Search results for: strategies for expansion

Authors: Imen Abid, Rachel Calvet, Michel Baltas

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Flavonoids are secondary metabolites that belong to a polyphenolic class, present in fruits and vegetables, playing a significant role in biological systems. The structural variations of these flavonoids are associated with many biological and pharmacological activities (antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anticancer, antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral, and antimalarial). Given their importance in plants and health-promoting roles in humans, significant efforts have been devoted towards their isolation of flavonoids and chemical elaboration (organic synthesis). But with the increasing public concern over environmental degradation and future resources, it is of great importance for chemists to come up with different approaches, less hazardous to human health and the environment. Being employed in large amounts, the solvents used in organic synthesis are high on the list of environmental pollutants. To overcome these problems, our approach is to develop unconventional processes involving solvent-free conditions. The application of mechanical forces to solvent-free or solvent-less reaction mixtures through the use of ball mills offers many advantages over traditional solvent-based strategies. It is one of the unconventional activation methods, which makes it possible to overcome the use of solvents, in the context of green chemistry and more respectful of the environment.

Keywords: organic synthesis, green chemistry, mecanochemistry, pharmaceutical molecules

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Authors: Eva Degraeuwe, Margo Vandenheede, Nicholas Rennie, Jolien Braem, Miryam Serry, Frederik Berrevoet, Piet Pattyn, Wouter Willaert, InciSioN Belgium Consortium

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Background: Worldwide, five billion people lack access to safe and affordable surgical care. An added 1.27 million surgeons, anesthesiologists, and obstetricians (SAO) are needed by 2030 to meet the target of 20 per 100,000 population and to reach the goal of the Lancet Commission on Global Surgery. A well-informed future generation exposed early on to the current challenges in global surgery (GS) is necessary to ensure a sustainable future. Methods: InciSioN, the International Student Surgical Network, is a non-profit organization by and for students, residents, and fellows in over 80 countries. InciSioN Belgium, one of the prominent national working groups, has made a vast progression and collaborated with other networks to fill the educational gap, stimulate advocacy efforts and increase interactions with the international network. This report describes a roadmap to achieve sustainable development and education within GS, with the example of InciSioN Belgium. Results: Since the establishment of the organization’s branch in 2019, it has hosted an educational workshop for first-year residents in surgery, engaging over 2500 participants, and established a recurring directing board of 15 members. In the year 2020-2021, InciSioN Ghent has organized three workshops combining educational and interactive sessions for future prime advocates and surgical candidates. InciSioN Belgium has set up a strong formal coalition with the Belgian Medical Students’ Association (BeMSA), with its own standing committee, reaching over 3000+ medical students annually. In 2021-2022, InciSioN Belgium broadened to a multidisciplinary approach, including dentistry and nursing students and graduates within workshops and research projects, leading to a member and exposure increase of 450%. This roadmap sets strategic goals and mechanisms for the GS community to achieve nationwide sustained improvements in the research and education of GS focused on future SAOs, in order to achieve the GS sustainable development goals. In the coming year, expansion is directed to a formal integration of GS into the medical curriculum and increased international advocacy whilst inspiring SAOs to integrate into GS in Belgium. Conclusion: The development and implementation of durable change for GS are necessary. The student organization InciSioN Belgium is growing and hopes to close the colossal gap in GS and inspire the growth of other branches while sharing the know-how of a student organization.

Keywords: advocacy, education, global surgery, InciSioN, student network

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Authors: Ramona Moldovan, Doina Cosman, Sebastian Moldovan, Radu Popp, Victor Pop

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MENTALICA is a project aimed at developing and evaluating a platform that can assist individuals diagnosed with severe mental disorders and their families in managing the consequences associated with severe mental disorders, recurrence risks, prevention strategies and treatment options. MENTALICA is a platform based on guidance issued by some of the most prominent scientific organizations in the world. In order to personalize the information provided, the program explores details about the personal and family history of mental disorders. MENTALICA summarizes the answers and gives respondents a personal assessment. This includes personalized information and support about schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and schizoaffective disorder. MENTALICA includes several modules: Family history tools, Risk assessment tools and Risk factor sheets, Practical guides for patients, Practical guides for families, Guidelines for clinicians. Currently, there are no available guidelines for genetic counselling for mental disorders. Respondents can print out their reports and discuss them with family members or their doctors. We will briefly present the current status of MENTALICA and its implications for patients, professionals and the community.

