Search results for: hand dimensions

Authors: Junjun Chen, Yingxiu Li

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The occupational well-being of school principals has played a vital role in the pursuit of individual and school wellness and success. However, principals’ well-being worldwide is under increasing threat because of the challenging and complex nature of their work and growing demands for school standardisation and accountability. Pressure is particularly acute in the post-pandemicfuture as principals attempt to deal with the impact of the pandemic on top of more regular demands. This is particularly true in Hong Kong, as school principals are increasingly wedged between unparalleled political, social, and academic responsibilities. Recognizing the semantic breadth of well-being, scholars have not determined a single, mutually agreeable definition but agreed that the concept of well-being has multiple dimensions across various disciplines. The multidimensional approach promises more precise assessments of the relationships between well-being and other concepts than the ‘affect-only’ approach or other single domains for capturing the essence of principal well-being. The multiple-dimension well-being concept is adopted in this project to understand principal well-being in this study. This study aimed to understand the situation of principal well-being and its influential drivers with a sample of 670 principals from Hong Kong and Mainland China. An online survey was sent to the participants after the breakout of COVID-19 by the researchers. All participants were well informed about the purposes and procedure of the project and the confidentiality of the data prior to filling in the questionnaire. Confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling performed with Mplus were employed to deal with the dataset. The data analysis procedure involved the following three steps. First, the descriptive statistics (e.g., mean and standard deviation) were calculated. Second, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to trim principal well-being measurement performed with maximum likelihood estimation. Third, structural equation modelling (SEM) was employed to test the influential factors of principal well-being. The results of this study indicated that the overall of principal well-being were above the average mean score. The highest ranking in this study given by the principals was to their psychological and social well-being (M = 5.21). This was followed by spiritual (M = 5.14; SD = .77), cognitive (M = 5.14; SD = .77), emotional (M = 4.96; SD = .79), and physical well-being (M = 3.15; SD = .73). Participants ranked their physical well-being the lowest. Moreover, professional autonomy, supervisor and collegial support, school physical conditions, professional networking, and social media have showed a significant impact on principal well-being. The findings of this study will potentially enhance not only principal well-being, but also the functioning of an individual principal and a school without sacrificing principal well-being for quality education in the process. This will eventually move one step forward for a new future - a wellness society advocated by OECD. Importantly, well-being is an inside job that begins with choosing to have wellness, whilst supports to become a wellness principal are also imperative.

Keywords: well-being, school principals, quantitative, influential factors

Procedia PDF Downloads 78

Authors: Mohamed Saad, Huda Ismail

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The purpose of this research is to examine the impact of cryptocurrency classification on money laundering crimes and to analyze how the preferences of criminals differ according to the type of digital currency used. Specifically, we aim to explore the roles of stablecoins, utility coins, and privacy tokens in facilitating or hindering money laundering activities and to identify the key factors that influence the choices of criminals in using these cryptocurrencies. To achieve our research objectives, we used a dataset for the most highly traded cryptocurrencies (32 currencies) that were published on the coin market cap for 2022. In addition to conducting a comprehensive review of the existing literature on cryptocurrency and money laundering, with a focus on stablecoins, utility coins, and privacy tokens, Furthermore, we conducted several Multivariate analyses. Our study reveals that the classification of cryptocurrency plays a significant role in money laundering activities, as criminals tend to prefer certain types of digital currencies over others, depending on their specific needs and goals. Specifically, we found that stablecoins are more commonly used in money laundering due to their relatively stable value and low volatility, which makes them less risky to hold and transfer. Utility coins, on the other hand, are less frequently used in money laundering due to their lack of anonymity and limited liquidity. Finally, privacy tokens, such as Monero and Zcash, are increasingly becoming a preferred choice among criminals due to their high degree of privacy and untraceability. In summary, our study highlights the importance of understanding the nuances of cryptocurrency classification in the context of money laundering and provides insights into the preferences of criminals in using digital currencies for illegal activities. Based on our findings, our recommendation to the policymakers is to address the potential misuse of cryptocurrencies for money laundering. By implementing measures to regulate stable coins, strengthening cross-border cooperation, fostering public-private partnerships, and increasing cooperation, policymakers can help prevent and detect money laundering activities involving digital currencies.

Keywords: crime, cryptocurrency, money laundering, tokens.

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Authors: M. Mortas, H. Asar, P. Dursun Cebi

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The visionary works of architectural representation in the 21st century's present situation, are practiced through the methodologies which try to expose the intellectual and theoretical essences of futurologist positions that are revealed with this era's interactions. Expansions of conceptual and contextual inputs related to one architectural design representation, depend on its deepness of critical attitudes, its interactions with the concepts such as experience, meaning, affection, psychology, perception and aura, as well as its communication with spatial, cultural and environmental factors. The purpose of this research study is to be able to offer methodological application areas for the design dimensions of experiential practices into architectural design studios, by focusing on the architectural representative narrations of 'transformation,' 'metamorphosis,' 'morphogenesis,' 'in-betweenness', 'superposition' and 'intertwine’ in which they affect and are affected by the today’s spatiotemporal hybridizations of architecture. The narrative representations and the visual theory paradigms of the designers are chosen under the main title of 'transformation' for the investigation of these visionary and critical representations' dismantlings and decodings. Case studies of this research area are chosen from Neil Spiller, Bryan Cantley, Perry Kulper and Dan Slavinsky’s transformative, morphogenetic representations. The theoretical dismantlings and decodings which are obtained from these artists’ contemporary architectural representations are tried to utilize and practice in the structural design studios as alternative methodologies when to approach architectural design processes, for enriching, differentiating, diversifying and 'transforming' the applications of so far used design process precedents. The research aims to indicate architectural students about how they can reproduce, rethink and reimagine their own representative lexicons and so languages of their architectural imaginations, regarding the newly perceived tectonics of prosthetic, biotechnology, synchronicity, nanotechnology or machinery into various experiential design workshops. The methodology of this work can be thought as revealing the technical and theoretical tools, lexicons and meanings of contemporary-visionary architectural representations of our decade, with the essential contents and components of hermeneutics, etymology, existentialism, post-humanism, phenomenology and avant-gardism disciplines to re-give meanings the architectural visual theorists’ transformative representations of our decade. The value of this study may be to emerge the superposed and overlapped atmospheres of futurologist architectural representations for the students who need to rethink on the transcultural, deterritorialized and post-humanist critical theories to create and use the representative visual lexicons of themselves for their architectural soft machines and beings by criticizing the now, to be imaginative for the future of architecture.

