimated cover of rangeland functional attributes and field data collected in discrete sample plots in a Namibian dryland savannah along a degradation gradient. The first results are based on a supervised classification performed on the ultra-high resolution multispectral imagery to distinguish between rangeland functional attributes (bare, non-woody, and woody), with a relatively good match to the field observations. Integrating UAV-based observations to improve rangeland monitoring could greatly assist in climate-adapted rangeland management.

Keywords: arid savannah, degradation gradient, field observations, narrow-band sensor, supervised classification

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Authors: Rajapaksha J. S. R. L., Rajapaksha R. G. D. T., Ranawaka A. U. R., Rangalla R. D. M. P., Ranwala R. D. E. B., Chandratilake M. N.

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Introduction: Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) patients experience discrimination, insensitivity, and ignorance about LGBT-specific health needs among healthcare providers. Developing the correct attitudes among medical students towards LGBT may help provide them with optimal healthcare. Objectives: This study aimed at assessing the attitudes of medical students towards the LBGT community. Methodology: A cross-sectional descriptive study was among all the medical students in the Faculty of Medicine, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, using a validated online questionnaire. The questionnaire focused on eight areas. The data were descriptively analyzed, and the demographic groups were compared. Results: 358 students completed the survey. The response rate was 34.26%. Their attitudes on traditional gender roles and comfortability in interacting with LGBT people were moderate, and they disagreed with negative LGBT social beliefs. They knew less about the origin of sexuality/gender of LGBT. Although they accepted LGBT as a part of diversity, they discouraged normalizing the social practices of LGBT people. Their acceptance and association of LGBT were moderately positive. A minority has encountered LGBT in close social circles, and the majority of them were batch-mates. Although males’ knowledge about the origin of LGBT was higher, they favoured traditional gender roles more. The religious groups showed no differences. The favourability of attitudes towards LGBT reflected respondents’ political ideology. Conclusion: Although medical students’ knowledge on the sexuality/gender basis of LGBT is poor, they have moderately favourable attitudes towards them. They accept LGBT as a part of social diversity but not their social practices. Poor knowledge, lack of encounters, cultural influences, and political ideology may have influenced their attitudes.

Keywords: medical students, attitude, LGBT, diversity

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Authors: Javier Parra-Domínguez, Juan Manuel Corchado

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At present, public efficiency is a concept that intends to maximize return on public investment focus on minimizing the use of resources and maximizing the outputs. The concept takes into account statistical criteria drawn up according to techniques such as DEA (Data Envelopment Analysis). The purpose of the current work is to consider, more precisely, the theoretical application of CBR (Case-Based Reasoning) from economics and computer science, as a preliminary step to improving the efficiency of law enforcement agencies (public sector). With the aim of increasing the efficiency of the public sector, we have entered into a phase whose main objective is the implementation of new technologies. Our main conclusion is that the application of computer techniques, such as CBR, has become key to the efficiency of the public sector, which continues to require economic valuation based on methodologies such as DEA. As a theoretical result and conclusion, the incorporation of CBR systems will reduce the number of inputs and increase, theoretically, the number of outputs generated based on previous computer knowledge.

Keywords: case-based reasoning, knowledge, police, public efficiency

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Authors: Dinesh N. Kurup, Celine Perriera

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The economic development of any country is based on the policies adopted by the government from time to time. If these policies are framed by the opinion of the people of the country, there is need for having strong knowledge base, right from the school level. There should be emphasis to provide in education, an ability to take informed decisions regarding socio-scientific issues. It would be better to adopt this practice in high school classrooms to build capacity among future citizens. This study is an attempt to provide a different approach of teaching and learning in classrooms at the high school level in Indian schools for providing opportunity for informed decision making regarding nuclear power use. A unit of work based on the 5E instructional model about the use of nuclear energy is used to build knowledge base and find out the effectiveness in terms of its influence for taking decisions as a future citizen. A sample of 120 students from three high schools using different curricula and teaching and learning methods were chosen for this study. This research used a design based research method. A pre and post questionnaire based on the theory of reasoned action, structured observations, focus group interviews and opportunity for decision making were used during the intervention. The data analysed qualitatively and quantitatively, and the qualitative data were coded into categories based on responses. The results of the study show that students were able to make informed decisions and could give reasons for their decisions. They were enthusiastic in formulating policy making based on their knowledge base and have strong held views and reasoning for their choice.