Keywords: genetic counseling, mental disorders, platform

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Authors: Marlyn Mathew

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Communication is the key factor in any vocational /job set-up. However many persons with disabilities suffer a deficit in this very area in terms of comprehension, expression and cognitive skills making it difficult for them to get employed appropriately or stay employed. Vocational Rehabilitation is a continuous and coordinated process which involves the provision of vocational related services designed to enable a person with disability to obtain and maintain employment. Therefore the role of the speech language pathologist is crucial in assessing the communication deficits and needs of the individual at the various phases of employment- right from the time of seeking a job and attending interview with suitable employers and also at regular intervals of the employment. This article discusses the various communication deficits and the obstacles faced by individuals with special needs including but not limited to cognitive- linguistic deficits, execution function deficits, speech and language processing difficulties and strategies that can be introduced in the workplace to overcome these obstacles including use of visual cues, checklists, flow charts. The paper also throws light on the importance of educating colleagues and work partners about the communication difficulties faced by the individual. This would help to reduce the communication barriers in the workplace, help colleagues develop an empathetic approach and also reduce misunderstandings that can arise as a result of the communication impairment.

Keywords: vocational rehabilitation, disability, speech language pathologist, cognitive, linguistics

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Authors: Majed Ahmadi

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In recent years, the high penetration of different types of renewable energy sources (RESs) has affected most of the available strategies. The main motivations behind the high penetration of RESs are clean energy, modular system and easy installation. Among different types of RESs, wind turbine (WT) is an interesting choice referring to the availability of wind in almost any area. The new technologies of WT can provide energy from residential applications to wide grid connected applications. Regarding the WT, advantages such as reducing the dependence on fossil fuels and enhancing the independence and flexibility of large power grid are the most prominent. Nevertheless, the high volatile nature of wind speed injects much uncertainty in the grid that if not managed optimally can put the analyses far from the reality.the aim of this project is scrutiny and to offer proper ways for renewing distribution networks with envisage the effects of wind power plants and uncertainties related to distribution systems including wind power generating plants output rate and consumers consuming rate and also decrease the incidents of the whole network losses, amount of pollution, voltage refraction and cost extent.to solve this problem we use dual point estimate method.And algorithm used in this paper is reformed bat algorithm, which will be under exact research furthermore the results.

Keywords: order renewal, wind turbines, bat algorithm, outspread production, uncertainty

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Authors: Miju Choi, Ava Seo

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Japan has been positioned as a major inbound market to Korea, accounting for about 31% of total inbound visitors until 2012. The percentage has sharply dropped each year since and remained in second place, reaching 13.33% in 2016. Meanwhile, China has been boosted as a major inbound market, reaching 46.79% in 2016. Chinese tourists mainly visit Korea with the major purpose of shopping. They consume Korean cosmetic/beauty products and clothes while Japanese tourists prefer to purchase healthy food such as ginseng and seaweed. This study aims to investigate and compare tourist shopping patterns across two major inbound markets, China and Japan. A quantitative approach using survey was applied from 2009 to 2016. Findings suggest Chinese visit Korea due to quality of product, value for money, and accessibility, and trust. Meanwhile, Japanese choose Korea as a shopping destination mainly due to convenience, affordability, and tourist attractions. Also, there were significant differences in shopping venues. For example, Japanese tourists prefer shopping at department stores while Chinese tourists prefer retail outlets and local markets. This study contributes to deeper understanding on two major inbound markets to Korea and suggests future marketing strategies.

Keywords: tourist shopping patterns, Korea, China, Japan, historical data

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Authors: Marcela De Oliveira, Marina P. Da Silva, Fernando C. G. Da Rocha, Jorge M. Santos, Jaime S. Cardoso, Paulo N. Lisboa-Filho

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Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is an immune-mediated disease of the central nervous system characterized by neurodegeneration, inflammation, demyelination, and axonal loss. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), due to the richness in the information details provided, is the gold standard exam for diagnosis and follow-up of neurodegenerative diseases, such as MS. Brain atrophy, the gradual loss of brain volume, is quite extensive in multiple sclerosis, nearly 0.5-1.35% per year, far off the limits of normal aging. Thus, the brain volume quantification becomes an essential task for future analysis of the occurrence atrophy. The analysis of MRI has become a tedious and complex task for clinicians, who have to manually extract important information. This manual analysis is prone to errors and is time consuming due to various intra- and inter-operator variability. Nowadays, computerized methods for MRI segmentation have been extensively used to assist doctors in quantitative analyzes for disease diagnosis and monitoring. Thus, the purpose of this work was to evaluate the brain volume in MRI of MS patients. We used MRI scans with 30 slices of the five patients diagnosed with multiple sclerosis according to the McDonald criteria. The computational methods for the analysis of images were carried out in two steps: segmentation of the brain and brain volume quantification. The first image processing step was to perform brain extraction by skull stripping from the original image. In the skull stripper for MRI images of the brain, the algorithm registers a grayscale atlas image to the grayscale patient image. The associated brain mask is propagated using the registration transformation. Then this mask is eroded and used for a refined brain extraction based on level-sets (edge of the brain-skull border with dedicated expansion, curvature, and advection terms). In the second step, the brain volume quantification was performed by counting the voxels belonging to the segmentation mask and converted in cc. We observed an average brain volume of 1469.5 cc. We concluded that the automatic method applied in this work can be used for the brain extraction process and brain volume quantification in MRI. The development and use of computer programs can contribute to assist health professionals in the diagnosis and monitoring of patients with neurodegenerative diseases. In future works, we expect to implement more automated methods for the assessment of cerebral atrophy and brain lesions quantification, including machine-learning approaches. Acknowledgements: This work was supported by a grant from Brazilian agency Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (number 2019/16362-5).

