Search results for: containment measures

Authors: N. N. Nkomo, M. L. Mayanchi

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The present study investigated various forms of disciplinary procedures or punishment used by teachers in secondary schools in Calabar Municipality, Nigera. There are agitations amongst parents and educators on the use of corporal punishment as a disciplinary measure against children. Those against the use of corporal punishment argue that this form of punishment does not teach, it only terminates behaviour temporarily and inculcates violence. Those in support are of the view that corporal punishment serves as a deterrent to others. This study sought to find out the most common measure of discipline employed by teachers in private and public schools. The study had three objectives, three research questions and two hypotheses. The design of the present study was the ex-post facto descriptive survey, since variables under study were not manipulated by the researcher. Teachers in Calabar Municipal Secondary Schools formed the population. A sample of 160 teachers was used for the study. The data collection instrument was a facts finding questionnaire titled Disciplinary Procedures Inventory. Data collected were analyzed using simple percentages and chi-square. The major findings were that physical measures such as flogging, exercise/drills, and painful postures were commonly used by teachers in secondary schools. It was also found that these measures were more often used in public schools. It was recommended that teachers should rather employ non-violent techniques of discipline than physical punishment.

Keywords: discipline, non-violent punishment, physical punishment, penalties, rewards

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Authors: O. A. Ajigini, E. N. Mwim

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Cybersecurity is the protection of computers, programs, networks, and data from attack, damage, unauthorised, unintended access, change, or destruction. Organisations collect, process and store their confidential and sensitive information on computers and transmit this data across networks to other computers. Moreover, the advent of internet technologies has led to various cyberattacks resulting in dangerous consequences for organisations. Therefore, with the increase in the volume and sophistication of cyberattacks, there is a need to develop models and make recommendations for the management of cybersecurity threats in organisations. This paper reports on various threats that cause malicious damage to organisations in cyberspace and provides measures on how these threats can be eliminated or reduced. The paper explores various aspects of protection measures against cybersecurity threats such as handling of sensitive data, network security, protection of information assets and cybersecurity awareness. The paper posits a model and recommendations on how to manage cybersecurity threats in organisations effectively. The model and the recommendations can then be utilised by organisations to manage the threats affecting their cyberspace. The paper provides valuable information to assist organisations in managing their cybersecurity threats and hence protect their computers, programs, networks and data in cyberspace. The paper aims to assist organisations to protect their information assets and data from cyberthreats as part of the contributions toward community engagement.

Keywords: confidential information, cyberattacks, cybersecurity, cyberspace, sensitive information

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Authors: Biswajit Seal, Dushyant Kumar, Shambhu Nath, A. B. Raju

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Extension of blast furnace campaign life is highly desired for blast furnace operators mainly because of reduction of operating cost and to avoid capital expenditure cost. Tata Steel Ltd, Jamshedpur plant operates seven blast furnaces with combination of old and new technologies. The focus of Tata Steel Ltd is to push for increasing productivity with good quality product and increasing campaign life. This has been challenging for older furnaces because older furnaces are generally equipped with less automation, old design and old equipment. Good operational practices, appropriate remedial measures, and regular planned maintenance helps to achieve long campaign life of old furnaces. Good operating practices like stable and consistent productivity, control of burden distribution, remedial measures like stack gunning and shotcreting for protection of stack wall, enhanced cooling system, and intermediate stack repair helps to achieve long campaign life of old blast furnaces. This paper describes experiences with the current old equipment and design of Tata Steel’s D Blast Furnace for campaign life extension.

Keywords: blast furnace, burden distribution, campaign life, productivity

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Authors: Maja Sajdak

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The aim of this paper is to present the concept of an agile enterprise model and to initiate discussion on the research assumptions of the model presented. The implementation of the research project "The agility of enterprises in the process of adapting to the environment and its changes" began in August 2014 and is planned to last three years. The article has the form of a work-in-progress paper which aims to verify and initiate a debate over the proposed research model. In the literature there are very few publications relating to research into agility; it can be concluded that the most controversial issue in this regard is the method of measuring agility. In previous studies the operationalization of agility was often fragmentary, focusing only on selected areas of agility, for example manufacturing, or analysing only selected sectors. As a result the measures created to date can only be treated as contributory to the development of precise measurement tools. This research project aims to fill a cognitive gap in the literature with regard to the conceptualization and operationalization of an agile company. Thus, the original contribution of the author of this project is the construction of a theoretical model that integrates manufacturing agility (consisting mainly in adaptation to the environment) and strategic agility (based on proactive measures). The author of this research project is primarily interested in the attributes of an agile enterprise which indicate that the company is able to rapidly adapt to changing circumstances and behave pro-actively.

Keywords: agile company, acuity, entrepreneurship, flexibility, research model, strategic leadership

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Authors: Shamas Ul Hassan, Nasir Mukhtar, Sajjad Ur Rehman, Asghar Ali Mian, Iftikhar Hussain, Muhammad Safdar Anjum