Keywords: informed decision making, socio-scientific issues, nuclear energy use, policy making

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Authors: Sajed A. Habib

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Problem-based learning (PBL) is a student-centered pedagogy that originated in the medical field and has also been used extensively in other knowledge disciplines with recognized advantages and limitations. PBL has been used in various undergraduate engineering programs with mixed outcomes. The current fourth industrial revolution (digital era or Industry 4.0) has made it essential for many science and engineering students to receive effective training in advanced courses such as industrial automation and robotics. This paper presents a case study at Assumption University of Thailand, where a PBL-like approach was used to teach some aspects of automation and robotics to selected groups of undergraduate engineering students. These students were given some basic level training in automation prior to participating in a subsequent training session in order to solve technical problems with increased complexity. The participating students’ evaluation of the training sessions in terms of learning effectiveness, skills enhancement, and incremental knowledge following the problem-solving session was captured through a follow-up survey consisting of 14 questions and a 5-point scoring system. From the most recent training event, an overall 70% of the respondents indicated that their skill levels were enhanced to a much greater level than they had had before the training, whereas 60.4% of the respondents from the same event indicated that their incremental knowledge following the session was much greater than what they had prior to the training. The instructor-facilitator involved in the training events suggested that this method of learning was more suitable for senior/advanced level students than those at the freshmen level as certain skills to effectively participate in such problem-solving sessions are acquired over a period of time, and not instantly.

Keywords: automation, industry 4.0, model-based design training, problem-based learning

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Authors: O. Benabdeljelil, A. Karioun, S. Amami, R. Rouger, M. Hamidine

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A model for preventing the risks related to climate conditions in the agricultural sector is presented. It will determine the yearly optimum premium to be paid by a producer in order to reach his required turnover. The model is based on both climatic stability and 'soft' responses of usually grown species to average climate variations at the same place and inside a safety ball which can be determined from past meteorological data. This allows the use of linear regression expression for dependence of production result in terms of driving meteorological parameters, the main ones of which are daily average sunlight, rainfall and temperature. By simple best parameter fit from the expert table drawn with professionals, optimal representation of yearly production is determined from records of previous years, and yearly payback is evaluated from minimum yearly produced turnover. The model also requires accurate pricing of commodity at N+1. Therefore, a pricing model is developed using 3 state variables, namely the spot price, the difference between the mean-term and the long-term forward price, and the long-term structure of the model. The use of historical data enables to calibrate the parameters of state variables, and allows the pricing of commodity. Application to beet sugar underlines pricer precision. Indeed, the percentage of accuracy between computed result and real world is 99,5%. Optimal premium is then deduced and gives the producer a useful bound for negotiating an offer by insurance companies to effectively protect its harvest. The application to beet production in French Oise department illustrates the reliability of present model with as low as 6% difference between predicted and real data. The model can be adapted to almost any agricultural field by changing state parameters and calibrating their associated coefficients.

Keywords: agriculture, production model, optimal price, meteorological factors, 3-factor model, parameter calibration, forward price

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Authors: Nulu Nanono

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Background: The Ugandan national health policy and the national population policy all recognize the need to increase access to quality, affordable, acceptable and sustainable contraceptive services for all people but provision and utilization of quality services remains low. Two contraceptive methods are categorized as long-acting temporary methods: intrauterine contraceptive devices (IUCDs) and implants. Copper-containing IUCDs, generally available in Ministry of Health (MoH) family planning programs and is effective for at least 12 years while Implants, depending on the type, last for up to three to seven years. Uganda’s current policy and political environment are favorable towards achieving national access to quality and safe contraceptives for all people as evidenced by increasing government commitments and innovative family planning programs. Despite the increase of modern contraception use from 14% to 26%, long acting reversible contraceptive (LARC) utilization has relatively remained low with less than 5% using IUDs & Implants which in a way explains Uganda’s persistent high fertility rates. Main question/hypothesis: The purpose of the study was to examine relationship between the demographic, socio-economic characteristics of women, health facility factors and long acting reversible contraception utilization. Methodology: LARC utilization was investigated comprising of the two questions namely are you or your partner currently doing something or using any method to delay or avoid getting pregnant? And which method or methods are you using? Data for the study was sourced from the 2016 Uganda Performance Monitoring and Accountability 2020 Survey comprising of 3816 female respondents aged 15 to 49 years. The analysis was done using the Chi-squared tests and the probit regression at bivariate and multivariate levels respectively. The model was further tested for validity and normality of the residuals using the Sharipo wilks test and test for kurtosis and skewness. Results: The results showed the model the age, parity, marital status, region, knowledge of LARCs, availability of LARCs to be significantly associated with long acting contraceptive utilization with p value of less than 0.05. At the multivariate analysis level, women who had higher parities (0.000) tertiary education (0.013), no knowledge about LARCs (0.006) increases their probability of using LARCs. Furthermore while women age 45-49, those who live in the eastern region reduces their probability of using LARCs. Knowledge contribution: The findings of this study join the debate of prior research in this field and add to the body of knowledge related to long acting reversible contraception. An outstanding and queer finding from the study is the non-utilization of LARCs by women who are aware and have knowledge about them, this may be an opportunity for further research to investigate the attribution to this.