Keywords: architectural design studio, visionary lexicon, narrative architecture, transformative representation

Procedia PDF Downloads 135

Authors: Wedad Albalawi

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The mathematical inequalities have been the core of mathematical study and used in almost all branches of mathematics as well in various areas of science and engineering. The inequalities by Hardy, Littlewood and Polya were the first significant composition of several science. This work presents fundamental ideas, results and techniques, and it has had much influence on research in various branches of analysis. Since 1934, various inequalities have been produced and studied in the literature. Furthermore, some inequalities have been formulated by some operators; in 1989, weighted Hardy inequalities have been obtained for integration operators. Then, they obtained weighted estimates for Steklov operators that were used in the solution of the Cauchy problem for the wave equation. They were improved upon in 2011 to include the boundedness of integral operators from the weighted Sobolev space to the weighted Lebesgue space. Some inequalities have been demonstrated and improved using the Hardy–Steklov operator. Recently, a lot of integral inequalities have been improved by differential operators. Hardy inequality has been one of the tools that is used to consider integrity solutions of differential equations. Then, dynamic inequalities of Hardy and Coposon have been extended and improved by various integral operators. These inequalities would be interesting to apply in different fields of mathematics (functional spaces, partial differential equations, mathematical modeling). Some inequalities have been appeared involving Copson and Hardy inequalities on time scales to obtain new special version of them. A time scale is an arbitrary nonempty closed subset of the real numbers. Then, the dynamic inequalities on time scales have received a lot of attention in the literature and has become a major field in pure and applied mathematics. There are many applications of dynamic equations on time scales to quantum mechanics, electrical engineering, neural networks, heat transfer, combinatorics, and population dynamics. This study focuses on Hardy and Coposon inequalities, using Steklov operator on time scale in double integrals to obtain special cases of time-scale inequalities of Hardy and Copson on high dimensions. The advantage of this study is that it uses the one-dimensional classical Hardy inequality to obtain higher dimensional on time scale versions that will be applied in the solution of the Cauchy problem for the wave equation. In addition, the obtained inequalities have various applications involving discontinuous domains such as bug populations, phytoremediation of metals, wound healing, maximization problems. The proof can be done by introducing restriction on the operator in several cases. The concepts in time scale version such as time scales calculus will be used that allows to unify and extend many problems from the theories of differential and of difference equations. In addition, using chain rule, and some properties of multiple integrals on time scales, some theorems of Fubini and the inequality of H¨older.

Keywords: time scales, inequality of hardy, inequality of coposon, steklov operator

Procedia PDF Downloads 87

Authors: Tahra ElObeid, Omnya Ahmed, Reem Al-Sharshani, Doaa Dalloul, Jannat Alnattei

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Background: Camelus dormedarius camels are also called ‘the Arabian camels’ and are present in the desert area of North Africa and the Middle East. Recently, camel’s milk has a great attention globally because of their proteins and peptides that have been reported to be beneficial for the health and in the management of many diseases. Objectives: This study was designed to investigate the antioxidant, antimicrobial activity and to evaluate the total phenolic content of camel’s milk proteins in Qatar. Methods: Fresh two camel’s milk samples from Omani breed and called Muhajer (camel’s milk A and B) were collected on the 1st of the December. Both samples were from the same location Al- Shahaniyah, Doha, Qatar, but from different local private farms and feeding system. Camel’s milk A and B were defatted by centrifugation and their proteins were extracted by acid and thermal precipitation. The antioxidant activity was determined by 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assay. Total phenolic compound (TPC) was evaluated by Folin-Ciocalteu reagent (FCR). On the other hand, the antimicrobial activity against eight different type of pathogenic bacteria was evaluated by disc diffusion method and the zone of inhibition was measured. Results: The of the total phenolic content of whole milk in both camel’s milk A and B were significantly the highest among the protein extracts. The % of the DPPH radical inhibition of casein protein in both camel’s milk A and B were significantly the highest among the protein extracts. In this study, there were marked changes in the antibacterial activity in the different camel milk protein extracts. All extracts showed bacterial overgrowth. Conclusion: The antioxidant activity of the camel milk protein extracts correlated to their unique phenolic compounds and bioactive protein peptides. The antimicrobial activity was not detected perhaps due to the technique, the quality, or the extraction method. Overall, camel's milk exhibits a high antioxidant activity, which is responsible for many health benefits besides the nutritional values.

Keywords: camels milk, antioxidant content, antimicrobial activity, proteins, Qatar

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Authors: Moustafa A. Fadel, Omar Al Shehhi, Mohsin Al Mussabi, Abdullah Al Ameri

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Hydroponics represents an extraordinary promising technique if used efficiently in arid regions where water resources are extremely scarce where a great portion of the used water should be recycled and saved. Available research publications studying the production of seedlings for such purpose are limited. This research paper focuses on investigating the effect of using various substrate materials on the development of seedlings for ornamental plants. Bermuda grass, Petunia (Compacta Enana Rosa) and Epipremnum aureum are used widely in landscape design. Bermuda is used as a turf grass; Petunia is used as a flowering plant and Epipremnum aureum as an indoor ornamental plant in hydroponics. Three substrate materials were used to germinate and propagate the first two and the cuttings of the third one. Synthetic sponge (Polyurethane sponge), Rockwool and sterilized cotton were used as the substrate material in each case where an experimental water-circulating apparatus was designed and installed to execute the test. An experimental setup of closed hydroponic apparatus was developed to carry out the experiment equipped with water recycling circuit and an aeration mechanism pumping air in reservoir in order to increase oxygen levels in the recycled water. Water pumping was programmed in different regimes to allow better aeration for seeds and cuttings under investigation. Results showed that Bermuda grass germinated in Rockwool reached a germination rate of 70% while it did not exceed 50% when sponge and medically treated cotton were used after 15 days. On the other hand the highest germination rate of Petunia was observed when treated cotton was used where it recorded about 30% while it was 22%, and 7% after 20 days where Rockwool and sponge were utilized respectively. Cuttings propagation of Epipremnum aureum developed the highest number of shoots when treated cotton was used where it gave 10 shoots after 10 days while it gave just 7 shoots when Rockwool and sponge were used as the propagation substrate.

Keywords: hydroponics, germination, seedlings, cuttings

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Authors: Rosa L. Figueroa, Joselyn A. Hernández

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During the last couple of years, the Ministry of Health have been developing new health policies in order to regulate and improve in benefit of the patient the pharmaceutical system in our country. However, there are still some deficiencies in how medicines have been accessed, distributed, and sold. Therefore, it is necessary to empower the patient by offering new instances to improve access to drug information. This work introduces ‘the bioequivalent’ a medical drug search tool created to increase both diffusion and getting information about the therapeutic equivalence of medicines for the patient. The development of the search tool started with a study on the availability of sources of drug information accessible to the patient where advantages and disadvantages were analyzed. The information obtained was used to feed the functional design of the new tool. The design of the new tool shows an external interface that includes a header, body, sidebar and footer. The header has a menu containing ‘Home,’ ‘Who we are,’ and ‘Mission and vision.’ The Body contains the medical drug search tool, and the Sidebar is for the user logging in. It could be anonym, registered user, as well as, administrator. Anonym user could only use the tool. Registered users could add some information on existing medicines in the database; however, adding information will be restricted and limited to specific items and subject to administrator approval because the information added must be endorsed by the Chilean Public Health Institute. On the other hand, the administrator will have all the privileges, including creating or deleting drugs or information about them. The Bioequivalent was tested on different mobile devices, and no fails have been found. Moreover, a small survey was answered by ten people who tested the tool, and all of them agree that the tool was useful to get information about bioequivalent drugs, and they would recommend the tool to others. Nevertheless, an 80% of people who tested the tool says it was easy to use, and a 70% indicates that additional help is not required. These results are evidence that ‘the Bioequivalent’ may contribute to the knowledge about the therapeutic bioequivalence and bioequivalent drugs existing in Chile. As future work, the tool will be developed to make it available to the public for a first testing stage in a more massive scenario.