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The Mycoplasma gallisepticum (MG) is the major cause of economic looses in birds which is transmitted by free flying birds in the environment. These demands for improving the biosecurity measures at farm level including proper disposal of farm mortality and other wastes along with the inclusion of zoos and wild life parks in the MG surveillance programme. For the purpose of doing surveillance of MG in different pet, game and free flying birds a total of 12 samples each of peacocks, pheasants, ducks, pigeons, parrots, and house crows were included in the first ever study of its nature in Pakistan. During the study, the relevant samples along with recording clinical and postmortem findings were subjected to sero-prevalence, culture isolation and PCR system. Further PCR being more sensitive proves to be a better epidemiological tool. Seropositive findings revealed in peacocks, pheasants, ducks, pigeons, parrots, and crows were 66.7%, 58.3%, 41.7%, 41.7%, 16.7% and 16.7% respectively with some free flying birds giving ambiguous reactions. Whereas in the same order the culture/isolation positive results were recorded as 25%, 16.7%, 8.3%, 16.7%, 16.7%, and 25%. The samples were further confirmed on the basis of 732 bp product in PCR system. High rate of prevalence of MG in the pet, game and free flying birds regardless to their clinical findings demands to improve the biosecurity measures at the farm level with the minimum interaction of these birds with commercial poultry. Further the proper and timely disposal of all sorts of carcasses contaminated litter and wasted feed in such ways that the free flying birds are denied of picking up at those wastages. Moreover, MG surveillance system including the advances diagnostic techniques in wildlife parks and zoos be devised with proper timely preventive and therapeutic measures. The study proves that a variety of birds other then chicken either with or without clinical exhibitions carry MG organism which could be the potential source of infection for commercial poultry. The routine surveillance will be done to reduce the economic losses in poultry production.

Keywords: epidemiology, Mycoplasma gallisepticum (MG), free flying birds, surveillance, PCR

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Authors: Maria Brás

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The main purpose of the presentation is to identify the impacts and appropriate measures to prevent potential attacks, or minimize the risk of an attack in tourist destination. Terrorism has been growing in the shadow of unpredictability, however, is possible to minimize the danger of a terrorist attack by doing the: (1) recognition; (2); evaluation; (3) avoidance; (4) threat reduction. The vulnerability of tourism industry to terrorism is an undeniable fact, and terrorists know it. They use this advantage attacking tourists for very specific reasons, such as the: (1) international coverage by the media, “if it bleeds it leads” ; (2) chances of getting different nationalities at the same place and time; (3) possibility of destroyed the economy of a destination, or destinations (“terrorism contamination effect”), through the reduction of tourist demand; (4) psychological, and social disruption based on fear of negative consequences. Security incidents, such as terrorism, include different preventive measures that can be conducted in partnership with: tourism industry (hotels, airports, tourist attractions, among others); central government; public and/or private sector; local community; and media. The recovery strategies must be based on the dissemination of positive information to the media; in creating new marketing strategies that emphasize the social and cultural values of the destination; encourage domestic tourism; get government, or state, financial support.

Keywords: terrorism, tourism, safety, security, impacts, prevention, recovery

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Authors: Justina Jor, Mahmud Pinga

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Climate change has become a significant worldwide environmental challenge with extensive implications, compelling both governments and non-governmental organizations to remain vigilant, as it seemingly impacts various sectors of the global economy, including education. The study investigates the implementation of smart climate change measures for effective primary school management in Benue State, Nigeria. Theorized by the diffusion of innovations, the study was guided by two research questions, and two null hypotheses were formulated and tested. The study used a descriptive survey design. The population comprised 12,364 teachers from 2,721 primary schools, with a sample of 618 teachers from 136 schools selected through a multistage sampling procedure. Smart climate change measures questionnaire (SCCMQ) and key informant interview (KII) were used for data collection. The data collected were analyzed using mean and standard deviation to answer the research questions, while the Chi-square (χ2) test of goodness-of-fit was used to test the hypotheses at a 0.05 level of significance, with qualitative data analyzed using simple percentages, tables, and bar charts. The findings highlight the significant positive impact of green building practices on the efficient administration of primary schools in Benue State, Nigeria. The crucial integration of environmentally sustainable construction methods is emphasized for enhancing overall management in these educational institutions. In addition, the research demonstrates a favorable impact on the adoption of renewable energy solutions and effective school management. The utilization of renewable energy not only aligns with eco-friendly practices but also contributes to the overall operational efficiency and sustainability of primary schools in the region. The study recommends that educational authorities and policymakers prioritize integrating green building practices and renewable energy solutions, pointing towards the prospect of improved governance and functionality for primary education facilities not only in Benue but throughout Nigeria.

Keywords: smart, climate change, effective management, green building, renewable energy

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Authors: Sabrina Neururer, Marco Schweitzer, Werner Hackl, Bernhard Tilg, Patrick Raudaschl, Andreas Huber, Bernhard Pfeifer

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History and the current outbreak of Covid-19 have shown the deadly potential of infectious diseases. However, infectious diseases also have a serious impact on areas other than health and healthcare, such as the economy or social life. These areas are strongly codependent. Therefore, disease control measures, such as social distancing, quarantines, curfews, or lockdowns, have to be adopted in a very considerate manner. Infectious disease modeling can support policy and decision-makers with adequate information regarding the dynamics of the pandemic and therefore assist in planning and enforcing appropriate measures that will prevent the healthcare system from collapsing. In this work, an agent-based simulation package named “survival” for simulating infectious diseases is presented. A special focus is put on SARS-Cov-2. The presented simulation package was used in Austria to model the SARS-Cov-2 outbreak from the beginning of 2020. Agent-based modeling is a relatively recent modeling approach. Since our world is getting more and more complex, the complexity of the underlying systems is also increasing. The development of tools and frameworks and increasing computational power advance the application of agent-based models. For parametrizing the presented model, different data sources, such as known infections, wastewater virus load, blood donor antibodies, circulating virus variants and the used capacity for hospitalization, as well as the availability of medical materials like ventilators, were integrated with a database system and used. The simulation result of the model was used for predicting the dynamics and the possible outcomes and was used by the health authorities to decide on the measures to be taken in order to control the pandemic situation. The survival package was implemented in the programming language Java and the analytics were performed with R Studio. During the first run in March 2020, the simulation showed that without measures other than individual personal behavior and appropriate medication, the death toll would have been about 27 million people worldwide within the first year. The model predicted the hospitalization rates (standard and intensive care) for Tyrol and South Tyrol with an accuracy of about 1.5% average error. They were calculated to provide 10-days forecasts. The state government and the hospitals were provided with the 10-days models to support their decision-making. This ensured that standard care was maintained for as long as possible without restrictions. Furthermore, various measures were estimated and thereafter enforced. Among other things, communities were quarantined based on the calculations while, in accordance with the calculations, the curfews for the entire population were reduced. With this framework, which is used in the national crisis team of the Austrian province of Tyrol, a very accurate model could be created on the federal state level as well as on the district and municipal level, which was able to provide decision-makers with a solid information basis. This framework can be transferred to various infectious diseases and thus can be used as a basis for future monitoring.