Keywords: brain volume, magnetic resonance imaging, multiple sclerosis, skull stripper

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Authors: Hanit Ohana, Anat Scher

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For decades, attachment research examined how mothers’ attachment styles shape parenting and specific aspects of child development. Only limited research addressed pubertal development from the perspective of attachment relationships. The current study focused on pubertal development at 10 years of age, as defined by Tanner (PDS), and examined the associations with both mothers’ and fathers’ attachment styles (ECR-S). Sixty-nine parents and their children from a medium SES participated in the study. It was found that whereas mothers’ attachment was not related to the child’s puberty development, fathers’ attachment was associated with their daughter’s pubertal development. Specifically, in girls, but not boys, advanced pubertal development was positively correlated with fathers’ avoidance (r = .37, p = 0.05), and negatively correlated with anxiety scores (r = -.36, p = 0.05). This result raises the possibility that for girls, a relationship with fathers may serve as a psychological stressor, and in turn, induce concerns regarding resources and availability of interpersonal support. Such processes may contribute to different reproductive timing and strategies, including delayed and accelerated pubertal development. As more data are collected, we will be able to address with more power the role of parent’s attachment in shaping the pubertal development of their young adolescents. Expanding the understanding of aspects of pubertal development –an important milestone of human development- and the possible linkages with parental attachment is important for researchers and clinicians.

Keywords: attachment style, children, gender, parents, puberty

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Authors: Phimsupha Kokchang, Divine Ifransca Wijaya

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The energy transition is crucial for mitigating climate change and achieving sustainable development and resilience. As the energy transition advances, generation Z is entering the economic world and will soon be responsible for taking care of the environment. This study aims to investigate the factors influencing generation Z’s pro-environmental behavior to support the energy transition. The theory of planned behavior approach was combined with the pro-environmental behavior concept to examine generation Z’s support toward the energy transition through participating in activism, using energy from renewable sources, opting for energy-efficient utilities or vehicles, and influencing others. Data were collected through an online questionnaire of 400 respondents aged 18-26 living in Jakarta, Indonesia. Partial least square structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) using SmartPLS 3.0 software was used to analyze the reliability and validity of the measurement model. The results show that attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behavior control positively correlate with generation Z’s pro-environmental behavior to support the energy transition. This finding could enhance understanding and provide insights to formulate effective strategies and policies to increase generation Z’s support towards the energy transition. This study contributes to the energy transition discussion as it is included in the Sustainable Development Goals, as well as pro-environmental behavior and theory of planned behavior literature.

Keywords: energy transition, pro-environmental behavior, theory of planned behavior, generation Z

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Authors: A. Pontrandolfi, G. Enjolras, F. Capitanio

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The study analyses the strategies Italian farmers use to cope with the risks that face their production. We specifically explore the potential and the limitations of the economic tools for climatic risk management in agriculture of the Common Agricultural Policy 2014-2020, that foresees contributions for economic tools for risk management, in relation to farms’ needs, exposure and vulnerability of agricultural areas to climatic risk. We consider at the farm level approaches to hedge risks in terms of the use of technical tools (agricultural practices, pesticides, fertilizers, irrigation) and economic/financial instruments (insurances, etc.). We develop cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses as well as analyses of correlation that underline the main differences between the way farms adapt their structure and management towards risk. The results show a preference for technical tools, despite the presence of important public aids on economic tools such as insurances. Therefore, there is a strong need for a more effective and integrated risk management policy scheme. Synergies between economic tools and risk reduction actions of a more technical, structural and management nature (production diversification, irrigation infrastructures, technological and management innovations and formation-information-consultancy, etc.) are emphasized.