Keywords: contraception, long acting, utilization, women (15-49)

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Authors: Sudha Subramani, Hua Wang

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Domestic Violence (DV) against women is now recognized to be a serious and widespread problem worldwide. There is a growing concern that violence against women has a global public health impact, as well as a violation of human rights. From the existing statistical surveys, it is revealed that there exists a strong relationship between DV and health issues of women like bruising, lacerations, depression, anxiety, flashbacks, sleep disturbances, hyper-arousal, emotional distress, sexually transmitted diseases and so on. This social problem is still considered as behind the closed doors issue and stigmatized topic. Women conceal their sufferings from family and friends, as they experience a lack of trust in others, feelings of shame and embarrassment among the society. Hence, women survivors of DV experience some barriers in seeking the support of specialized services such as health care access, crisis support, and legal guidance. Fortunately, with the popularity of social media like Facebook and Twitter, people share their opinions and emotional feelings to seek the social and emotional support, for sympathetic encouragement, to show compassion and empathy among the public. Considering the DV, social media plays a predominant role in creating the awareness and promoting the support services to the public, as we live in the golden era of social media. The various professional people like the public health researchers, clinicians, psychologists, social workers, national family health organizations, lawyers, and victims or their family and friends share the unprecedentedly valuable information (personal opinions and experiences) in a single platform to improve the social welfare of the community. Though each tweet or post contains a less informational value, the consolidation of millions of messages can generate actionable knowledge and provide valuable insights about the public opinion in general. Hence, this paper reports on an exploratory analysis of the effectiveness of social media for unobtrusive assessment of attitudes and awareness towards DV. In this paper, mixed methods such as qualitative analysis and text mining approaches are used to understand the social media disclosures of DV through the lenses of opinion sharing, anonymity, and support seeking. The results of this study could be helpful to avoid the cost of wide scale surveys, while still maintaining appropriate research conditions is to leverage the abundance of data publicly available on the web. Also, this analysis with data enrichment and consolidation would be useful in assisting advocacy and national family health organizations to provide information about resources and support, raise awareness and counter common stigmatizing attitudes about DV.

Keywords: domestic violence, social media, social stigma and support, women health

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Authors: Amani A. Saad, Ahmed A. El-Farag, El-Sayed A. Helali

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Cloud computing is an important and promising field in the recent decade. Cloud computing allows sharing resources, services and information among the people of the whole world. Although the advantages of using clouds are great, but there are many risks in a cloud. The data security is the most important and critical problem of cloud computing. In this research a new security model for cloud computing is proposed for ensuring secure communication system, hiding information from other users and saving the user's times. In this proposed model Blowfish encryption algorithm is used for exchanging information or data, and SHA-2 cryptographic hash algorithm is used for data integrity. For user authentication process a simple user-name and password is used, the password uses SHA-2 for one way encryption. The proposed system shows an improvement of the processing time of uploading and downloading files on the cloud in secure form.

Keywords: cloud computing, data security, SAAS, PAAS, IAAS, Blowfish

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Authors: Siriporn Poolsuwan, Kanyarat Bussaban

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This research aims to investigate and analyze user’s behaviour towards the utilization of the online news clipping database at Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University, Thailand. Data is gathered from 214 lecturers and 380 undergraduate students by using questionnaires. Findings show that most users knew the online news clipping service from their friends, library’s website and their teachers. The users learned how to use it by themselves and others learned by training of SSRU library. Most users used the online news clipping database one time per month at home and always used the service for general knowledge, up-to-date academic knowledge and assignment reference. Moreover, the results of using the online news clipping service problems include the users themselves, service management, service device- computer and tools – and the network, service provider, and publicity. This research would be benefit for librarians and teachers for planning and designing library services in their works and organization.

Keywords: online database, user behavior, news clipping, library services

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Authors: Bahloul Amel

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This study is an attempt to raise the awareness of the stakeholders and the authorities on the sensitivity of Algerian secondary school teachers of English as a Foreign Language about the students’ loss of English language skills learned during formal schooling with effort and at expense and the supposed measures to arrest that loss. Data was collected from secondary school teachers of EFL and analyzed quantitatively using a questionnaire containing open-ended and close-ended questions. The results advocate a consensus about the need for actions to be adopted to make assessment techniques outcome-oriented. Most of the participants were in favor of including curricular activities involving contextualized learning, problem-solving learning critical self-awareness, self and peer-assisted learning, use of computers and internet so as to make learners autonomous.

Keywords: lifelong learning, EFL, contextualized learning, Algeria

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Authors: Parviz Abadi

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There is evidence that leadership has been the subject of research since the 18th Century, with Thomas Carlyle’s proposal of the Great Man theory. Since that time there has been ample research on various theories and styles of leadership while the definition of leadership is still undergoing development. In this context, ‘Divine Leadership’ has been defined. Another aspect of organizational success has been deemed to be follower motivation. Consequently, the research's objective was to assess this leadership's impact by evaluating the relationship with follower motivation. This entailed proposing a theoretical model to depict several hypotheses. Subsequently, the research performed a quantitative study of the relationship of Divine Leadership with Follower Motivation. The findings yielded a conclusion indicating a high reliability of 95% for the data collected through the field survey. Moreover, Divine Leadership exhibited a statistically significant positive association with Follower Motivation. Furthermore, it was illustrated that Religiosity moderates the relationship between Divine Leadership and Motivation.