Keywords: modelling, simulation, agent-based, SARS-Cov-2, COVID-19

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Authors: Julio Jesus Salazar, Max Jesus De Lama

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The challenges of water management are aggravated by global change, which implies high complexity and associated uncertainty; water management is difficult because water networks cross domains (natural, societal, and political), scales (space, time, jurisdictional, institutional, knowledge, etc.) and levels (area: patches to global; knowledge: a specific case to generalized principles). In this context, we need to apply natural and non-natural measures to manage water and soil. The Basin Management Methodology considers multifunctional measures of natural water retention and erosion control and soil formation to protect water resources and address the challenges related to the recovery or conservation of the ecosystem, as well as natural characteristics of water bodies, to improve the quantitative status of water bodies and reduce vulnerability to floods and droughts. This method of water management focuses on the positive impacts of the chemical and ecological status of water bodies, restoration of the functioning of the ecosystem and its natural services; thus, contributing to both adaptation and mitigation of climate change. This methodology was applied in 7 interventions in the sub-basin of the Shullcas River in Huancayo-Junín-Peru, obtaining great benefits in the framework of the participation of alliances of actors and integrated planning scenarios. To implement the methodology in the sub-basin of the Shullcas River, a process called Climate Smart Territories (CST) was used; with which the variables were characterized in a highly complex space. The diagnosis was then worked using risk management and adaptation to climate change. Finally, it was concluded with the selection of alternatives and projects of this type. Therefore, the CST approach and process face the challenges of climate change through integrated, systematic, interdisciplinary and collective responses at different scales that fit the needs of ecosystems and their services that are vital to human well-being. This methodology is now replicated at the level of the Mantaro river basin, improving with other initiatives that lead to the model of a resilient basin.

Keywords: climate-smart territories, climate change, ecosystem services, natural measures, Climate Smart Territories (CST) approach

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Authors: Thabiso Michael Mokotjomela, Jasper Knight

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Intensification of agricultural food production in sub-Saharan Africa is of paramount importance as a means of increasing the food security of communities that are already experiencing a range of environmental and socio-economic stresses. However, achieving this aim faces several challenges including ongoing climate change, increased resistance of diseases and pests, extreme environmental degradation partly due to biological invasions, land tenure and management practices, socio-economic developments of rural populations, and national population growth. In particular, non-native plant species tend to display greater adaptation capacity to environmental stress than native species that form important food resource base for human beings, thus suggesting a potential for usage to shift accordingly. Based on review of the historical benefits of non-native plant species in food production in sub-Saharan Africa, we propose that use of non-invasive, non-native plant species and/or the genetic modification of native species might be viable options for future agricultural sustainability in this region. Coupled with strategic foresight planning (e.g. use of biological control agents that suppress plant species’ invasions), the consumptive use of already-introduced non-native species might help in containment and control of possible negative environmental impacts of non-native species on native species, ecosystems and biodiversity, and soil fertility and hydrology. Use of non-native species in food production should be accompanied by low cost agroecology practices (e.g. conservation agriculture and agrobiodiversity) that may promote the gradual recovery of natural capital, ecosystem services, and promote conservation of the natural environment as well as enhance food security.

Keywords: food security, invasive species, agroecology, agrobiodiversity, socio-economic stresses

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Authors: R. Santos Jiménez, A. San-Antonio-González, M. del Río Merino, M. González Cortina, C. Viñas Arrebola

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On average, Europe generates around 890 million tons of construction and demolition waste (CDW) per year and only 50% of these CDW are recycled. This is far from the objectives determined in the European Directive for 2020 and aware of this situation, the European Countries are implementing national policies to prevent the waste that can be avoidable and to promote measures to increase recycling and recovering. In Spain, one of these measures has been the development of a CDW recycling guide for the manufacture of mortar, concrete, bricks and lightweight aggregates. However, there is still not enough information on the possibility of incorporating CDW materials in the manufacture of gypsum products. In view of the foregoing, the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid is creating a database with information on the possibility of incorporating CDW materials in the manufacture of gypsum products. The objective of this study is to improve this database by analysing the feasibility of incorporating two different CDW in a gypsum matrix: ceramic waste bricks (perforated brick and double hollow brick), and extruded polystyrene (XPS) waste. Results show that it is possible to incorporate up to 25% of ceramic waste and 4% of XPS waste over the weight of gypsum in a gypsum matrix. Furhtermore, with the addition of ceramic waste an 8% of surface hardness increase and a 25% of capillary water absorption reduction can be obtained. On the other hand, with the addition of XPS, a 26% reduction of density and a 37% improvement of thermal conductivity can be obtained.