Keywords: agriculture and climate change, climatic risk management, insurance schemes, farmers' approaches to risk management

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Authors: Samuel Emeka Anarah, Kingsley Nnaemeka Ogbu, Obasi Arinze

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Quantifying the hydrological response due to changes in climate change is imperative for proper management of water resources within a watershed. The impact of climate change on the hydrology of the Upper Ebony River (UER) watershed, South East Nigeria, was studied using the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) hydrological model. A climatological time series analysis from 1985 - 2014 using non-parametric test showed significant negative trends in precipitation and relative humidity trend while minimum and maximum temperature, solar radiation and wind speed showed significant positive trends. Future hypothetical land-use change scenarios (Scenarios 1, 2, 3 and 4) representing urbanization and conversion of forest to agricultural land were combined with future downscaled climate model (CSIRO-Mk3-6-0) and simulated in SWAT model. Relative to the Baseline scenario (2005 - 2014), the results showed a decrease in streamflow by 10.29%, 26.20%, 11.80% and 26.72% for Scenarios 1, 2, 3, and 4 respectively. Model results suggest development of adaptation strategies to cope with the predicted hydrological conditions under future climate change in the watershed.

Keywords: climate change, hydrology, runoff, SWAT model

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Authors: Farnoosh Faal

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The excessive reliance on private cars has led to a range of problems, such as traffic congestion, air pollution, and carbon emissions, which have significant impacts on public health and the environment. Public open spaces have the potential to promote sustainable transportation and reduce dependence on cars by providing alternative mobility options, including walking, cycling, and public transit. This paper examines the existing research on the relationship between public open spaces and sustainable transportation. It discusses the key design principles and planning strategies that can enhance the accessibility and safety of public open spaces, particularly for pedestrians and cyclists. The paper also explores the role of public open spaces in promoting active mobility and reducing car use in urban and suburban contexts. Finally, the paper highlights the policy and institutional barriers that hinder the integration of public open spaces with sustainable transportation systems and suggests some potential solutions to overcome these barriers. Overall, the paper argues that public open spaces have immense potential to facilitate sustainable transportation and reduce car dependence, and therefore, it is important to prioritize the development and maintenance of public open spaces as a key component of sustainable urban and regional planning.

Keywords: public open space, sustainable transportation, active mobility, car dependence, urban and regional planning, traffic congestion

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Authors: A. Esra İdemen, Sinan M. Şener, Emrah Acar

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The technological paradigm of the disaster management field, especially in the case of governmental intervention strategies, is generally based on rapid and flexible accommodation solutions. From various technical solution patterns used to address the immediate housing needs of disaster victims, the adaptive re-use of existing buildings can be considered to be both low-cost and practical. However, there is a scarcity of analytical methods to screen, select and adapt buildings to help decision makers in cases of emergency. Following an extensive literature review, this paper aims to highlight key points and problem areas associated with the adaptive re-use of buildings within the disaster management context. In other disciplines such as real estate management, the adaptive re-use potential (ARP) of existing buildings is typically based on the prioritization of a set of technical and non-technical criteria which are then weighted to arrive at an economically viable investment decision. After a disaster, however, the assessment of the ARP of buildings requires consideration of different/additional layers of analysis which stem from general disaster management principles and the peculiarities of different types of disasters, as well as of their victims. In this paper, a discussion of the development of an adaptive re-use potential (ARP) assessment model is presented. It is thought that governmental and non-governmental decision makers who are required to take quick decisions to accommodate displaced masses following disasters are likely to benefit from the implementation of such a model.

Keywords: adaptive re-use of buildings, disaster management, temporary housing, assessment model

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Authors: Saroj Panthi

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The red panda (Ailurus fulgens fulgens) is distributed throughout the Himalayas and is found in both protected and unprotected areas of Nepal. Loss and fragmentation of habitat threaten red panda population throughout its range, and as a consequence, it is listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Despite this pressing situation, data on the ecology of the red panda in western Nepal are lacking. Our aim in the current study was to determine the distribution, associated habitats, and summer diet of the red panda in Dhorpatan Hunting Reserve (DHR), Nepal. Evidence of red pandas was found in all 7 blocks of the reserve, spanning an area of 345.8 km2, between elevations of 2800 m and 4000 m and predominantly (> 75%) in forests comprising plant communities dominated by Abies spectabilis, Acer caesium, Tsuga domusa, and Betula utilis, with ground cover of Arundinaria spp. The dominant plant found in scat of the red panda was Arundinaria spp. (81.7%), with Acer spp., B. utilis, and lichen also frequently present. Livestock grazing and human activities were significantly higher in habitats where signs of pandas were recorded than in areas where they were absent. This habitat overlap between the red panda and livestock potentially poses a major threat to the panda’s survival in the DHR, a fact that should be taken into account in devising management strategies for this threatened species.