Keywords: leadership, management, motivation, religiosity, followers

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Authors: Ming Lun Wang, Yan Wang, Ning Ruo Sun

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With the development of cloud computing, more and more users start to utilize the cloud storage service. However, there exist some issues: 1) cloud server steals the shared data, 2) sharers collude with the cloud server to steal the shared data, 3) cloud server tampers the shared data, 4) sharers and key generation center (KGC) conspire to steal the shared data. In this paper, we use advanced encryption standard (AES), hash algorithms, and accountable key-policy attribute-based encryption without key escrow (WOKE-AKP-ABE) to build a security cloud storage scheme. Moreover, the data are encrypted to protect the privacy. We use hash algorithms to prevent the cloud server from tampering the data uploaded to the cloud. Analysis results show that this scheme can resist conspired attacks.

Keywords: cloud storage security, sharing storage, attributes, Hash algorithm

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Authors: Guarry Montrose, Ted Soubdhan

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In the context of sustainable development and climate change, the adaptation of buildings to the climatic context in hot climates is a necessity if we want to improve living conditions in housing and reduce the risks to the health and productivity of occupants due to thermal discomfort in buildings. One can find a wide variety of efficient solutions but with high costs. In developing countries, especially tropical countries, we need to appreciate a technology with a very limited cost that is affordable for everyone, energy efficient and protects the environment. Biosourced insulation is a product based on plant fibers, animal products or products from recyclable paper or clothing. Their development meets the objectives of maintaining biodiversity, reducing waste and protecting the environment. In tropical or hot countries, the aim is to protect the building from solar thermal radiation, a source of discomfort. The aim of this work is in line with the logic of energy control and environmental protection, the approach is to make the occupants of buildings comfortable, reduce their carbon dioxide emissions (CO₂) and decrease their energy consumption (energy efficiency). We have chosen to study the thermo-physical properties of banana leaves and sawdust, especially their thermal conductivities, direct measurements were made using the flash method and the hot plate method. We also measured the heat flow on both sides of each sample by the hot box method. The results from these different experiences show that these materials are very efficient used as insulation. We have also conducted a building thermal simulation using banana leaves as one of the materials under Design Builder software. Air-conditioning load as well as CO₂ release was used as performance indicator. When the air-conditioned building cell is protected on the roof by banana leaves and integrated into the walls with solar protection of the glazing, it saves up to 64.3% of energy and avoids 57% of CO₂ emissions.

Keywords: plant fibers, tropical climates, sustainable development, waste reduction

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Authors: Leen Sulaimani, Maryam Hafiz, Naba Ali, Roba Alsharif

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One of Amazon’s most crucial online systems is artificial intelligence. Amazon would not have a worldwide successful online store, an easy and secure way of payment, and other services if it weren’t for artificial intelligence and machine learning. Amazon uses AI to expand its operations and enhance them by upgrading the website daily; having a strong base of artificial intelligence in a worldwide successful business can improve marketing, decision-making, feedback, and more qualities. Aiming to have a rational AI system in one’s business should be the start of any process; that is why Amazon is fortunate that they keep taking care of the base of their business by using modern artificial intelligence, making sure that it is stable, reaching their organizational goals, and will continue to thrive more each and every day. Artificial intelligence is used daily in our current world and is still being amplified more each day to reach consumer satisfaction and company short and long-term goals.

Keywords: artificial intelligence, Amazon, business, customer, decision making

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Authors: Nwamaka Patricia Ibeme, Musa Zakari

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E-learning is made more effective because; it is enable student to students to easily interact, share, and collaborate across time and space with the help of e-governance platform. Zoom and the Microsoft classroom team can invite students from all around the world to join a conversation on a certain subject simultaneously. E-governance may be able to work on problem solving skills, as well as brainstorming and developing ideas. As a result of the shared experiences and knowledge, students are able to express themselves and reflect on their own learning." For students, e-governance facilities provide greater opportunity for students to build critical (higher order) thinking abilities through constructive learning methods. Students' critical thinking abilities may improve with more time spent in an online classroom. Students' inventiveness can be enhanced through the use of computer-based instruction. Discover multimedia tools and produce products in the styles that are easily available through games, Compact Disks, and television. The use of e-learning has increased both teaching and learning quality by combining student autonomy, capacity, and creativity over time in developed countries." Teachers are catalysts for the integration of technology through Information and Communication Technology, and e-learning supports teaching by simplifying access to course content." Creating an Information and Communication Technology class will be much easier if educational institutions provide teachers with the assistance, equipment, and resources they need. The study adopted survey research design. The populations of the study are Students and staff. The study adopted a simple random sampling technique to select a representative population. Both primary and secondary method of data collection was used to obtain the data. A chi-square statistical technique was used to analyze. Finding from the study revealed that e-learning has increase accesses to universities educational by public servants in Nigeria. Public servants in Nigeria have utilized e-learning and Online Distance Learning (ODL) programme to into various degree programmes. Finding also shows that E-learning plays an important role in teaching because it is oriented toward the use of information and communication technologies that have become a part of the everyday life and day-to-day business. E-learning contributes to traditional teaching methods and provides many advantages to society and citizens. The study recommends that the e-learning tools and internet facilities should be upgrade to foster any network challenges in the online facilitation and lecture delivery system.