Keywords: CDW, waste materials, ceramic waste, XPS, construction materials, gypsum

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Authors: Jessy Abouarab

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For more than half a century, international norms related to refugee security and protection have proliferated, yet their role in alleviating war’s negative impacts on human life remains limited. The impact of refugee-security processes often manifests asymmetrically within populations. Many issues and people get silenced due to narrow security policies that focus either on abstract threat containment and refugee control or refugee protection and humanitarian aid. (In)security practices are gendered and experienced. Examining the case study of Syrian refugees in Lebanon, this study explores the gendered impact of refugee security mechanisms on local realities. A transnational feminist approach will be used to position this research in relation to existing studies in the field of security and the refugee-protection regime, highlighting the social, cultural, legal, and political barriers to gender equality in the areas of violence, rights, and social inclusion. Through Photovoice methodology, the Syrian refugees’ (in)securities in Lebanon were given visibility by enabling local volunteers to record and reflect their realities through pictures, at the same time voice the participants’ anxieties and recommendations to reach normative policy change. This Participatory Action Research approach helped participants observe the structural barriers and lack of culturally inclusive refugee services that hinder security, increase discrimination, stigma, and poverty. The findings have implications for a shift of the refugee protection mechanisms to a community-based approach in ways that extend beyond narrow security policies that hinder women empowerment and raise vulnerabilities such as gendered exploitation, abuse, and neglect.

Keywords: gender, (in)security, Lebanon, refugee, Syrian refugees, women

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Authors: Luziane De Fatima Kirchner, Maria De Jesus Dutra Dos Reis, Francine Nathalie Ferraresi Rodrigues Queluz

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This study evaluated the effect of two components of analytic-behavioral intervention (1-management of conditions of the physical environment, 2-management of the interpersonal relationship) of women with fibromyalgia (FM), besides Clinical Significance and Reliable Change at the end of the intervention. Self-report instruments were used to evaluate stress, anxiety, depression, social skills and disability due to pain and Cortisol Awakening Response (CAR). Four women with a medical diagnosis of FM (mean age 52.7; sd = 6.65), participated of the following procedures: initial evaluation, 10 sessions of component 1, intermediate evaluation, 10 sessions of component 2, and final evaluation. The 20 sessions were effective, with positive changes in the scores of all the self-report instruments, highlighting the results of the stress symptoms that had improvement in the intermediate evaluation. There was, however, no change in the cortisol response on awakening. The Clinical Significance or Reliable Change observed, according to the scores of the stress, anxiety, depression and social skills instruments, corroborated the reports of the participants in the session and the objectives of the treatment. Implications for future studies are discussed, above all, the importance in conducting evaluations with the use of direct measures together with self-report measures.

Keywords: behavioral intervention, clinical significance, fibromyalgia, reliable change

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Authors: Hossam N. Alhawatmeh, Areen I. Albustanji

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Hemodialysis negatively affects physical and psychological health. Pain, poor sleep quality, and low self-esteem are highly prevalent among patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) who receive hemodialysis, significantly increasing mortality and morbidity of those patients. Mind-body interventions (MBI), such as mindfulness meditation, have been recently gaining popularity that improved pain, sleep quality, and self-esteem in different populations. However, to our best knowledge, its effects on these health problems in patients receiving hemodialysis have not been studied in Jordan. Thus, the purpose of the study was to examine the effect of mindfulness meditation on pain, sleep quality, and self-esteem in patients with ESR receiving hemodialysis in Jordan. An experimental repeated-measures, randomized, parallel control design was conducted on (n =60) end-stage renal disease patients undergoing hemodialysis between March and June 2023 in the dialysis center at a public hospital in Jordan. Participants were randomly assigned to the experimental (n =30) and control groups (n =30) using a simple random assignment method. The experimental group practiced mindfulness meditation for 30 minutes three times per week for five weeks during their hemodialysis treatments. The control group's patients continued to receive hemodialysis treatment as usual for five weeks during hemodialysis sessions. The study variables for both groups were measured at baseline (Time 0), two weeks after intervention (Time 1), and at the end of intervention (Time 3). The numerical rating scale (NRS), the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES-M), and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) were used to measure pain, self-esteem, and sleep quality, respectively. SPSS version 25 was used to analyze the study data. The sample was described by frequency, mean, and standard deviation as an appropriate. The repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) tests were run to test the study hypotheses. The results of repeated measures ANOVA (within-subject) revealed that mindfulness meditation significantly decrease pain by the end of the intervention in the experimental group. Additionally, mindfulness meditation improved sleep quality and self-esteem in the experimental group, and these improvements occurred significantly after two weeks of the intervention and at the end of the intervention. The results of repeated measures ANOVA (within and between-subject) revealed that the experimental group, compared to the control group, experienced lower levels of pain and higher levels of sleep quality and self-esteem over time. In conclusion, the results provided substantial evidence supporting the positive impacts of mindfulness meditation on pain, sleep quality, and self-esteem in patients with ESRD undergoing hemodialysis. These results highlight the potential of mindfulness meditation as an adjunctive therapy in the comprehensive care of this patient population. Incorporating mindfulness meditation into the treatment plan for patients receiving hemodialysis may contribute to improved well-being and overall quality of life.

Keywords: hemodialysis, pain, sleep quality, self-esteem, mindfulness

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Authors: Avadhesh Kumar

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Background: The cell phone has rapidly become an integral, and, for some, an essential communication tool that is being used worldwide. Their use without any knowledge of their harmful effects like cancers and other health effects is not ‘quite’ safe. Studies on cancers due to electromagnetic radiations from cell phones are available, but there is a need to research on the detrimental physical and psychological effects on users like students. This study focused on certain psychological or mental health effects of cell phone usage amongst students. Materials and methods: The present study will be carried out on all the students of Banaras Hindu University. Students of both sexes from urban and rural backgrounds were selected at random and administered a pre- tested questionnaire which included aspects related to few common adverse psychological health signs and symptoms attributed to cell phone over-usage. Results: Stress was found to be the commonest symptom (51.47%) followed by irritability/anger (43.79%). Other common mental symptoms included lack of concentration and academic performance, insomnia, anxiety etc. Suggestions: This study confirms that the younger generation, who are the most frequent cell phone users, needs to be aware of the adverse health effects of cell phone usage especially the mental aspects and take preventive measures to minimize and control the same. Less dependence on the device, a curtailing time period spent on talking, communicating more by texting, etc. are some of the practical measures suggested.