Keywords: red panda, Dhorpatan hunting reserve, diet, habitat preference

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Authors: Youngsub Oh, Youngsoon Kim

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As the second largest group among international marriages in Korea, Vietnamese married immigrant women have been exposed to psychological crisis like divorce and family violence. The purpose of this study is to understand how to counsel those women from the perspective of indigenous healing as their own psychological problem-solving way. To this end, this study reviewed Vietnamese cultural literatures on their mentality as well as Vietnamese medical literatures on indigenous healing. The research results are as follows: First, cultural foundations that have formed Vietnamese mentality are Confucian value system, reserved communication, and religious pluralism. These cultural backgrounds play an important role in understanding their own therapeutic tradition. Second, Vietnamese indigenous healing considers cause of mental disease as a collapse of balance between mind and body and environment. Thus, indigenous treatment deals with psychological problems through a recovery of the balance from the holistic perspective. In fact, indigenous healing has been actively practiced in everyday place as well as hospital until today. The implications of Vietnamese indigenous healing for multicultural counseling in Korea are as follows: First, Korean counselors need to interactively understand their own assumptions on indigenous healing as well as counselees’ own assumptions. Second, a variety of psychological intervention strategies can be drawn from Vietnamese indigenous healing. Third, indigenous healing needs to be integrated with modern techniques of counseling and psychotherapy, as both treatments are not mutually exclusive but complementary.

Keywords: indigenous healing, Korea, multicultural counseling, Vietnamese married immigrant women

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Authors: Hagar Elsayed

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This case study examines the framing of the diverse populations of Arab, Muslim and South Asian immigrants and their descendants in local communities by both federal and local law enforcement agencies. It explores how urban spaces and policing are constructed as necessary components of national security in the context of the war on terror by focusing on practices employed in local spaces such as Dearborn, Michigan and training methods adopted on a national level. The proliferation of American Arabs as ‘terrorist’ works to legitimize not only increasing state surveillance, but also military strategies which infringe on ‘inside’ spaces. Sustaining these progressively militarized civil policing operations, which demand intense mobilization of state power, requires that whole neighborhoods and districts are reimagined to portray these geographies in a certain light. This case study is central in understanding how Arab, South Asian, and Muslim civilians’ transformation into a “national security” issue have created militarized police enforcement agencies that employ military tactics to map the terrain of Otherness. This study looks at how race factors into key recent incidents, and asks whether this militarization builds from past forms of racist policing, and whether these specific incidents are reflective of larger patterns or whether they are just isolated incidents.

Keywords: American-Muslims, Arabs, militarization, policing

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Authors: Tesfaye Mengistu

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This thesis aims to investigate the effectiveness of Reinforcement Learning (RL) for Autonomous Energy Management solutions. The study explores the potential of Model Free RL approaches, such as Monte Carlo RL and Q-learning, to improve energy management by autonomously adjusting energy management strategies to maximize efficiency. The research investigates the implementation of RL algorithms for optimizing energy consumption in a single-agent environment. The focus is on developing a framework for the implementation of RL algorithms, highlighting the importance of RL for enabling autonomous systems to adapt quickly to changing conditions and make decisions based on previous experiences. Moreover, the paper proposes RL as a novel energy management solution to address nations' CO2 emission goals. Reinforcement learning algorithms are well-suited to solving problems with sequential decision-making patterns and can provide accurate and immediate outputs to ease the planning and decision-making process. This research provides insights into the challenges and opportunities of using RL for energy management solutions and recommends further studies to explore its full potential. In conclusion, this study provides valuable insights into how RL can be used to improve the efficiency of energy management systems and supports the use of RL as a promising approach for developing autonomous energy management solutions in residential buildings.

Keywords: artificial intelligence, reinforcement learning, monte carlo, energy management, CO2 emission

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Authors: Vano Benidze, Ioseb Berikashvili

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Since 2003, Georgia has implemented many successful reforms, however, economic growth, poverty alleviation and unemployment reduction are still major challenges facing country’s economy. This is due to the fact that most reforms during the past 2 decades were mainly geared toward improving the institutional environment, while economy’s sectoral composition and industrial policy were largely ignored. Each individual sector plays its own specific role in the functioning of the whole economy that cannot be accomplished by any other sector. However, given the unavoidable reality that one sector uses intermediate inputs from other industries to produce its output and sells part of its output to other sectors, the importance of sectors should consider these sectoral interdependencies as well. Simply put, not all industries are equally useful for economic growth and development. In this context, the aim of this paper is to identify the key economic sectors of the Georgian economy. Leontief input-output analysis has been used in deriving backward and forwards linkages for all sectors in the Georgian economy for 2020 and 2021. Sectors with both high backward and forward linkages have been identified as key sectors of the economy. The results obtained are beneficial for the success of the economic and industrial policy of Georgia. If targeted properly by thoughtful policy intervention, key sectors identified in this paper will have a high potential of spreading growth impulses throughout the economy and will possibly generate higher economic growth.