Keywords: E-governance, E-learning, online distance learning, university education public servants, Nigeria

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Authors: Jan C. Droste, Justine Burns, Nithin Narayan

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Introduction: Life-threatening detrimental effects of inappropriate adrenaline (epinephrine) administration, e.g., by giving the wrong dose, in the context of anaphylaxis management is well documented in the medical literature. Half of the fatal anaphylactic reactions in the UK are iatrogenic, and the median time to a cardio-respiratory arrest can be as short as 5 minutes. It is therefore imperative that hospital doctors of all grades have active and accurate knowledge of the correct route, site, and dosage of administration of adrenaline. Given this time constraint and the potential fatal outcome with inappropriate management of anaphylaxis, it is alarming that surveys over the last 15 years have repeatedly shown only a minority of doctors to have accurate knowledge of adrenaline administration as recommended by the UK Resuscitation Council guidelines (2008 updated 2012). This comparison of survey results of the medical workforce over several years in a small NHS District General Hospital was conducted in order to establish the effect of the employment of multiple educational methods regarding adrenaline administration in anaphylaxis in adults. Methods: Between 2010 and 2017, several education methods and tools were used to repeatedly inform the medical workforce (doctors and advanced clinical practitioners) in a single district general hospital regarding the treatment of anaphylaxis in adults. Whilst the senior staff remained largely the same cohort, junior staff had changed fully in every survey. Examples included: (i) Formal teaching -in Grand Rounds; during the junior doctors’ induction process; advanced life support courses (ii) In-situ simulation training performed by the clinical skills simulation team –several ad hoc sessions and one 3-day event in 2017 visiting 16 separate clinical areas performing an acute anaphylaxis scenario using actors- around 100 individuals from multi-disciplinary teams were involved (iii) Hospital-wide distribution of the simulation event via the Trust’s Simulation Newsletter (iv) Laminated algorithms were attached to the 'crash trolleys' (v) A short email 'alert' was sent to all medical staff 3 weeks prior to the survey detailing the emergency treatment of anaphylaxis (vi) In addition, the performance of the surveys themselves represented a teaching opportunity when gaps in knowledge could be addressed. Face to face surveys were carried out in 2010 ('pre-intervention), 2015, and 2017, in the latter two occasions including advanced clinical practitioners (ACP). All surveys consisted of convenience samples. If verbal consent to conduct the survey was obtained, the medical practitioners' answers were recorded immediately on a data collection sheet. Results: There was a sustained improvement in the knowledge of the medical workforce from 2010 to 2017: Answers improved regarding correct drug by 11% (84%, 95%, and 95%); the correct route by 20% (76%, 90%, and 96%); correct site by 40% (43%, 83%, and 83%) and the correct dose by 45% (27%, 54%, and 72%). Overall, knowledge of all components -correct drug, route, site, and dose-improved from 13% in 2010 to 62% in 2017. Conclusion: This survey comparison shows knowledge of the medical workforce regarding adrenaline administration for treatment of anaphylaxis in adults can be considerably improved by employing a variety of educational methods.

Keywords: adrenaline, anaphylaxis, epinephrine, medical education, patient safety

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Authors: Samuel Asiedu-Addo, Jonathan Annan, Yarhands Dissou Arthur

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The study aims to explore the relational effect of lecturers’ personal attribute on student’s interest in statistics. In this study personal attributes of lecturers’ such as lecturer’s dynamism, communication strategies and rapport in the classroom as well as applied knowledge during lecture were examined. Here, exploratory research design was used to establish the effect of lecturer’s personal attributes on student’s interest. Data were analyzed by means of confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling (SEM) using the SmartPLS 3 program. The study recruited 376 students from the faculty of technical and vocational education of the University of Education Winneba Kumasi campus, and Ghana Technology University College as well as Kwame Nkrumah University of science and Technology. The results revealed that personal attributes of an effective lecturer were lecturer’s dynamism, rapport, communication and applied knowledge contribute (52.9%) in explaining students interest in statistics. Our regression analysis and structural equation modeling confirm that lecturers personal attribute contribute effectively by predicting student’s interest of 52.9% and 53.7% respectively. The paper concludes that the total effect of a lecturer’s attribute on student’s interest is moderate and significant. While a lecturer’s communication and dynamism were found to contribute positively to students’ interest, they were insignificant in predicting students’ interest. We further showed that a lecturer’s personal attributes such as applied knowledge and rapport have positive and significant effect on tertiary student’s interest in statistic, whilst lecturers’ communication and dynamism do not significantly affect student interest in statistics; though positively related.