Keywords: cell phones, psychological health effects, students, mental health

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Authors: Aftab Khan, Ashfaq Khan

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The research paper focuses on an interesting challenge faced in Blind Image Deblurring (BID). It relates to the estimation of arbitrarily shaped or non-parametric Point Spread Functions (PSFs) of motion blur caused by camera handshake. These PSFs exhibit much more complex shapes than their parametric counterparts and deblurring in this case requires intricate ways to estimate the blur and effectively remove it. This research work introduces a novel blind deblurring scheme visualized for deblurring images corrupted by arbitrarily shaped PSFs. It is based on Genetic Algorithm (GA) and utilises the Blind/Reference-less Image Spatial QUality Evaluator (BRISQUE) measure as the fitness function for arbitrarily shaped PSF estimation. The proposed BID scheme has been compared with other single image motion deblurring schemes as benchmark. Validation has been carried out on various blurred images. Results of both benchmark and real images are presented. Non-reference image quality measures were used to quantify the deblurring results. For benchmark images, the proposed BID scheme using BRISQUE converges in close vicinity of the original blurring functions.

Keywords: blind deconvolution, blind image deblurring, genetic algorithm, image restoration, image quality measures

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Authors: Riina I. Bray, Yifan Wang, Nikolas Argiropoulos, Stephanie Robins, John Molot, Kelly Tragash, Lynn M. Marshall, Margaret E. Sears, Marie-Andrée Pigeon, Michel Gaudet, Pierre Auger, Emily Bélanger, Rohini Peris

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Multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS) is a chronic medical condition characterized by intolerances to chemical substances. Since the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic and associated health measures, people experiencing MCS (PEMCS) are at a heightened risk of environmental exposures associated with cleaners, disinfectants, and sanitizers. Little attention has been paid to the well-being of PEMCS in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Objective: This study assesses the lived experiences of Canadian adults with MCS in relation to their living environment, access to healthcare, and levels of perceived social support before and during the pandemic. Methods: A total of 119 PEMCS completed an online questionnaire. McNemar Chi-Squared and Wilcoxon Signed Rank tests were used to evaluate if there were statistically significant changes in participants’ perception of their living environment, access to healthcare, and levels of social support before and after March 11, 2020. Results: Both positive and negative outcomes were noted. Participants reported an increase in exposure to disinfectants/sanitizers that entered their living environment (p<.001). There was a reported decrease in access to a family doctor during the pandemic (p<0.001). Although PEMCS experienced increased social isolation (p<0.001), they also reported an increase in understanding from family (p<0.029) and a decrease in stigma for wearing personal protective equipment (p<0.001). Conclusion: PEMCS reported experiencing: increased exposure to disinfectants or sanitizers, a loss of social support, and barriers in accessing healthcare during the pandemic. However, COVID-19 provided an opportunity to normalize the living conditions of PEMCS, such as wearing masks and social isolation. These findings can guide decision-makers on the importance of implementing nontoxic alternatives for cleaning and disinfection, as well as improving accommodation measures for PEMCS.

Keywords: covid-19, multiple chemical sensitivity, MCS, quality of life, social isolation, physical environment, healthcare

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Authors: Maria da Conceição Proença

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This case study implements the evaluation of burned areas that suffered successive wildfires in Portugal mainland during the summer of 2017, killing more than 60 people. It’s intended to show that this evaluation can be done with remote sensing data free of charges in a simple laptop, with open-source software, describing the not-so-simple methodology step by step, to make it available for county workers in city halls of the areas attained, where the availability of information is essential for the immediate planning of mitigation measures, such as restoring road access, allocate funds for the recovery of human dwellings and assess further restoration of the ecological system. Wildfires also devastate forest ecosystems having a direct impact on vegetation cover and killing or driving away from the animal population. The economic interest is also attained, as the pinewood burned becomes useless for the noblest applications, so its value decreases, and resin extraction ends for several years. The tools described in this paper enable the location of the areas where took place the annihilation of natural habitats and establish a baseline for major changes in forest ecosystems recovery. Moreover, the result allows the follow up of the surface fuel loading, enabling the targeting and evaluation of restoration measures in a time basis planning.

Keywords: image processing, remote sensing, wildfires, burned areas evaluation, sentinel-2

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Authors: Rogerio Vieira Dos Reis

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Countries like Brazil that despite fighting hard against corruption are not improving their corruption perception, especially due to systemic political corruption, should review their corruption prevention strategies. This thesis brings a case study based on an alternative way of preventing corruption: addressing the corruption drivers in public policies that lead to poor economic performance. After discussing the Brazilian industrial policies adopted recently, especially the measures towards the automotive sector, two corruption issues in this sector are analyzed: facilitating payment for fiscal benefits and buying the extension of fiscal benefits. In-depth interviews conducted with a policymaker and an executive of the automobile sector provide insights for identifying three main corruption drivers: excessive and unnecessary bureaucracy, a complex tax system and the existence of a closed market without setting performance requirements to be achieved by the benefited firms. Both the identification of the drivers of successful industrial policies and the proposal of anti-corruption strategies to ensure developmental outcomes are based on the economic perspective of industrial policy advocated by developmental authors and on the successful South Korean economic development experience. Structural anti-corruption measures include tax reform, the regulation of lobbying and legislation to allow corporate political contribution. Besides improving policymakers’ technical capabilities, measures at the ministry level include redesigning the automotive regimes as long-term policies focused on national investment with simple and clear rules and making fiscal benefits conditional upon performance targets focused on suppliers. This case study is of broader interest because it recommends the importance of adapting performance audits conducted by anti-corruption agencies, to focus not only on the delivery of public services, but also on the identification of potentially highly damaging corruption drivers in public policies that grant fiscal benefits to achieve developmental outcomes.