Keywords: structural change, key sectors, development strategies, input-output analysis

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Authors: Joanna Bielecka-Prus

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In the view of increasing number of labour migrations associated with broadly understood economic crisis, many families experience migration separation. Currently, in the era of globalization, migration movements include an increasing number of families, more and more frequently a new type of family, a transnational family. Accordingly, the functions of the family, family practice of care, and the relationships between members of the group change especially in the case of female migration. Sociologists highlight the emotional aspects of migrants’ family lives: managing emotions, coping with guilt, loneliness and rejection. Not without significance is the fact that today's public discourse often represents migrant women in a negative light. On the one hand, consumption and expanding material resources are assessed positively, on the other hand, deficits emotional and devastation of family life in the transnational families appear. Opinions expressed by different environments: the media, the political environment, etc. do not always take into account the context of mobility and their different effects on family life. The paper will present the analysis of qualitative studies of Polish female migrants’ families left-behind (children, parents, caregivers N = 100) and their coping strategies in different situations in the event of migration separation. The main area of care deficit will be defined and it will be showed who and how help to solve the problems.

Keywords: care, children left behind, female migration, parents left behind

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Authors: Dianne Williams

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This study examined the peer/individual domain of the Risk Factor Prevention Paradigm (RFPP) to assess the risk and protective factors that impact criminal gang involvement among at-risk males residing in a juvenile home in Trinidad and Tobago. The RFPP allows for the identification of both risk and protective factors in a single, holistic framework to identify the relationship between risk factors, protective factors, and criminal gang involvement among at-risk male adolescents. Findings showed that having anti-social peers was the most significant risk factor associated with criminal gang involvement, while the most significant protective factor was having a positive social attitude. Moreover, while 65% of the boys reported never having been in a gang, 70% reported having hit, struck or used a weapon against someone, while 52% reported being involved in other violent incidents on more than two occasions. This suggests that while involvement with criminal gangs may not be common among this population, predisposing behavioral patterns are present. Results are expected to assist in the development of targeted strategies to reduce the attractiveness of gang membership.

Keywords: risk factor prevention paradigm, risk factors, protective factors, peer/individual domain, gang involvement, at-risk youth, trinidad and tobago, juvenile home

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Authors: Awad A. Younis, Elise Stronberg, Shifa Noor

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Malware attacks due to end-user vulnerabilities have been noticeably increased in the past few years. Investigating the factors that make an end-user vulnerable to those attacks is critical because they can be utilized to set up proactive strategies such as awareness and education to mitigate the impacts of those attacks. Some existing studies investigated demographic, behavioral, and cultural factors that make an end-user susceptible to malware attacks. However, it has been challenging to draw more general conclusions from individual studies due to the varieties in the type of end-users and different types of malware. Therefore, we conducted a systematic literature review (SLR) of the existing research for end-user susceptibility factors to malware attacks. The results showed while some demographic factors are mostly associated with malware infection regardless of the end users' type, age, and gender are not consistent among the same and different types of end-users. Besides, the association of culture and personality factors with malware infection are consistent in most of the selected studies and for all type of end-users. Moreover, malware infection varies based on age, geographic location, and host types. We propose that future studies should carefully take into consideration the type of end-users because different end users may be exposed to different threats or be targeted based on their user domains’ characteristics. Additionally, as different types of malware use different tactics to trick end-users, taking the malware types into consideration is important.

Keywords: cybersecurity, malware, end-users, demographics, personality, culture, systematic literature review

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Authors: Long Xumeng

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Place attachment focuses on the emotions and practices between people and their environment, and the influencing factors of place attachment vary depending on the nature of the place. As an important carrier of public slow-moving activities and urban culture, the feelings, cognition, and behaviors of the subjects involved in the use of mountain city trails have become the focus of research in this field. This paper will take Daijiaxiang Cliff Walkway in Yuzhong District, Chongqing City, as an example and analyze the evaluation results and correlation of each factor through questionnaire survey and field observation, using the three scales of Recreational Experience Scale, Satisfaction Scale, and Place Attachment Scale, as well as the intensity of activity, by using SPSS software. The study shows that there is a significant difference between the demographic variables of users' identity and age and the formation of place attachment; the degree of place attachment is significantly positively correlated with the emotion, industry, and service quality of recreational experience; and the recreational experience of the Mountain City Trail is significantly positively correlated with the overall satisfaction. By analyzing the influencing factors of recreational experience, satisfaction and place attachment, the corresponding conclusions and enhancement strategies were drawn to provide references for the renewal and construction of mountain city trails.