Keywords: collaborative database, bioequivalent drugs, search tool, web platform

Procedia PDF Downloads 226

Authors: Seyyed Mohammad Amin Mousavi Sagharchi, Elham Javanroudi

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Introduction: Tuberculosis (TB) is a known disease with hidden features caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB). This disease, which is one of the 10 deadliest in the world, has caused millions of deaths in recent decades. Furthermore, TB is responsible for infecting about 30% population of world. Like any infection, TB can activate the immune system by locating and colonization in the human body, especially in the alveoli. TB is granulomatosis, so MTB can absorb the host’s immune cells and other cells to form granuloma. Method: Different databases (e.g., PubMed) were recruited to prepare this paper and fulfill our goals to search and find effective papers and investigations. Results: Immune response to MTB is related to T cell killers and contains CD1, CD4, and CD8 T lymphocytes. CD1 lymphocytes can recognize glycolipids, which highly exist in the Mycobacterial fatty cell wall. CD4 lymphocytes and macrophages form granuloma, and it is the main line of immune response to Mycobacteria. On the other hand, CD8 cells have cytolytic function for directly killing MTB by secretion of granulysin. Other functions and secretion to the deal are interleukin-12 (IL-12) by induction of expression interferon-γ (INF-γ) for macrophages activation and creating a granuloma, and tumor necrosis factor (TNF) by promoting macrophage phagolysosomal fusion. Conclusion: Immune cells in battle with MTB are macrophages, dendritic cells (DCs), neutrophils, and natural killer (NK) cells. These immune cells can recognize the Mycobacterium by various receptors, including Toll-like receptors (TLRs), Nod-like receptors (NLRs), and C-type lectin receptors (CLRs) located in the cell surface. In human alveoli exist about 50 dendritic macrophages, which have close communication with other immune cells in the circulating system and epithelial cells to deal with Mycobacteria. Against immune cells, MTB handles some factors (e.g., cordfactor, O-Ag, lipoarabinomannan, sulfatides, and adenylate cyclase) and practical functions (e.g., inhibition of macrophages).

Keywords: mycobacterium tuberculosis, immune responses, immunological mechanisms, respiratory tuberculosis

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Authors: Jaroslaw Gawryluk, Andrzej Teter

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Simply supported angle columns subjected to uniform shortening are tested. The experimental studies are conducted on a testing machine using additional Aramis and the acoustic emission system. The laminate samples are subjected to axial uniform shortening. The tested columns are loaded with the force values from zero to the maximal load destroying the L-shaped column, which allowed one to observe the column post-buckling behavior until its collapse. Laboratory tests are performed at a constant velocity of the cross-bar equal to 1 mm/min. In order to eliminate stress concentrations between sample and support, flexible pads are used. Analyzed samples are made with carbon-epoxy laminate using the autoclave method. The configurations of laminate layers are: [60,0₂,-60₂,60₃,-60₂,0₃,-60₂,0,60₂]T, where direction 0 is along the length of the profile. Material parameters of laminate are: Young’s modulus along the fiber direction - 170GPa, Young’s modulus along the fiber transverse direction - 7.6GPa, shear modulus in-plane - 3.52GPa, Poisson’s ratio in-plane - 0.36. The dimensions of all columns are: length-300 mm, thickness-0.81mm, width of the flanges-40mm. Next, two numerical models of the column with and without flexible pads are developed using the finite element method in Abaqus software. The L-profile laminate column is modeled using the S8R shell elements. The layup-ply technique is used to define the sequence of the laminate layers. However, the model of grips is made of the R3D4 discrete rigid elements. The flexible pad is consists of the C3D20R type solid elements. In order to estimate the moment of the first laminate layer damage, the following initiation criteria were applied: maximum stress criterion, Tsai-Hill, Tsai-Wu, Azzi-Tsai-Hill, and Hashin criteria. The best compliance of results was observed for the Hashin criterion. It was found that the use of the pad in the numerical model significantly influences the damage mechanism. The model without pads characterized a much more stiffness, as evidenced by a greater bifurcation load and damage initiation load in all analyzed criteria, lower shortening, and less deflection of the column in its center than the model with flexible pads. Acknowledgment: The project/research was financed in the framework of the project Lublin University of Technology-Regional Excellence Initiative, funded by the Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education (contract no. 030/RID/2018/19).

Keywords: angle column, compression, experiment, FEM

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Authors: Karim Monir Halim Salib

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The article discusses the use of modern technology to achieve environmental marketing goals in business and customer relations. The purpose of this article is to show the possibilities of the application of modern technology. In B2C relationships, marketing departments face challenges arising from the need to quickly segment customers and share information across multiple systems, which seriously hinders the achievement of marketing objectives. Therefore, the Article states that modern IT solutions are used in the marketing of business activities, taking into account environmental objectives. For this reason, its importance in the economic and social development of developing countries has increased. While traditional companies emphasize profit as the most important business principle, social enterprises have to address social issues at the expense of profit. This mindset gives social enterprises more than traditional businesses to meet the needs of those at the bottom of the pyramid. This also poses a great challenge for social business, as social business works for the public good on the one hand and financial stability on the other. Otherwise, the company cannot be evacuated. Cultures are involved in business communication and research. Using the example of language in international relations, the article poses the problem of cultural discourse in management and linguistic and cultural studies. After reviewing current research on language in international relations, this article presents communication methods in the international economy from a linguistic perspective and attempts to explain communication problems in business from the perspective of linguistic research. A step towards multidisciplinary research combining research in management and linguistics.

Keywords: international marketing, marketing mix, marketing research, small and medium-sized enterprises, strategic marketing, B2B digital marketing strategy, digital marketing, digital marketing maturity model, SWOT analysis consumer behavior, experience, experience marketing, marketing employee organizational performance, internal marketing, internal customer, direct marketing, mobile phones mobile marketing, Sms advertising.

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Authors: Azize Serap Tuncer

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Turkey is one of the most outstanding figures among the Mediterranean countries from the natural and historical point at view. It is relatively rich country as regards the flora and vegetation. But at the same time as a result of improper and unplanned usage of the land for centuries, its forests and fertile soils have been exposed to great damages. While rapid and uncontrolled urbanization has important effects on the environment, urban development legislations, have become very unsufficient for the protection of these areas. Some of them have been completely eradicated, and some others have lost their fertility. Besides Turkey has a high main land with a rough surface and its soils areas exposed to heavy erosion. On the other hand as a developing country, it is not willing to endanger the goals of industrialization and avoid foreign direct investment by implementing strict environmental policies. Although this kind of pressure on forestland resources threatens the stability of forest land and land use management, in recent years, there has been an obvious increase in public concern about environmental problems like over global warming, environmental pollution, deforestation and their potential effects on natural resources. To protect the ecological balance and prevention of naturel resources from the unplanned intervention of human-beıng is only possible establishing conservation areas wıth co-operation at the national and the internatıonal levels. This study was carried out to evaluate the relation between urbanization and forestry policies in Turkey. While it elaborates the normative arrangements resulting in power conflicts, it also addresses which shortages and discrepancies are responsible for the said conflicts. The present urban reconstruction and transformation practices and their aesthetic and functional aspects were studied with some examples in a country level and evaluated within the assistance of literature researches, analyses, and observations. Atatürk Forest Farm and ODTU Forest examples were negotiated as two famous cases. Obtained findings were supported by charts and photos.