Keywords: Brazilian automotive sector, corruption, economic development, industrial policy, Inovar-Auto

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Authors: Mubashra Shaheen

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The conflict over the South China Sea (SCS) is a complex imbroglio spanning over several territorial and maritime claims involving two major island groups, the Paracels and the Spratlys. It has become a major source of geopolitical competition between the United States and China. The study's overall objective is to understand China's land reclamations and assertive behavior in the South China Sea, which lies between both the Western Pacific and the Indian Ocean. Over half of global commerce passes through these waterways, which host a great amount of marine life and hydrocarbon deposits. China's sand-filling and island-building strategy in the South China Sea is motivated by its goal of privatizing all these riches as well as the routes. It would raise China to the pinnacle of world power status as well as allow it to threaten the dominance of the U.S. The study will examine China's assertive behavior and modernization plans as well as the United States' quest for supremacy through the lens of realists. While using a qualitative method of analysis, the study will examine China's nine-dash line claims and Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs), UNCLOS, and U.S.-China divergence over international law considerations to pacify the tensions in the South China Sea. This paper is intended to explore the possible answers to the following questions: (1) Why does China’s rise necessitate the US's efforts to contain and encircle it through the lending of a hand to strategic partners and allies in the South China Sea? (2) Why South China Sea dispute is so complex imbroglio? (3) What are US-China international law considerations regarding the South China Sea? The study will further follow the bellow research procedure: 1: Comparative Legal Method: This method simply chalk-outs the follow of few steps that discarnate the positive and negative effects of the great power competitions. 2: Conceptualization: The conceptualization of the policies of containment defines and differentiates two different problems behind the persuasive means of hegemony and dominance in the strategic milieu.

Keywords: us, china, south china sea, unclos

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Authors: Todd Jackson

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In this randomized control trial, we tested the effectiveness of a peer-facilitated version of the Body Project (BP) intervention among body-dissatisfied young women in China. Participants were randomly assigned to a peer-facilitator BP condition (N = 94) versus an educational video minimal intervention control condition (N = 89). Questionnaire measures of two primary outcomes (i.e., disordered eating and body dissatisfaction) and six secondary outcomes (thin-ideal internalization, pressure to be thin, negative affect, body surveillance, body shame, body appreciation and interest in cosmetic surgery) were administered at a pre-treatment baseline, a post-treatment assessment, and at a 12-month follow-up. A series of 2 (Group) x 2 (Time) analyses of variance indicated women in the peer-facilitated BP condition reported significant improvements in primary outcome measures of disordered eating and body dissatisfaction compared to women in the educational video control condition following treatment and at the 12-month follow-up. Furthermore, women in the peer-facilitated BP condition reported significant improvements in measures of body surveillance, body shame and body appreciation) compared to educational video controls that extended to the 12-month follow-up. Finally, although women in the peer-facilitated BP condition showed significant post-treatment improvements in thin-ideal internalization, negative affect, perceived pressure to be thin, and interest in cosmetic surgery compared to video controls, these differences were no longer statistically significant at the 12-month follow-up. In conclusion, findings supported the overall effectiveness of a peer-facilitated group version of the BP as an intervention for reducing disordered eating and several associated risk factors among at-risk young women in China.

Keywords: body project, disordered eating, body dissatisfaction, risk factors, prevention, China

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Authors: K. Y. Chen, H. Chua, C. W. Kan

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Japan is a well-developed country but the environmental issues are still a hot issue. In this study, we will analyse how the environmental investment affects the sustainable development in Japan. This paper will first describe the environmental policy of Japan and the effort input by the Japan government. Then, we will collect the yearly environmental data and also information about the environmental investment. Based on the data collected, we try to figure out the relationship between environmental investment and sustainable development in Japan. In addition, we will analyse the SWOT of environmental investment in Japan. Based on the economic information collected, Japan established a sound material-cycle society through changes in business and life styles. A comprehensive legal system for this kind of society was established in Japan. In addition, other supporting measures, such as financial measures, utilization of economic instruments, implementation of research and promotion of education and science and technology, help Japan to cope with the recent environmental challenges. Japan’s excellent environmental technologies changed its socioeconomic system. They are at the highest global standards. This can be reflected by the number of patents registered in Japan which has been on the steady growth. Country by country comparison in the application for patents on environmental technologies also indicates that Japan ranks high in such areas as atmospheric pollution and water quality management, solid waste management and renewable energy. This is a result of the large expenditure invested on research and development.

Keywords: Japan, environmental investment, sustainable development, analysis

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Authors: Jiaxin Chen

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Translations have been labeled as more simplified than non-translations, featuring less diversified and more frequent lexical items and simpler syntactic structures. Such simplified linguistic features have been identified in other bilingualism-influenced language varieties, including non-native and learner language use. Therefore, it has been proposed that translation could be studied within a broader framework of constrained language, and simplification is one of the universal features shared by constrained language varieties due to similar cognitive-physiological and social-interactive constraints. Yet contradicting findings have also been presented. To address this issue, this study intends to adopt Shannon’s entropy-based measures to quantify complexity in language use. Entropy measures the level of uncertainty or unpredictability in message content, and it has been adapted in linguistic studies to quantify linguistic variance, including morphological diversity and lexical richness. In this study, the complexity of lexical and syntactic choices will be captured by word-form entropy and pos-form entropy, and a comparison will be made between constrained and non-constrained language use to test the simplification hypothesis. The entropy-based method is employed because it captures both the frequency of linguistic choices and their evenness of distribution, which are unavailable when using traditional indices. Another advantage of the entropy-based measure is that it is reasonably stable across languages and thus allows for a reliable comparison among studies on different language pairs. In terms of the data for the present study, one established (CLOB) and two self-compiled corpora will be used to represent native written English and two constrained varieties (L2 written English and translated English), respectively. Each corpus consists of around 200,000 tokens. Genre (press) and text length (around 2,000 words per text) are comparable across corpora. More specifically, word-form entropy and pos-form entropy will be calculated as indicators of lexical and syntactical complexity, and ANOVA tests will be conducted to explore if there is any corpora effect. It is hypothesized that both L2 written English and translated English have lower entropy compared to non-constrained written English. The similarities and divergences between the two constrained varieties may provide indications of the constraints shared by and peculiar to each variety.