Keywords: mountain city trail, place attachment, recreational experience, satisfaction, urban renewal

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Authors: Bruno Pinto Vieira, Marco Antonio Calijorne Soares, Armando Sérgio de Aguiar Filho

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Nowadays, a massive amount of information has been produced by different data sources, including mobile devices and transactional systems. In this scenario, concerns arise on how to maintain or establish data quality, which is now treated as a product to be defined, measured, analyzed, and improved to meet consumers' needs, which is the one who uses these data in decision making and companies strategies. Information that reaches low levels of quality can lead to issues that can consume time and money, such as missed business opportunities, inadequate decisions, and bad risk management actions. The step of selecting, identifying, evaluating, and selecting data sources with significant quality according to the need has become a costly task for users since the sources do not provide information about their quality. Traditional data quality control methods are based on user experience or business rules limiting performance and slowing down the process with less than desirable accuracy. Using advanced machine learning algorithms, it is possible to take advantage of computational resources to overcome challenges and add value to companies and users. In this study, machine learning is applied to data quality analysis on different datasets, seeking to compare the performance of the techniques according to the dimensions of quality assessment. As a result, we could create a ranking of approaches used, besides a system that is able to carry out automatically, data quality assessment.

Keywords: machine learning, data quality, quality dimension, quality assessment

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Authors: Shivam Yadav, Neelam Atri

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Cyanobacteria, the photosynthetic prokaryotes are indispensable components of paddy soil contribute substantially to the nitrogen economy however often appended with metal load. They are well known to play crucial roles in maintenance of soil fertility and rice productivity. Nickel is one such metal that plays a vital role in the cellular physiology, however at higher concentrations it exerts adverse effects. Arsenic is another toxic metalloid that negatively affects the cyanobacterial proliferation. However species-specific comparative responses under As and Ni is largely unknown. The present study focuses on the comparative effects of nickel (Ni2+) and arsenite (As(III)) on two diazotrophic cyanobacterial species (Anabaena doliolum and Anabaena sp. PCC7120) in terms of antioxidative aspects. Oxidative damage measured in terms of lipid peroxidation and peroxide content was significantly higher after As(III) than Ni treatment as compared to control. Similarly, all the studied enzymatic and non-enzymatic parameters of antioxidative defense system except glutathione reductase (GR) showed greater induction against As(III) than Ni. Moreover, integrating comparative analysis of all studied parameters also demonstrated interspecies variation in terms of stress adaptive strategies reflected through higher sensitivity of Anabaena doliolum over Anabaena PCC7120.

Keywords: antioxidative system, arsenic, cyanobacteria, nickel

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Authors: Nwachi Prosper Louis, Cynthia Ogonna Ikesee

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The urban planning system of cities varies by country, but in general, it is an instrument for establishing long-term sustainable frameworks and plans for social, institutional and economic development. There is limited knowledge, development, and implementation of effective and sustainable urban planning structures and plans that encourage social inclusion in most communities. This has led to social, economic and environmental deficiencies resulting in community isolation and segregation in class, ethnicity, and race. Encouraging public participation in the urban planning process is one of the instruments that cities can utilise to achieve better social inclusion outcomes. This paper explores how public participation can be used as a social inclusion tool in the urban planning process to achieve better outcomes in Abuja urban planning system. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of this approach. Also, a conceptual model was developed which evaluates the relationship between public participation and social inclusion outcomes in the urban planning process. It was seen that every community has its peculiar way of life and challenges, and an understanding of these social societal needs is paramount in the urban planning process. Therefore, the involvement of the public in identifying their needs, selecting priorities and identifying strategies offer better chances for developing solutions that are sustainable, feasible and implementable.

Keywords: public participation, social inclusion, urban planning, urban planning process

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Authors: Hiba Alkhalaf

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Historic cities and places of cultural significance is continuously under the pressure of economic development and social change that threaten its natural and cultural environment. The challenge here is to find a balance between preserving the cultural character while ensuring the socio-economic gains and continuity of its uniqueness. That is by sustaining the use, character, meaning and social interaction associated with the place, in other words the sense of place. The main argument here is what we attempt to conserve is the cultural physical and non-physical dimensions of the historic city. It is based on the proposition that what give the historic city its character is its strong sense of place- whether it is historic or current. When properly identified, its various dimensions (use, meaning and form) would help determine what to sustain and what not by making the development meaningfully related to the uniqueness of the historic place. Accordingly, those socio-economic features within the context of a changing historic environment needed to be clarified. This paper, thus, explores the various perspectives of the role of sense of place within the historic city and its connection to cultural heritage. It also reviews urban conservation practice as it is currently understood in the context of historic city development. It concludes that sense of place lies in complex interrelated relationships between various users of the place and the physical, economic, cultural, political, and environmental contexts in which they interact. This calls for the need to sustain the sense of place as part of the overall urban development and conservation strategies.