Keywords: deforestration, environmental policies, metropolitan, pollution, urbanization

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Authors: Camila Plaza, Stefan Felder

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In October 2014, the TARMED reform was implemented in Switzerland. In an effort to even out the financial standing of general practitioners (including pediatricians) relative to that of specialists in the outpatient sector, the reform tackled two aspects: on the one hand, GPs would be able to bill an additional 9 CHF per patient, once per consult per day. This is referred to as the surcharge position. As a second measure, it reduced the fees for certain technical services targeted to specialists (e.g., imaging, surgical technical procedures, etc.). Given the fee-for-service reimbursement system in Switzerland, we predict that physicians reacted to the economic incentives of the reform by increasing the consults per patient and decreasing the average amount of time per consult. Within this framework, our treatment group is formed by GPs and our control group by those specialists who were not affected by the reform. Using monthly insurance claims panel data aggregated at the physician praxis level (provided by SASIS AG), for the period of January 2013-December 2015, we run difference in difference panel data models with physician and time fixed effects in order to test for the causal effects of the reform. We account for seasonality, and control for physician characteristics such as age, gender, specialty, and physician experience. Furthermore, we run the models on subgroups of physicians within our sample so as to account for heterogeneity and treatment intensities. Preliminary results support our hypothesis. We find evidence of an increase in consults per patients and a decrease in time per consult. Robustness checks do not significantly alter the results for our outcome variable of consults per patient. However, we do find a smaller effect of the reform for time per consult. Thus, the results of this paper could provide policymakers a better understanding of physician behavior and their sensitivity to financial incentives of reforms (both past and future) under the current reimbursement system.

Keywords: difference in differences, financial incentives, health reform, physician behavior

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Authors: Cecil Blake, Tolu Kayode-Adedeji, Innocent Chiluwa, Charles Iruonagbe

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National, regional and international security threats have dominated the twenty-first century thus far. Insurgencies that utilize “terrorism” as their primary strategy pose the most serious threat to global security. States in turn adopt terrorist strategies to resist and even defeat insurgents who invoke the legitimacy of statehood to justify their action. In short, the era is dominated by the use of terror tactics by state and non-state actors. Globally, there is a powerful network of groups involved in insurgencies using Islam as the bastion for their cause. In Africa, there are Boko Haram, Al Shabaab and Al Qaeda in the Maghreb representing Islamic groups utilizing terror strategies and tactics to prosecute their wars. The task at hand is to discover and to use multiple ways of handling the present security threats, including novel approaches to policy formulation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation that would pay significant attention to the important role of culture and communication strategies germane for discursive means of conflict resolution. In other to achieve this, the proposed research would address inter alia, root causes of insurgences that predicate their mission on Islamic tenets particularly in Africa; discursive and non-discursive counter-terrorism approaches fashioned by African governments, continental supra-national and regional organizations, recruitment strategies by major non-sate actors in Africa that rely solely on terrorist strategies and tactics and sources of finances for the groups under study. A major anticipated outcome of this research is a contribution to answers that would lead to the much needed stability required for development in African countries experiencing insurgencies carried out by the use of patterned terror strategies and tactics. The nature of the research requires the use of triangulation as the methodological tool.

Keywords: counter-terrorism, discourse, Nigeria, security, terrorism

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Authors: Irene Guatno Toribio

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This study purported to determine and describe the attitudes of grade school and kindergarten teachers in District I, Division of City Schools in Parañaque towards the implementation of mother tongue-based multilingual education instruction. Employing a descriptive method of research, this study specifically looked into the attitudes of the participants towards the implementation of mother tongue-based language in terms of curricular content, teaching methods, instructional materials used, and administrative support. A total of nineteen teachers, eight (8) of which were kindergarten teachers and eleven (11) were grade one teachers. A self-made survey questionnaire was developed by the researcher and validated by the experts. This constituted the main instrument in gathering the needed data and information relative to the major concern of the study, which were analyzed and interpreted through the use of descriptive statistics. The findings of this study revealed that grade one and kindergarten teachers have a positive attitude towards the integration and inclusion of mother-tongue based language in the curriculum. In terms of suggested teaching methods, the kindergarten teacher’s attitude towards the use of storytelling and interactive activities is highly positive, while two groups of teachers both recommend the use of big books and painting kit as an instructional materials. While the kindergarten teachers would tend to cling on the use of big books, this was not the case for grade school teachers who would rather go for the use of painting kit which was not favored by the kindergarten teachers. Finally, in terms of administrative support, the grade one teacher is very satisfied when it comes to the support of their school administrator. While the kindergarten teachers has developed the feeling that the school administration has failed to give them enough materials in their activities, the grade school teachers, on the other hand, have developed the feeling that the same school administration might have failed to strictly evaluate the kindergarten teachers. Based on the findings of this study, it is recommended that the school administration must provide seminars to teachers to better equip them with the needed knowledge and competencies in implementing the Mother-Tongue Based, Multilingual Education (MTB-MLE).

Keywords: attitude, grade school, kindergarten teachers, mother-tongue

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Authors: Md. Omar Bin Harun Khan

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The collapse of the infamous Rana Plaza, a multi-storeyed commercial building in Savar, near Dhaka, Bangladesh has brought with it a plethora of positive and negative consequences. Bangladesh being a key player in the export of clothing, found itself amidst a wave of economic upheaval following this tragic incident that resulted in numerous Bangladeshis, most of whom were factory workers. This paper compares the consequences that the country’s Ready Made Garments (RMG) sector is facing now, two years into the incident. The paper presents a comparison of statistical data from study reports and brings forward perspectives from all dimensions of Labour, Employment and Industrial Relations in Bangladesh following the event. The paper brings across the viewpoint of donor organizations and donor countries, the impacts of several initiatives taken by foreign organizations like the International Labour Organization, and local entities like the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) in order to reinforce compliance and stabilize the shaky foundation that the RMG sector had found itself following the collapse. Focus of the paper remains on the stance taken by the suppliers in Bangladesh, with inputs from buying houses and factories, and also on the reaction of foreign brands. The paper also focuses on the horrific physical, mental and financial implications sustained by the victims and their families, and the consequent uproar from workers in general regarding compliance with work safety and workers’ welfare conditions. The purpose is to get across both sides of the scenario: the economic impact that suppliers / factories/ sellers/ buying houses/exporters have faced in Bangladesh as a result of complete loss of reliability on them regarding working standards; and also to cover the aftershock felt on the other end of the spectrum by the importers/ buyers, particularly the foreign entities, in terms of the sudden accountability of being affiliated with non- compliant factories. The collapse of Rana Plaza has received vast international attention and strong criticism. Nevertheless, the almost immediate strengthening of labourrights and the wholesale reform undertaken on all sides of the supply chain, evidence a move of all local and foreign stakeholders towards greater compliance and taking of precautionary steps for prevention of further disasters. The tragedy that Rana Plaza embodies served as a much-needed epiphany for the soaring RMG Sector of Bangladesh. Prompt co-operation on the part of all stakeholders and regulatory bodies now show a move towards sustainable development, which further ensures safeguarding against any future irregularities and pave the way for steady economic growth.