Keywords: constrained language use, entropy-based measures, lexical simplification, syntactical simplification

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Authors: Wassamon Kun-Amornpong

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When a financial crisis occurs, there will be a law and regulatory reform in order to manage the turmoil and prevent a future crisis. One of the most important regulatory efforts to help cope with systemic risk and a financial crisis is the third version of the Basel Accord. Basel III has introduced some measures and tools (e.g., systemic risk buffer, countercyclical buffer, capital conservation buffer and liquidity risk) in order to mitigate systemic risk. Nevertheless, the effectiveness of these measures in Basel III in adequately addressing the problem of contagious runs that can quickly spread throughout the financial system is questionable. This paper seeks to contribute to the knowledge regarding the role of the Basel Accords in mitigating systemic risk. The research question is to what extent the Basel Accords can help control systemic risk in the financial markets? The paper tackles this question by analysing the concept of systemic risk. It will then examine the weaknesses of the Basel Accords before and after the Global financial crisis in 2008. Finally, it will suggest some possible solutions in order to improve the Basel Accord. The rationale of the study is the fact that academic works on systemic risk and financial crises are largely studied from economic or financial perspective. There is comparatively little research from the legal and regulatory perspective. The finding of the paper is that there are some problems in all of the three pillars of the Basel Accords. With regards to Pillar I, the risk model is excessively complex while the benefits of its complexity are doubtful. Concerning Pillar II, the effectiveness of the risk-based supervision in preventing systemic risk still depends largely upon its design and implementation. Factors such as organizational culture of the regulator and the political context within which the risk-based supervision operates might be a barrier against the success of Pillar II. Meanwhile, Pillar III could not provide adequate market discipline as market participants do not always act in a rational way. In addition, the too-big-to-fail perception reduced the incentives of the market participants to monitor risks. There has been some development in resolution measure (e.g. TLAC and MREL) which might potentially help strengthen the incentive of the market participants to monitor risks. However, those measures have some weaknesses. The paper argues that if the weaknesses in the three pillars are resolved, it can be expected that the Basel Accord could contribute to the mitigation of systemic risk in a more significant way in the future.

Keywords: Basel accords, financial regulation, risk-based supervision, systemic risk

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Authors: Philipp Galkin

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Government policy is a critical factor in the understanding of energy markets. Regardless, it is rarely approached systematically from a research perspective. Gaining a precise understanding of what policies exist, their intended outcomes, geographical extent, duration, evolution, etc. would enable the research community to answer a variety of questions that, for now, are either oversimplified or ignored. Policy, on its surface, also seems a rather unstructured and qualitative undertaking. There may be quantitative components, but incorporating the concept of policy analysis into quantitative analysis remains a challenge. The KAPSARC Energy Policy Database (KEPD) is intended to address these two energy policy research limitations. Our approach is to represent policies within a quantitative library of the specific policy measures contained within a set of legal documents. Each of these measures is recorded into the database as a single entry characterized by a set of qualitative and quantitative attributes. Initially, we have focused on the major laws at the national level that regulate coal in China. However, KAPSARC is engaged in various efforts to apply this methodology to other energy policy domains. To ensure scalability and sustainability of our project, we are exploring semantic processing using automated computer algorithms. Automated coding can provide a more convenient input data for human coders and serve as a quality control option. Our initial findings suggest that the methodology utilized in KEPD could be applied to any set of energy policies. It also provides a convenient tool to facilitate understanding in the energy policy realm enabling the researcher to quickly identify, summarize, and digest policy documents and specific policy measures. The KEPD captures a wide range of information about each individual policy contained within a single policy document. This enables a variety of analyses, such as structural comparison of policy documents, tracing policy evolution, stakeholder analysis, and exploring interdependencies of policies and their attributes with exogenous datasets using statistical tools. The usability and broad range of research implications suggest a need for the continued expansion of the KEPD to encompass a larger scope of policy documents across geographies and energy sectors.

Keywords: China, energy policy, policy analysis, policy database

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Authors: Amaefule, Leonard Ifeanyi

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The study evaluated the disruptions in Nigeria’s domestic economic activities occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic: a pre and post-pandemic investigation approach. Domestic economic activities were measured with composite manufacturing purchasing managers index (PMI) and composite non-manufacturing PMI. Production and employment levels indices were proxies for composite manufacturing PMI, while business activities and employment level indices were proxies for non-manufacturing PMI. Data for these indices were sourced from monthly and quarterly publications of the Central Bank of Nigeria for periods covering fifteen (15) months before and 15 months after the outbreak of the virus in Nigeria. Test of equality of means was employed in establishing the significance of the difference of means between the pre and post-pandemic domestic economic activities. Results from the analysis indicated that a significant negative difference exists in each of the measures of domestic economic activities between the pre and post-pandemic periods. These findings, therefore, offer empirical evidence that the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted domestic economic activities in Nigeria; thus, it exerts a negative influence on the measures of the nation’s domestic economic activities. The study thus recommended (among other things) that the Nigerian government should focus on policies that would enhance domestic production, employment and enhance business activities.