Keywords: cultural heritage, historic urban areas, urban development, sense of place

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Authors: Rania Sherif Abd El-Azim

Abstract:

The role of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in business has evolved and led to an era where industry leaders can no longer overlook the importance of being participative corporate citizens. This is not only because of the media’s skeptical attitude toward whether or not companies’ CSR efforts are sincere but also due to key stakeholders’ ability to hold companies to a higher standard than ever before as companies can gain competitive advantage through CSR. These programs result in addressing global challenges, such as climate, and poverty, or simply improving employee retention, so it has become increasingly clear that CSR is not just the new trend for companies but a necessary tool that organizations must integrate into their overall business strategies to build a stronger reputation as well as to also increase credibility among their key audience and enhance customers’ willingness to repurchase, pay premium price and enhancing positive word of mouth. According to the literature review, the link between CSR and competitive advantage at the firm level has long been an important topic for both CSR researchers and practitioners. Thus CSR can play an important role in enhancing the firm's competitive advantage, which seems an attractive area to investigate specially in Egypt. So, this paper will investigate the role of corporate social responsibility in enhancing the firm competitive advantage.

Keywords: corporate social responsibility, competitive advantage, corporate reputation, customers' willingness to repurchase, willingness to pay premium price, positive word of mouth

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Authors: Raymon P. Española

Abstract:

Hearing impaired students are admitted to regular high schools in the context of inclusive education. In this setting, several academic difficulties and social struggles are disregarded by many educators. The study aimed to describe the aspirations and lived experiences in mainstream classrooms of hearing impaired students. In the research process, the participants were interviewed using sign language. Thematic analysis of interview responses was done, supplemented by interviews with teachers and classroom observations. The study revealed four patterns of experiences: academic difficulties, coping mechanisms, identification with hearing peers, and impression management. This means that these learners were struggling in inclusive classrooms, where identification with and modeling the positive qualities of hearing peers were done to cope with academic difficulties and alter negative impressions about them. By implication, these learners tended to socially immerse themselves rather than resort to isolation. Along with this tendency was the aspiration for achievement as they were eager to finish post-secondary technical-vocational education. This means aspiring for continuing social immersion into the mainstream. All these findings provide insights to K-12 educators to increase the use of collaborative techniques and experiential learning strategies, as well as to adequately address the special educational needs of these students.

Keywords: descriptive, experiences and aspirations of hearing impaired learners, inclusive classrooms, Surigao City Philippines

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Authors: Maria Philokyprou, Aimilios Michael

Abstract:

Contemporary theories of sustainability, concerning the natural and built environment, have recently introduced an environmental attitude towards the architectural design that, in turn, affects the practice of conservation and reuse of the existing building stock. This paper presents an environmentally friendly approach towards the conservation of vernacular architecture and it is based on the results of a research program which involved the investigation of sustainable design elements of traditional buildings in Cyprus. The research in question showed that Cypriot vernacular architecture gave more emphasis on cooling rather than heating strategies. Another notable finding of the investigation was the great importance given to courtyards as they enhance considerably, and in various ways, the microclimatic conditions of the immediate environment with favorable results throughout the year. Moreover, it was shown that the reduction in temperature fluctuation observed in the closed and semi-open spaces, compared to the respective temperature fluctuation of the external environment - due to the thermal inertia of the building envelope - helps towards the achievement of more comfortable living conditions within traditional dwellings. This paper concludes with a proposal of a sustainable approach towards the conservation of the existing environment and the introduction of new environmental criteria for the conservation of traditional buildings, beyond the aesthetic, morphological and structural ones that are generally applied.

Keywords: bioclimatic, conservation, environmental, traditional dwellings, vernacular architecture

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Authors: Alireza Zabihi, Saeed Peyghami, Hossein Mokhtari

Abstract:

With the increasing deployment of renewable power plants, such as solar and wind, it is crucial to measure the harmonic situation of the grid. This paper proposes a global voltage harmonic index to measure the harmonic situation of the power grid with a focus on power transformers. The power electronics systems used to connect these plants to the network can introduce harmonics, leading to increased losses, reduced efficiency, false operation of protective relays, and equipment damage due to harmonic intensifications. The proposed index considers the losses caused by harmonics in power transformers which are of great importance and value to the network, providing a comprehensive measure of the harmonic situation of the grid. The effectiveness of the proposed index is evaluated on a real-world distribution network, and the results demonstrate its ability to identify the harmonic situation of the network, particularly in relation to power transformers. The proposed index provides a comprehensive measure of the harmonic situation of the grid, taking into account the losses caused by harmonics in power transformers. The proposed index has the potential to support power companies in optimizing their power systems and to guide researchers in developing effective mitigation strategies for harmonics in the power grid.

Keywords: global voltage harmonic index, harmonics, power grid, power quality, power transformers, renewable energy

Procedia PDF Downloads 127