Keywords: economy, employment standards, Rana Plaza, RMG

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Authors: Murat Erkoc, Kadir Ertogral

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Maintenance, repair and overhauling (MRO) of high cost equipment used in many industries such as transportation, military and construction are typically subject to regulations set by local governments or international agencies. Aircrafts are prime examples for this kind of equipment. Such equipment must be overhauled at certain intervals for continuing permission of use. As such, the overhaul must be completed by strict deadlines, which often times cannot be exceeded. Due to the fact that the overhaul is typically a long process, MRO companies carry so called rotable inventory for exchange of expensive modules in the overhaul process of the equipment so that the equipment continue its services with minimal interruption. The extracted module is overhauled and returned back to the inventory for future exchange, hence the name rotable inventory. However, since the rotable inventory and overhaul capacity are limited, it may be necessary to carry out some of the exchanges earlier than their deadlines in order to produce a feasible overhaul schedule. An early exchange results with a decrease in the equipment’s cycle time in between overhauls and as such, is not desired by the equipment operators. This study introduces an integer programming model for the optimal overhaul and exchange scheduling. We assume that there is certain number of rotables at hand at the beginning of the planning horizon for a single type module and there are multiple demands with known deadlines for the exchange of the modules. We consider an MRO system with identical parallel processing lines. The model minimizes total earliness by generating optimal overhaul start times for rotables on parallel processing lines and exchange timetables for orders. We develop a fast exact solution algorithm for the model. The algorithm employs full-delay scheduling approach with backward allocation and can easily be used for overhaul scheduling problems in various MRO settings with modular rotable items. The proposed procedure is demonstrated by a case study from the aerospace industry.

Keywords: rotable inventory, full-delay scheduling, maintenance, overhaul, total earliness

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Authors: Tamas Garamhegyi, Jozsef Kovacs, Rita Pongracz, Peter Tanos, Balazs Trasy, Norbert Magyar, Istvan G. Hatvani

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Like most environmental processes, shallow groundwater fluctuation under natural circumstances also behaves periodically. With the statistical tools at hand, it can easily be determined if a period exists in the data or not. Thus, the question may be raised: Does the estimated average period time characterize the whole time period, or not? This is especially important in the case of such complex phenomena as shallow groundwater fluctuation, driven by numerous factors. Because of the continuous changes in the oscillating components of shallow groundwater time series, the most appropriate method should be used to investigate its periodicity, this is wavelet spectrum analysis. The aims of the research were to investigate the periodic behavior of the shallow groundwater time series of an agriculturally important and drought sensitive region in Central-Eastern Europe and its relationship to the European pressure action centers. During the research ~216 shallow groundwater observation wells located in the eastern part of the Great Hungarian Plain with a temporal coverage of 50 years were scanned for periodicity. By taking the full-time interval as 100%, the presence of any period could be determined in percentages. With the complex hydrogeological/meteorological model developed in this study, non-periodic time intervals were found in the shallow groundwater levels. On the local scale, this phenomenon linked to drought conditions, and on a regional scale linked to the maxima of the regional air pressures in the Gulf of Genoa. The study documented an important link between shallow groundwater levels and climate variables/indices facilitating the necessary adaptation strategies on national and/or regional scales, which have to take into account the predictions of drought-related climatic conditions.

Keywords: climate change, drought, groundwater periodicity, wavelet spectrum and coherence analyses

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Authors: Laleh Golamrej Eliasi

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Finland is the second most violent country for women in the European Union (EU). 47% of women in Finland claimed to have experienced domestic violence against women (DVAW), compared to an average of 33% in the EU. Although the statistics in Finland are transparent, to the author’s best knowledge, there are no statisticsonDV by nationality in Finland. On the other hand, being a Muslim woman in a non-Muslim-majority country represents a position of double vulnerability to violence. There are 10404 Afghan refugees in Finland who are Muslim. Barriers such as unfamiliarity with support services, fear of the police, racism, language, economic and practical dependence, social isolation, and family commitments all lead to a lack of reporting of DVAW among migrants. Although witnessing and experiencing DV have devastating effects on women’s and children’s health and well-being, there is a lack of studies about DVAW among Afghan families in Finland. To fill this knowledge gap, Afghan women living in Finland are selected as the target group to assess their views on DVAW and child protection. This study is implemented in the socio-ecological approach framework to assess the impacts of individual characteristics, interpersonal relationships, community, and society components on DVAW in Afghan families. Interviews with Afghan women and content analysis are used to find out participants' views on DVAW, its risk factors, and approaches and methods to improve protection for women and children. Main purpose is to obtain information about participants' views on the subject. The findings can be used to improve culturally safe social work knowledge and practices with a bottom-up approach to reduce DV and increase child protection. Therefore, this research can have important effects on the sustainable development of services and supports the welfare and inclusion of immigrant families. The expected results will contribute to sustainable gender equality, which is in line with the fifth goal of the Sustainable Development Goals.

Keywords: domestic violence, immigrant women, immigrant child protection, social work

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Authors: Mohammad W. Dewan, Jahangir Alam, Khurshida Sharmin

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Synthetic fibers (carbon, glass, aramid, etc.) are generally utilized to make composite materials for better mechanical and thermal properties. However, they are expensive and non-biodegradable. In the perspective of Bangladesh, jute fibers are available, inexpensive, and comprising good mechanical properties. The improved properties (i.e., low cost, low density, eco-friendly) of natural fibers have made them a promising reinforcement in hybrid composites without sacrificing mechanical properties. In this study, jute and e-glass fiber reinforced hybrid composite materials are fabricated utilizing hand lay-up followed by a compression molding technique. Room temperature cured two-part epoxy resin is used as a matrix. Approximate 6-7 mm thick composite panels are fabricated utilizing 17 layers of woven glass and jute fibers with different fiber layering sequences- only jute, only glass, glass, and jute alternatively (g/j/g/j---) and 4 glass - 9 jute – 4 glass (4g-9j-4g). The fabricated composite panels are analyzed through fiber volume calculation, tensile test, bending test, and water absorption test. The hybridization of jute and glass fiber results in better tensile, bending, and water absorption properties than only jute fiber-reinforced composites, but inferior properties as compared to only glass fiber reinforced composites. Among different fiber layering sequences, 4g-9j-4g fibers layering sequence resulted in better tensile, bending, and water absorption properties. The effect of chemical treatment on the woven jute fiber and chopped glass microfiber infusion are also investigated in this study. Chemically treated jute fiber and 2 wt. % chopped glass microfiber infused hybrid composite shows about 12% improvements in flexural strength as compared to untreated and no micro-fiber infused hybrid composite panel. However, fiber chemical treatment and micro-filler do not have a significant effect on tensile strength.