Keywords: student interest, effective teacher, personal attributes, regression and SEM

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Authors: Vishwas Chakranarayan, Mariyam Al Salman

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Despite the global environmental threats, previous approaches used to overcome these problems have failed to prevent environmental degradation. Scholars believe that entrepreneurs can help conserve habitats, combat climate change, increase freshwater availability, sustain biodiversity, and reduce environmental degradation and deforestation. The pandemic is creating a different ecosystem for fostering the eco-entrepreneurship opportunities. However, attending a course physically is a challenge for many willing learners. Therefore, it is an opportune time to contemplate on developing a social entrepreneurship curriculum which can be offered online.

Keywords: ecopreneurship, environmental problems, environmental degradation, entrepreneurship education

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Authors: Erdal Akyol, Mutlu Alkan

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Multi criteria decision analysis (MDCA) covers both data and experience. It is very common to solve the problems with many parameters and uncertainties. GIS supported solutions improve and speed up the decision process. Weighted grading as a MDCA method is employed for solving the geotechnical problems. In this study, geotechnical parameters namely soil type; SPT (N) blow number, shear wave velocity (Vs) and depth of underground water level (DUWL) have been engaged in MDCA and GIS. In terms of geotechnical aspects, the settlement suitability of the municipal area was analyzed by the method. MDCA results were compatible with the geotechnical observations and experience. The method can be employed in geotechnical oriented microzoning studies if the criteria are well evaluated.

Keywords: GIS, spatial analysis, multi criteria decision analysis, geotechnics

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Authors: Micael Sousa

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Board games (BGs) are thriving as new designs emerge from the hobby community to greater audiences all around the world. Although digital games are gathering most of the attention in game studies and serious games research fields, the post-digital movement helps to explain why in the world dominated by digital technologies, the analog experiences are still unique and irreplaceable to users, allowing innovation in new hybrid environments. The BG’s new designs are part of these post-digital and hybrid movements because they result from the use of powerful digital tools that enable the production and knowledge sharing about the BGs and their face-to-face unique social experiences. These new BGs, defined as modern by many authors, are providing innovative designs and unique game mechanics that are still not yet fully explored by the main serious games (SG) approaches. Even the most established frameworks settled to address SG, as fun games implemented to achieve predefined goals need more development, especially when considering modern BGs. Despite the many anecdotic perceptions, researchers are only now starting to rediscover BGs and demonstrating their potentials. They are proving that BGs are easy to adapt and to grasp by non-expert players in experimental approaches, with the possibility of easy-going adaptation to players’ profiles and serious objectives even during gameplay. Although there are many design thinking (DT) models and practices, their relations with SG frameworks are also underdeveloped, mostly because this is a new research field, lacking theoretical development and the systematization of the experimental practices. Using BG as case studies promise to help develop these frameworks. Departing from the Design, Experience, and Play (DPE) framework and considering the Common Design Think Tools (CDST), this paper proposes a new experimental framework for the adaptation and development of modern BG design for DT: the Design, Experience, and Play for Think (DPET) experimental framework. This is done through the systematization of the DPE and CDST approaches applied in two case studies, where two different sequences of adapted BG were employed to establish a DT collaborative process. These two sessions occurred with different participants and in different contexts, also using different sequences of games for the same DT approach. The first session took place at the Faculty of Economics at the University of Coimbra in a training session of serious games for project development. The second session took place in the Casa do Impacto through The Great Village Design Jam light. Both sessions had the same duration and were designed to progressively achieve DT goals, using BGs as SGs in a collaborative process. The results from the sessions show that a sequence of BGs, when properly adapted to address the DPET framework, can generate a viable and innovative process of collaborative DT that is productive, fun, and engaging. The DPET proposed framework intents to help establish how new SG solutions could be defined for new goals through flexible DT. Applications in other areas of research and development can also benefit from these findings.

Keywords: board games, design thinking, methodology, serious games

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Authors: L. Cesari, D. Alonso, F. Mutelet

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The interest in cold production has been on the increase in absorption chillers for many years. In fact, the absorption cycles replace the compressor and thus reduce electrical consumption. The devices also allow waste heat generated through industrial activities to be recovered and cooled to a moderate temperature in accordance with regulatory guidelines. Many working fluids were investigated but could not compete with the commonly used {H2O + LiBr} and {H2O + NH3} to author’s best knowledge. Yet, the corrosion, toxicity and crystallization phenomena of these mixtures prevent the development of the absorption technology. This work investigates the possible use of a glyceline deep eutectic solvent (DES) and CO2 as working fluid in an absorption chiller. To do so, good knowledge of the mixtures is required. Experimental measurements (vapor-liquid equilibria, density, and heat capacity) were performed to complete the data lacking in the literature. The performance of the mixtures was quantified by the calculation of the coefficient of performance (COP). The results show that working fluids containing DES + CO2 are an interesting alternative and lead to different trails of working mixtures for absorption and chiller.

