Search results for: qualitative criteria

Authors: Liyun Chang, Cheng-Hsiang Tsai

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To ensure the radiation precisely delivering to the target of cancer patients, the linear accelerator equipped with the pretreatment on-board imaging system is introduced and through it the patient setup is verified before the daily treatment. New generation radiotherapy using beam-intensity modulation, usually associated the treatment with steep dose gradients, claimed to have achieved both a higher degree of dose conformation in the targets and a further reduction of toxicity in normal tissues. However, this benefit is counterproductive if the beam is delivered imprecisely. To avoid shooting critical organs or normal tissues rather than the target, it is very important to carry out the quality assurance (QA) of this on-board imaging system. The QA of the On-Board Imager® (OBI) system of one Varian Clinac-iX linear accelerator was performed through our procedures modified from a relevant report and AAPM TG142. Two image modalities, 2D radiography and 3D cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT), of the OBI system were examined. The daily and monthly QA was executed for five months in the categories of safety, geometrical accuracy and image quality. A marker phantom and a blade calibration plate were used for the QA of geometrical accuracy, while the Leeds phantom and Catphan 504 phantom were used in the QA of radiographic and CBCT image quality, respectively. The reference images were generated through a GE LightSpeed CT simulator with an ADAC Pinnacle treatment planning system. Finally, the image quality was analyzed via an OsiriX medical imaging system. For the geometrical accuracy test, the average deviations of the OBI isocenter in each direction are less than 0.6 mm with uncertainties less than 0.2 mm, while all the other items have the displacements less than 1 mm. For radiographic image quality, the spatial resolution is 1.6 lp/cm with contrasts less than 2.2%. The spatial resolution, low contrast, and HU homogenous of CBCT are larger than 6 lp/cm, less than 1% and within 20 HU, respectively. All tests are within the criteria, except the HU value of Teflon measured with the full fan mode exceeding the suggested value that could be due to itself high HU value and needed to be rechecked. The OBI system in our facility was then demonstrated to be reliable with stable image quality. The QA of OBI system is really necessary to achieve the best treatment for a patient.

Keywords: CBCT, image quality, quality assurance, OBI

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Authors: Abu Zafor Sadek

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Pharmaceuticals were one of the least impacted business sectors during the corona pandemic as they are the center point of Covid-19 fight. Emergency use authorization, unproven indication of some commonly used drugs, self-medication, research and production capacity of an individual country, capacity of producing vaccine by many countries, Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs) related uncertainty, information gap among manufacturer, practitioners and user, export restriction, duration of lock-down, lack of harmony in transportation, disruption in the regulatory approval process, sudden increased demand of hospital items and protective equipment, panic buying, difficulties in in-person product promotion, e-prescription, geo-politics and associated issues added a new dimension to this industry. Although the industry maintains a reasonable growth throughout Covid-19 days; however, it has been characterized by both long- and short-term effects. Short-term effects have already been visible to so many countries, especially those who are import-dependent and have limited research capacity. On the other hand, it will take a few more time to see the long-term effects. Nevertheless, supply chain disruption, changes in strategic planning, new communication model, squeezing of job opportunity, rapid digitalization are the major short-term effects, whereas long-term effects include a shift towards self-sufficiency, growth pattern changes of certain products, special attention towards clinical studies, automation in operations, the increased arena of ethical issues etc. Therefore, this qualitative and exploratory study identifies the post-covid-19 landscape of the global pharmaceutical industry.

Keywords: covid-19, pharmaceutical, businees, landscape

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Authors: O. Elkana, O Heyman, S. Hamdan, M. Franko, J. Vatine

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Objective: To investigate whether a direct link exists between perceived pain (PP) and executive functions (EF), above and beyond the influence of depression symptoms, in the context of medical rehabilitation. Design: Cross-sectional study. Setting: Rehabilitation Hospital. Participants: 125 medical records of hospitalized patients were screened for matching to our inclusion criteria. Only 60 patients were found fit and were asked to participate. 19 decline to participate on personal basis. The 41 neurologically intact patients (mean age 46, SD 14.96) that participated in this study were in their sub-acute stage of recovery, with fluent Hebrew, with intact upper limb (to neutralize influence on psychomotor performances) and without an organic brain damage. Main Outcome Measures: EF were assessed using the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) and the Stop-Signal Test (SST). PP was measured using 3 well-known pain questionnaires: Pain Disability Index (PDI), The Short-Form McGill Questionnaire (SF-MPQ) and the Pain Catastrophizing Scale (PCS). Perceived pain index (PPI) was calculated by the mean score composite from the 3 pain questionnaires. Depression symptoms were assessed using the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9). Results: The results indicate that irrespective of the presence of depression symptoms, PP is directly correlated with response inhibition (SST partial correlation: r=0.5; p=0.001) and mental flexibility (WSCT partial correlation: r=-0.37; p=0.021), suggesting decreased performance in EF as PP severity increases. High correlations were found between the 3 pain measurements: SF-MPQ with PDI (r=0.62, p<0.001), SF-MPQ with PCS (r=0.58, p<0.001) and PDI with PCS (r=0.38, p=0.016) and each questionnaire alone was also significantly associated with EF; thus, no specific questionnaires ‘pulled’ the results obtained by the general index (PPI). Conclusion: Examining the direct association between PP and EF, beyond the contribution of depression symptoms, provides further clinical evidence suggesting that EF and PP share underlying mediating neuronal mechanisms. Clinically, the importance of assessing patients' EF abilities as well as PP severity during rehabilitation is underscored.