Keywords: compression molding, chemical treatment, hybrid composites, mechanical properties

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Authors: Eileen Y. Wong, Katherine Jin, Anat Talmon

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Background: Help seeking behaviors are highly contingent on socio-cultural factors such as ethnicity. Both Latino and Asian Americans underutilize mental health services compared to their White American counterparts. This difference may be related to the composite of one’s social support system, which includes family cohesion and social networks. Previous studies have found that Latino families are characterized by higher levels of family cohesion and social support, and Asian American families with greater family cohesion exhibit lower levels of help seeking behaviors. While both are broadly considered collectivist communities, within-culture variability is also significant. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the relationship between help seeking behaviors in the two cultures with levels of family cohesion and strength of social network. We also consider such relationships in light of previous traumatic events and diagnoses, particularly post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), to understand whether clinically diagnosed individuals differ in their strength of network and help seeking behaviors. Method: An adult sample (N = 2,990) from the National Latino and Asian American Study (NLAAS) provided data on participants’ social network, family cohesion, likelihood of seeking professional help, and DSM-IV diagnoses. T-tests compared Latino American (n = 1,576) and Asian American respondents (n = 1,414) in strength of social network, level of family cohesion, and likelihood of seeking professional help. Linear regression models were used to identify the probability of help-seeking behavior based on ethnicity, PTSD diagnosis, and strength of social network. Results: Help-seeking behavior was significantly associated with family cohesion and strength of social network. It was found that higher frequency of expressing one’s feelings with family significantly predicted lower levels of help-seeking behaviors (β = [-.072], p = .017), while higher frequency of spending free time with family significantly predicted higher levels of help-seeking behaviors (β = [.129], p = .002) in the Asian American sample. Subjective importance of family relations compared to that of one’s peers also significantly predict higher levels of help-seeking behaviors (β = [.095], p = .011) in the Asian American sample. Frequency of sharing one’s problems with relatives significantly predicted higher levels of help-seeking behaviors (β = [.113], p < .01) in the Latino American sample. A PTSD diagnosis did not have any significant moderating effect. Conclusion: Considering the underutilization of mental health services in Latino and Asian American minority groups, it is crucial to understand ways in which help seeking behavior can be encouraged. Our findings suggest that different dimensions within family cohesion and social networks have differential impacts on help-seeking behavior. Given the multifaceted nature of family cohesion and cultural relevance, the implications of our findings for theory and practice will be discussed.

Keywords: family cohesion, social networks, Asian American, Latino American, help-seeking behavior

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Authors: Mahmoud F. Mohamadin, Ahmed Abdel Malek, Wessam Said

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Achieving energy efficient architecture in general, and in emerging countries in particular, is a challenging process that requires the contribution of various governmental, institutional, and individual entities. The rule of architectural design is essential in this process as it is considered as one of the earliest steps on the road to sustainability. Architectural firms have a moral and professional responsibility to respond to these challenges and deliver buildings that consume less energy. This study aims to evaluate the design processes and tools in practice of Egyptian architectural firms based on a limited survey to investigate if their processes and methods can lead to projects that meet the Egyptian Code of Energy Efficiency Improvement. A case study of twenty architectural firms in Cairo was selected and categorized according to their scale; large-scale, medium-scale, and small-scale. A questionnaire was designed and distributed to the firms, and personal meetings with the firms’ representatives took place. The questionnaire answered three main points; the design processes adopted, the usage of performance-based simulation tools, and the usage of BIM tools for energy efficiency purposes. The results of the study revealed that only little percentage of the large-scale firms have clear strategies for building energy efficiency in their building design, however the application is limited to certain project types, or according to the client request. On the other hand, the percentage of medium-scale firms is much less, and it is almost absent in the small-scale ones. This demonstrates the urgent need of enhancing the awareness of the Egyptian architectural design community of the great importance of implementing these methods starting from the early stages of the building design. Finally, the study proposed recommendations for such firms to be able to create a healthy built environment and improve the quality of life in emerging countries.

Keywords: architectural firms, emerging countries, energy efficiency, performance-based simulation tools

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Authors: Rafael do Amaral Teodoro, Leandro Augusto da Silva

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Originated from graphite, graphene is a two-dimensional (2D) material that promises to revolutionize technology in many different areas, such as energy, telecommunications, civil construction, aviation, textile, and medicine. This is possible because its structure, formed by carbon bonds, provides desirable optical, thermal, and mechanical characteristics that are interesting to multiple areas of the market. Thus, several research and development centers are studying different manufacturing methods and material applications of graphene, which are often compromised by the scarcity of more agile and accurate methodologies to characterize the material – that is to determine its composition, shape, size, and the number of layers and crystals. To engage in this search, this study proposes a computational methodology that applies deep learning to identify graphene oxide crystals in order to characterize samples by crystal sizes. To achieve this, a fully convolutional neural network called U-net has been trained to segment SEM graphene oxide images. The segmentation generated by the U-net is fine-tuned with a standard deviation technique by classes, which allows crystals to be distinguished with different labels through an object delimitation algorithm. As a next step, the characteristics of the position, area, perimeter, and lateral measures of each detected crystal are extracted from the images. This information generates a database with the dimensions of the crystals that compose the samples. Finally, graphs are automatically created showing the frequency distributions by area size and perimeter of the crystals. This methodological process resulted in a high capacity of segmentation of graphene oxide crystals, presenting accuracy and F-score equal to 95% and 94%, respectively, over the test set. Such performance demonstrates a high generalization capacity of the method in crystal segmentation, since its performance considers significant changes in image extraction quality. The measurement of non-overlapping crystals presented an average error of 6% for the different measurement metrics, thus suggesting that the model provides a high-performance measurement for non-overlapping segmentations. For overlapping crystals, however, a limitation of the model was identified. To overcome this limitation, it is important to ensure that the samples to be analyzed are properly prepared. This will minimize crystal overlap in the SEM image acquisition and guarantee a lower error in the measurements without greater efforts for data handling. All in all, the method developed is a time optimizer with a high measurement value, considering that it is capable of measuring hundreds of graphene oxide crystals in seconds, saving weeks of manual work.

Keywords: characterization, graphene oxide, nanomaterials, U-net, deep learning

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Authors: Elisa Maître

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The redeployment of tram networks in French cities has considerably modified public spaces and the way citizens use them. Above and beyond the image that trams have of contributing to the sustainable urban development, the question of safety for users in these spaces has not been studied much. This study is based on an analysis of use of public spaces laid out for trams, from the standpoint of legibility and safety concerns. The study also examines to what extent the complexity of the design process, with many interactions between numerous and varied players in this process has a role in the genesis of these problems. This work is mainly based on the analysis of links between the uses of these re-designed public spaces (through observations, interviews of users and accident studies) and the analysis of the design conditions and processes of the projects studied (mainly based on interviews with the actors of these projects). Practical analyses were based three points of view: that of the planner, that of the user (based on observations and interviews) and that of the road safety expert. The cities of Montpellier, Marseille and Nice are the three fields of study on which the demonstration of this thesis is based. On part, the results of this study allow showing that the insertion of tram poses some problems complication of public areas of French cities. These complications related to the restructuring of public spaces for the tram, create difficulties of use and safety concerns. On the other hand, interviews depth analyses, fully transcribed, have led us to develop particular dysfunction scenarios in the design process. These elements lead to question the way the legibility and safety of these new forms of public spaces are taken into account. Then, an in-depth analysis of the design processes of public spaces with trams systems would also be a way of better understanding the choices made, the compromises accepted, and the conflicts and constraints at work, weighing on the layout of these spaces. The results presented concerning the impact that spaces laid out for trams have on the difficulty of use, suggest different possibilities for improving the way in which safety for all users is taken into account in designing public spaces.