Keywords: absorption devices, deep eutectic solvent, energy valorization, experimental data, simulation

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Authors: Ahuva Even-Zohar, Shoshi Werner

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Context: Sexuality is an important aspect of overall quality of life for individuals across different age groups and health conditions. Sexual interest and activity continue to be important and play a role in people's life as they age. Despite this, there is limited research on the sexual health of older adults. Research Aim: The study aims to examine the knowledge, attitudes, and sexual activity of older adults and to explore the relationship between sexual activity and quality of life among this population. Methodology: The study involved 203 Jewish participants from Israel, with an average age of 69.59. The participants completed questionnaires administered through an Internet panel. The questionnaires measured variables such as knowledge about and attitudes towards sexuality, sexual activity, quality of life, and socio-demographic information. Findings: The study found that a majority of the participants reported engaging in sexual activity, with most of them experiencing full sexual intercourse. Approximately half of the participants expressed high levels of satisfaction with their sexual activity. The results indicated that older adults demonstrated a moderate level of knowledge and permissive attitudes towards sexuality in later life. Moreover, higher levels of knowledge and permissive attitudes were associated with increased sexual activity. The frequency of sexual activity was identified as a predictor of quality of life, with a mediating effect on the relationship between attitudes towards older adults' sexuality and quality of life. Notably, men and older adults who were married or in a relationship reported higher frequencies of sexual activity compared to women and older adults without a partner. Furthermore, a majority of participants did not seek professional help or discuss their sexual concerns with a therapist. Theoretical Importance: This research contributes to our understanding of a topic that is often considered taboo - sexuality among older adults. It highlights that older adults maintain an interest in sexual activity, and that engaging in such activity contributes to their overall quality of life. Data Collection and Analysis Procedures: The data for this study were collected using structured questionnaires administered through an Internet panel. The questionnaires included closed-ended questions, allowing for quantitative data analysis. Descriptive statistics and regression analysis were performed to examine the relationships between the variables. Questions Addressed: This study aimed to address the following questions: What is the level of knowledge and attitudes towards sexuality among older adults? How prevalent is sexual activity among older adults and what factors are associated with it? How does sexual activity impact the quality of life of older adults? Do older adults seek professional help for their sexual concerns? Conclusion: The main conclusion drawn from this research is that sexuality is a crucial aspect of older adults' lives and significantly contributes to their quality of life. The study emphasizes the need for educational programs aimed at older adults and professionals, which promote the understanding and benefits of sexuality in later life. It also suggests that professionals should actively encourage older individuals to seek help and support when experiencing difficulties related to sexuality.

Keywords: men, older adults, quality of life, sexuality, women

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Authors: Valentine Seymour

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Environmental volunteering organisations use questionnaires to explore the relationship between environmental volunteers and their health. To the author’s best knowledge, no one has explored volunteers’ health perception, which could be considered when designing a health impact measurement tool used to increase effective communication. This paper examines environmental volunteers' perceptions of health, knowledge which can be used to design a health impact measurement tool. This study uses focus group interviews, content analysis, and a general inductive approach to explore the health perceptions of volunteers who engage in environmental volunteering activities from the perspective of UK charity The Conservation Volunteers. Findings showed that volunteer groups presented were relatively similar in how they defined the term health, with their overall conceptual model closely resembling that of the World Health Organization 1948 definition. This suggests that future health impact measurement tools in the environmental volunteering sector could base their design around the World Health Organization’s definition.

Keywords: health perception, impact measurement, mental models, tool development

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Authors: Tangyie Evani, Edmond Biloa, Emmanuel Nforbi, Lem Lilian Atanga, Kom Beatrice

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The dynamics of languages in contact necessitates a close study of how its users negotiate meanings from shared values in the process of cross-cultural communication. A transverse analysis of the situation demonstrates the existence of complex efforts on connecting cultural knowledge to cross-linguistic competencies within a widening range of communicative exchanges. This paper sets to examine the psychology of cross-cultural communication in a multi-linguistic setting like Cameroon where many local and international languages are in close contact. The paper equally analyses the pertinence of existing macro sociological concepts as fundamental knowledge traits in literal and idiomatic cross semantic mapping. From this point, the article presents a path model of connecting sociolinguistics to the increasing adoption of a widening range of communicative genre piloted by the on-going globalisation trends with its high-speed information technology machinery. By applying a cross cultural analysis frame, the paper will be contributing to a better understanding of the fundamental changes in the nature and goals of cross-cultural knowledge in pragmatics of communication and cultural acceptability’s. It emphasises on the point that, in an era of increasing global interchange, a comprehensive inclusive global culture through bridging gaps in cross-cultural communication would have significant potentials to contribute to achieving global social development goals, if inadequacies in language constructs are adjusted to create avenues that intertwine with sociocultural beliefs, ensuring that meaningful and context bound sociolinguistic values are observed within the global arena of communication.