Keywords: COVID-19, domestic economic activities, composite manufacturing indices, composite non-manufacturing indices

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Authors: Mimoun Melliti

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In the wake of the global pandemic, educational systems worldwide faced unprecedented challenges and had to swiftly adapt to new conditions. This necessitated a fundamental shift in assessment processes, as traditional in-person exams became impractical. The present paper aims to investigate how educational systems have adapted to the new conditions imposed by the outbreak of the pandemic. This paper serves as a case study documenting the various decisions, conditions, experiments, and outcomes associated with transitioning the assessment processes of a higher education institution to a fully online format. The participants of this study consisted of 4666 students from health, engineering, science, and humanities disciplines, who were enrolled in general English (Eng101/104) and English for specific purposes (Eng102/113) courses at a preparatory year institution in Saudi Arabia. The findings of this study indicate that online assessment can be effectively implemented given the fulfillment of specific requirements. These prerequisites encompass the presence of competent staff, administrative flexibility, and the availability of necessary infrastructure and technological support. The significance of this case study lies in its comprehensive description of the various steps and measures undertaken to adapt to the "new normal" situation. Furthermore, it evaluates the impact of these measures and offers detailed recommendations for potential similar future scenarios.

Keywords: hybrid learning, testing, adaptive teaching, EFL

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Authors: Sharon Q. Yang, Robert J. Congleton

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Information security is a broad concept that covers any issues and concerns about the proper access and use of information on the Internet, including measures and procedures to protect intellectual property and private data from illegal access and online theft; the act of hacking; and any defensive technologies that contest such cybercrimes. As more research and commercial activities are conducted online, cybercrimes have increased significantly, putting sensitive information at risk. Information security has become critically important for organizations and private citizens alike. Hackers scan for network vulnerabilities on the Internet and steal data whenever they can. Cybercrimes disrupt our daily life, cause financial losses, and instigate fear in the public. Since the start of the pandemic, most data related cybercrimes targets have been either financial or health information from companies and organizations. Libraries also should have a high interest in understanding and adopting information security methods to protect their patron data and copyrighted materials. But according to information security professionals, higher education and cultural organizations, including their libraries, are the least prepared entities for cyberattacks. One recent example is that of Steven’s Institute of Technology in New Jersey in the US, which had its network hacked in 2020, with the hackers demanding a ransom. As a result, the network of the college was down for two months, causing serious financial loss. There are other cases where libraries, colleges, and universities have been targeted for data breaches. In order to build an effective defense, we need to understand the most common types of cybercrimes, including phishing, whaling, social engineering, distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks, malware and ransomware, and hacker profiles. Our research will focus on each hacking technique and related defense measures; and the social background and reasons/purpose of hacker and hacking. Our research shows that hacking techniques will continue to evolve as new applications, housing information, and data on the Internet continue to be developed. Some cybercrimes can be stopped with effective measures, while others present challenges. It is vital that people understand what they face and the consequences when not prepared.

Keywords: cybercrimes, hacking technologies, higher education, information security, libraries

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Authors: Alexandra Serra, Nadia Torrão, Rui G. Serôdio, José A. Lima

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The present study aimed to evaluate the incidence and the prevalence of domestic violence legitimatory beliefs, emotional regulation difficulties and, early maladaptive schemas regarding intimidate partner violence in a sample of 50 Portuguese inmates. As expected, results show high levels of legitimatory beliefs, significant difficulties of emotional regulation and a set of high levels of early maladaptive schemas that clearly compromise the inmates affective-cognitive functioning. The most prevalent set of maladaptive schemas are associated with depression, anxiety, hostility, reduced ability to empathize and, dependence on the approval of others, which, combined, may trigger aggressive responses towards the intimate’s partner. Being victimized in their childhood and having committing murder are not differentiating factors on the measures we analyzed, but alcohol consumption may be associated with an intensification of domestic violence legitimatory beliefs. In the discussion of our findings, we compare the pattern of the psychosocial measures we used with the equivalent results obtained with convicted individuals that attend a community compulsory program, specifically designed for domestic violence perpetrators. We also highlight the importance of implementing specialized interventions in prison settings focusing on an evidence-based-practice.

Keywords: affective-cognitive functioning, intimate partner offenders, psychological research with inmates

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Authors: Zamri Abu Bakar Zamri, Normaly Kamal Ismail Normaly, Mohd Izani Mohamed Rawi Izani

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Malay noun compound are phrases that consist of two or more nouns. The key characteristic behind noun compounds lies on its frequent occurrences within the text. Therefore, extracting these noun compounds is essential for several domains of research such as Information Retrieval, Sentiment Analysis and Question Answering. Many research efforts have been proposed in terms of extracting Malay noun compounds using linguistic and statistical approaches. Most of the existing methods have concentrated on the extraction of bi-gram noun+noun compound. However, extracting noun+verb, noun+adjective and noun+prepositional is challenging due to the difficulty of selecting an appropriate method with effective results. Thus, there is still room for improvement in terms of enhancing the effectiveness of compound word extraction. Therefore, this study proposed a combination of linguistic approach and statistical measures in order to enhance the extraction of compound words. Several preprocessing steps are involved including normalization, tokenization, and stemming. The linguistic approach that has been used in this study is Part-of-Speech (POS) tagging. In addition, a new linguistic pattern for named entities has been utilized using a list of Malays named entities in order to enhance the linguistic approach in terms of noun compound recognition. The proposed statistical measures consists of NC-value, NTC-value and NLC value.

Keywords: Compound Word, Noun Compound, Linguistic Approach, Statistical Approach

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