Keywords: public spaces, road layout, users, design process of urban projects

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Authors: Roza Dzierzak, Waldemar Wojcik, Piotr Kacejko

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Analysis of the texture of medical images consists of determining the parameters and characteristics of the examined tissue. The main goal is to assign the analyzed area to one of two basic groups: as a healthy tissue or a tissue with pathological changes. The CT images of the thoracic lumbar spine from 15 healthy patients and 15 with confirmed osteoporosis were used for the analysis. As a result, 120 samples with dimensions of 50x50 pixels were obtained. The set of features has been obtained based on the histogram, gradient, run-length matrix, co-occurrence matrix, autoregressive model, and Haar wavelet. As a result of the image analysis, 290 descriptors of textural features were obtained. The dimension of the space of features was reduced by the use of three selection methods: Fisher coefficient (FC), mutual information (MI), minimization of the classification error probability and average correlation coefficients between the chosen features minimization of classification error probability (POE) and average correlation coefficients (ACC). Each of them returned ten features occupying the initial place in the ranking devised according to its own coefficient. As a result of the Fisher coefficient and mutual information selections, the same features arranged in a different order were obtained. In both rankings, the 50% percentile (Perc.50%) was found in the first place. The next selected features come from the co-occurrence matrix. The sets of features selected in the selection process were evaluated using six classification tree methods. These were: decision stump (DS), Hoeffding tree (HT), logistic model trees (LMT), random forest (RF), random tree (RT) and reduced error pruning tree (REPT). In order to assess the accuracy of classifiers, the following parameters were used: overall classification accuracy (ACC), true positive rate (TPR, classification sensitivity), true negative rate (TNR, classification specificity), positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV). Taking into account the classification results, it should be stated that the best results were obtained for the Hoeffding tree and logistic model trees classifiers, using the set of features selected by the POE + ACC method. In the case of the Hoeffding tree classifier, the highest values of three parameters were obtained: ACC = 90%, TPR = 93.3% and PPV = 93.3%. Additionally, the values of the other two parameters, i.e., TNR = 86.7% and NPV = 86.6% were close to the maximum values obtained for the LMT classifier. In the case of logistic model trees classifier, the same ACC value was obtained ACC=90% and the highest values for TNR=88.3% and NPV= 88.3%. The values of the other two parameters remained at a level close to the highest TPR = 91.7% and PPV = 91.6%. The results obtained in the experiment show that the use of classification trees is an effective method of classification of texture features. This allows identifying the conditions of the spongy tissue for healthy cases and those with the porosis.

Keywords: classification, feature selection, texture analysis, tree algorithms

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Authors: Eric Awich Ochen

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The end of the conflict in Northern Uganda in 2006 brought about an opportunity for the youth to return to their original home and contribute to the peace building and development process of their communities. Post-conflict is used here to refer to the post-armed conflict situation and activities of rebels of Joseph Kony in northern Uganda. While the rebels remain very much active in the Sudan and Central African Republic, in Uganda the last confrontations occurred around 2006 or earlier, and communities have returned to their homes and began the process of rebuilding their lives. It is argued that socio-economic reconstruction is at the heart of peacebuilding and sustenance of positive peace in the aftermath of conflict, as it has a bearing on post-conflict stability and good governance. We recognize that several post-conflict interventions within Northern Uganda have targeted women and children with a strong emphasis on family socio-economic empowerment and capacity building, including access to micro finance. The aim of this study was to examine the participation of the youth in post-conflict peace building and development in Northern Uganda by assessing the breadth and width of their engagement and the stages of programming cycle that they are involved in, interrogating the space for participation and how they are facilitating or constraining participation. It was further aimed at examining the various dimensions of participation at play in Northern Uganda and where this fits within the conceptual debates on peace building and development in the region. Supporting young people emerging out of protracted conflict to re-establish meaningful socio-economic engagements and livelihoods is fundamental to their participation in the affairs of the community. The study suggests that in the post-conflict development context of Northern Uganda, participation has rarely been disaggregated or differentiated by sectors or groups. Where some disaggregation occurs, then the main emphasis has always been on either women or children. It appears therefore that little meaningful space has thus been created for young people to engage and participate in peace building initiatives within the region. In other cases where some space is created for youth participation, this has been in pre-conceived programs or interventions conceived by the development organizations with the youth or young people only invited to participate at particular stages of the project implementation cycle. Still within the implementation of the intervention, the extent to which young people participate is bounded, with little power to influence the course of the interventions or make major decisions. It is thus visible that even here young people mainly validate and legitimize what are predetermined processes only act as pawns in the major chess games played by development actors (dominant peace building partners). This paper, therefore, concludes that the engagement of the youth in post-conflict peace building has been quite problematic and tokenistic and has not given the adequate youth space within which they could ably participate and express themselves in the ensuing interventions.

Keywords: youth, conflict, peace building, participation

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Authors: Radhwane Boudjelthia

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The most recent earthquakes that occurred in the world and particularly in Algeria, have killed thousands of people and severe damage. The example that is etched in our memory is the last earthquake in the regions of Boumerdes and Algiers (Boumerdes earthquake of May 21, 2003). For all the actors involved in the building process, the earthquake is the litmus test for construction. The goal we set ourselves is to contribute to the implementation of a thoughtful approach to the seismic protection of structures. For many engineers, the most conventional approach protection works (buildings and bridges) the effects of earthquakes is to increase rigidity. This approach is not always effective, especially when there is a context that favors the phenomenon of resonance and amplification of seismic forces. Therefore, the field of earthquake engineering has made significant inroads among others catalyzed by the development of computational techniques in computer form and the use of powerful test facilities. This has led to the emergence of several innovative technologies, such as the introduction of special devices insulation between infrastructure and superstructure. This approach, commonly known as "seismic isolation" to absorb the significant efforts without the structure is damaged and thus ensuring the protection of lives and property. In addition, the restraints to the construction by the ground shaking are located mainly at the supports. With these moves, the natural period of construction is increasing, and seismic loads are reduced. Thus, there is an attenuation of the seismic movement. Likewise, the insulation of the base mechanism may be used in combination with earthquake dampers in order to control the deformation of the insulation system and the absolute displacement of the superstructure located above the isolation interface. On the other hand, only can use these earthquake dampers to reduce the oscillation amplitudes and thus reduce seismic loads. The use of damping devices represents an effective solution for the rehabilitation of existing structures. Given all these acceleration reducing means considered passive, much research has been conducted for several years to develop an active control system of the response of buildings to earthquakes.