Keywords: cross-cultural communication, customary language, literalisms, primary meaning, subclasses, transubstantiation

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Authors: Natacha Jesus-Silva, Carla S. Pereira, Natercia Durao, Maria Das Dores Formosinho, Cristina Costa-Lobo

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Any assessment process, by its very nature, raises a wide range of doubts, uncertainties, and insecurities of all kinds. The evaluation process should be ethically irreproachable, treating each and every one of the evaluated according to a conduct that ensures that the process is fair, contributing to all recognize and feel well with the processes and results of the evaluation. This is a very important starting point and implies that positive and constructive conceptions and attitudes are developed regarding the evaluation of teaching performance, where students' responsibility is desired. It is not uncommon to find teachers feeling threatened at various levels, in particular as regards their autonomy and their professional dignity. Evaluation must be useful in that it should enable decisions to be taken to improve teacher performance, the quality of teaching or the learning climate of the school. This study is part of a research project whose main objective is to identify, select, evaluate and synthesize the available evidence on Quality Indicators in Higher Education. In this work, the 01 parameters resulting from pedagogical surveys in a Portuguese higher education institution in the north of the country will be presented, surveys for the 2015/2016 school year, presented to 1751 students, in a total of 11 degrees and 18 master's degrees. It has analyzed the evaluation made by students with respect to the performance of a group of 68 teachers working full time. This paper presents the lessons learned in the last three academic years, allowing for the identification of the effects on the following areas: teaching strategies and methodologies, capacity of systematization, learning climate, creation of conditions for active student participation. This paper describes the procedures resulting from the descriptive analysis (frequency analysis, descriptive measures and association measures) and inferential analysis (ANOVA one-way, MANOVA one-way, MANOVA two-way and correlation analysis).

Keywords: teaching performance, higher education, students responsibility, indicators of teaching management

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Authors: Tuba Zahra, Aakash Parekh

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Hyperspectral remote sensing refers to imaging of objects or materials in narrow conspicuous spectral bands. Hyperspectral images (HSI) enable the extraction of spectral signatures for objects or materials observed. These images contain information about the reflectance of each pixel across the electromagnetic spectrum. It enables the acquisition of data simultaneously in hundreds of spectral bands with narrow bandwidths and can provide detailed contiguous spectral curves that traditional multispectral sensors cannot offer. The contiguous, narrow bandwidth of hyperspectral data facilitates the detailed surveying of Earth's surface features. This would otherwise not be possible with the relatively coarse bandwidths acquired by other types of imaging sensors. Hyperspectral imaging provides significantly higher spectral and spatial resolution. There are several use cases that represent the commercial applications of hyperspectral remote sensing. Each use case represents just one of the ways that hyperspectral satellite imagery can support operational efficiency in the respective vertical. There are some use cases that are specific to VNIR bands, while others are specific to SWIR bands. This paper discusses the different commercially viable use cases that are significant for HSI application areas, such as agriculture, mining, oil and gas, defense, environment, and climate, to name a few. Theoretically, there is n number of use cases for each of the application areas, but an attempt has been made to streamline the use cases depending upon economic feasibility and commercial viability and present a review of literature from this perspective. Some of the specific use cases with respect to agriculture are crop species (sub variety) detection, soil health mapping, pre-symptomatic crop disease detection, invasive species detection, crop condition optimization, yield estimation, and supply chain monitoring at scale. Similarly, each of the industry verticals has a specific commercially viable use case that is discussed in the paper in detail.

Keywords: agriculture, mining, oil and gas, defense, environment and climate, hyperspectral, VNIR, SWIR

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Authors: C. V. Pietreanu, S. E. Zaharia, C. Dinu

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Hazard assessment and risks quantification are key components for estimating the impact of existing regulations. But since regulatory compliance cannot cover all risks in aviation, the authors point out that by studying causal factors and eliminating uncertainty, an accurate analysis can be outlined. The research debuts by making delimitations on notions, as confusion on the terms over time has reflected in less rigorous analysis. Throughout this paper, it will be emphasized the fact that the variation in human performance and organizational factors represent the biggest threat from an operational perspective. Therefore, advanced risk assessment methods analyzed by the authors aim to understand vulnerabilities of the system given by a nonlinear behavior. Ultimately, the mathematical modeling of existing hazards and risks by eliminating uncertainty implies establishing an optimal solution (i.e. risk minimization).

Keywords: control, human factor, optimization, risk management, uncertainty

Procedia PDF Downloads 236