Keywords: earthquake, building, seismic forces, displacement, resonance, response

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Authors: Nurtekin Erkmen, Turgut Kaplan, Halil Taskin, Ahmet Sanioglu, Gokhan Ipekoglu

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The aim of this study was to determine the effects of an 8 week soccerspecific technical training with limited vision perception on postural control and technical parameters in 10-12 aged soccer players. Subjects in this study were 24 male young soccer players (age: 11.00 ± 0.56 years, height: 150.5 ± 4.23 cm, body weight: 41.49 ± 7.56 kg). Subjects were randomly divided as two groups: Training and control. Balance performance was measured by Biodex Balance System (BBS). Short pass, speed dribbling, 20 m speed with ball, ball control, juggling tests were used to measure soccer players’ technical performances with a ball. Subjects performed soccer training 3 times per week for 8 weeks. In each session, training group with limited vision perception and control group with normal vision perception committed soccer-specific technical drills for 20 min. Data analyzed with t-test for independent samples and Mann-Whitney U between groups and paired t-test and Wilcoxon test between pre-posttests. No significant difference was found balance scores and with eyes open and eyes closed and LOS test between training and control groups after training (p>0.05). After eight week of training there are no significant difference in balance score with eyes open for both training and control groups (p>0.05). Balance scores decreased in training and control groups after the training (p<0.05). The completion time of LOS test shortened in both training and control groups after training (p<0.05). The training developed speed dribbling performance of training group (p<0.05). On the other hand, soccer players’ performance in training and control groups increased in 20 m speed with a ball after eight week training (p<0.05). In conclusion; the results of this study indicate that soccer-specific training with limited vision perception may not improves balance performance in 10-12 aged soccer players, but it develops speed dribbling performance.

Keywords: Young soccer players, vision perception, postural control, technical

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Authors: Andrea Vega-Tinoco, Ana I. Gil-Lacruz, Marta Gil-Lacruz

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The main objective of this research is to acknowledge whether civic participation affects the well-being of the elderly, thus being a key activity of active aging. It is also of interest to recognize any differences among genders, generational cohorts or country of residence. If a positive relationship is found between civic participation and well-being, the actions that promote this participation will benefit the quality of life of senior citizens. Otherwise, independent action must be taken in the improvement of social and human capital. The sample consists of approximately 50.000 individuals from the European Social Survey (2002-2016). Only individuals born before 1965 in 15 European countries were considered. The sample was distributed according to gender, year of birth, country, level of studies and ESS wave to form pseudo-panel data cohorts, leaving a total of 1.318 observations. The data were analyzed through a Cross-Lagged Model using Fixed-Effects. A bidirectional association is observed between the civic participation and well-being variables. However, participating in the past seems to have a higher impact on today’s health, happiness and life satisfaction than the other way around. Furthermore, 26% of the respondents expressed to be satisfied with their life, 27% to be happy and 57% to have good health. On the other hand, 49% have participated civically in the last year, being the most common activities: signing petitions, boycotting products and volunteer work in non-political organizations. A slight trend of BabyBoomers and men towards greater participation can be observed, as well as a higher impact of this participation on their well-being. In addition, international differences exhibit a stronger relation for Nordic, East European and Mediterranean countries. The given results support the hypothesis that civic participation is a promoter of well-being for the elderly. This paper positively highlights the activity of involving in political and non-political organizations, as well as wearing badges. At any rate, almost all forms of civic participation show a positive relationship with well-being and should therefore be promoted, although differences between countries must be taken into consideration.

Keywords: active aging, civic participation, Europe, well-being

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Authors: Ali Karimi, Shabnam Karimifam, Amirhosein Karimi, Farahnaz Pournavvab

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Researches have emphasis on the important role of psychosocial support and appropriate interventions for individuals that involved in serious physical and psychological problems . Patients with AIDS are often discussed in studies, but sometimes the psychological conditions of the people who live with them are ignored. In the present study, while paying attention to the spouses of AIDS patients, the role of supportive interventions has been investigated. the other word , Researchers Show that life skills training causes significant improvement in the mean scores of mothers physical health , mental health, social relationship and ultimately quality of life in the experimental group . The purpose of this study is determine of mental health of Twenty-one wives of patients with HIV+ In Shiraz ( city in sought of Iran) and effects of life skills on promotion of their mental health . Sampling was systematic randomize . These women were selected and invited to the training program based on their husbands' file numbers, who were selected to the counseling center for people with AIDS. first , they filled out GHQ questionnaires . Then , the life skills training for 8 sessions were taught for these women . Results indicated that Psychological condition of wife of patients with HIV+ was not appropriate . Scores of most them were above of cut of point of questionnaires .T test was done . worse scores were Assigned to anxiety and weakness in social functions . In the other hand , life skills have been effective significantly only in social functions of women . Scores of research’s participants in anxiety , depression and total test score were enhanced , but have not been significant . In the main of article , researchers have discussed why life skills training does not have much effect on some emotional problems .Despite the fact that life skills training had a positive effect on these spouses, but due to the stress of women with AIDS spouses, life skills training did not show much effectiveness, and for outstanding effects, there is a need for individual psychological treatments and broader social support.

Keywords: Hiv, aids, social suport, life skills

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Authors: Ilona Buchem, Carolin Gellner

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Over the last few years, the call for the support of senior learners in the development of their digital literacy has become prevalent, mainly due to the progression towards ageing societies paired with advances in digitalisation in all spheres of life, including e-health and electronic patient record (EPA). While major research efforts in supporting senior learners in developing digital literacy have been invested so far in e-learning focusing on knowledge acquisition and cognitive tasks, little research exists in learning models which target virtual mentoring and coaching with the help of pedagogical agents and address the social dimensions of learning. Research from studies with students in the context of formal education has already provided methods for designing intelligent virtual agents in support of personalised learning. However, this research has mostly focused on cognitive skills and has not yet been applied to the context of mentoring/coaching of senior learners, who have different characteristics and learn in different contexts. In this paper, we describe how insights from previous research can be used to develop an intelligent virtual learning coach (agent) for senior learners with a focus on building the social relationship between the agent and the learner and the key task of the agent to socialize learners to the larger context of digital literacy with a focus on electronic health records. Following current approaches to mentoring and coaching, the agent is designed not to enhance and monitor the cognitive performance of the learner but to serve as a trusted friend and advisor, whose role is to provide one-to-one guidance and support sharing of experiences among learners (peers). Based on literature review and synopsis of research on virtual agents and current coaching/mentoring models under consideration of the specific characteristics and requirements of senior learners, we describe the design framework which was applied to design an intelligent virtual learning coach as part of the e-learning system for digital literacy of senior learners in the ePA-Coach project founded by the German Ministry of Education and Research. This paper also presents the results from the evaluation study, which compared the use of the first prototype of the virtual learning coach designed according to the design framework with a voice narration in a multimedia learning environment with senior learners. The focus of the study was to validate the agent design in the context of the persona effect (Lester et al., 1997). Since the persona effect is related to the hypothesis that animated agents are perceived as more socially engaging, the study evaluated possible impacts of agent coaching in comparison with voice coaching on motivation, engagement, experience, and digital literacy.

Keywords: virtual learning coach, virtual mentor, pedagogical agent, senior learners, digital literacy, electronic health records

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