Keywords: depression, executive functions, mental-flexibility, neuropsychology, pain perception, perceived pain, response inhibition

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Authors: Raju Murugan, Pankaj S. Kolhe

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The present study is mainly focusing on the numerical simulation of Flow Blurring (FB) twin fluid injection concept was proposed by Ganan-Calvo, which involves back flow atomization based on global bifurcation of liquid and gas streams, thus creating two-phase flow near the injector exit. The interesting feature of FB injector spray is an insignificant effect of variation in atomizing air to liquid ratio (ALR) on a spray cone angle. Besides, FB injectors produce a nearly uniform spatial distribution of mean droplet diameter and are least susceptible to variation in thermo-physical properties of fuels, making it a perfect candidate for fuel flexible combustor development. The FB injector working principle has been realized through experimental flow visualization techniques only. The present study explores potential of ANSYS Fluent based Large Eddy Simulation(LES) with volume of fluid (VOF) method to investigate two-phase flow just upstream of injector dump plane and spray quality immediate downstream of injector dump plane. Note that, water and air represent liquid and gas phase in all simulations and ALR is varied by changing the air mass flow rate alone. Preliminary results capture two phase flow just upstream of injector dump plane and qualitative agreement is observed with the available experimental literature.

Keywords: flow blurring twin fluid atomization, large eddy simulation, volume of fluid, air to liquid ratio

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Authors: Ummi Sholihah Pertiwi Abidin, Eva Fadhilah

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Social changes are more and more growing and having many different forms as the time passed and thought methods in the society. One of many forms of that social changes is the emancipation of women that is flourishing by the inception of gender equality perception between men and women in all aspects including education. It’s not anymore found the distinction between genders in learning and the education achieving right at this globalized era. But, it is still many perceptions which are against that equality of education achieving right, either come from the women’s selves or many external factors. They assumed that they are going to be a mother in the future, and a wife, someone with responsible for taking care of the household and everything inside, while the husband is the one who has the responsible for looking for the living. So comes from this kind of assumption, the perception against the education equality between genders, which means there is no need for them –women- to achieve the high education because they will still end up as housewives. Except those working or career women that need high education to support their works. These women are not aware that even a mother needs the high and capable education. Because, as the 'mother to be,' they surely need broad knowledge from the education to educate their children in the future. It is such a big fault to say the kind of thing, 'It is no matter that I am not educated, in case I’m just a housewife. The important thing is my children get a great education'. Unfortunately, it is still often found, saying 'A housewife job is not a big deal to do with high education.' This qualitative method paper raises a theme about the importance of education for women, no matter what will they be in the future. Because however, and whatever is the woman’s career outside the house, or even not working outside, she’s still a mother for her children, and 'educational provision' is a great need. And so forth, this educational provision is a big deal to do with future generation’s foredoom, regarding the first source of children’s knowledge and the first school for them is their mother.

Keywords: women education, mother to be, educational provision, first school, future generation’s foredoom

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Authors: Rania Mousa, Peterson Ozili

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A key agenda of policymakers in developed and developing countries is to increase the level of financial inclusion. Microlending institutions have been recognized as important agents of financial inclusion, which have the potential to achieve this objective and help move toward a more accessible, inclusive, and equitable path to financial sustainability. In that respect, this case study attempts to identify and assess the key initiatives undertaken by Grameen America as it responded to the COVID-19 pandemic within the framework of selected United Nations’ Sustainability Development Goals (UN’s SD Goals). This study goes beyond the stated objective by using the vulnerable group theory and special agent theory of financial inclusion to support the analysis of financial and non-financial information collected from Grameen America’s Annual Reports and audited financial statements. The study follows a qualitative content analysis method to precisely gauge the shift in Grameen’s strategy and focus, as well as to assess the impact of its initiatives on the small business community before and after the pandemic. The findings showcase that Grameen’s longstanding mission to alleviate poverty is in line with the UN’s Sustainability Development Goal 1. Furthermore, Grameen’s commitment to creating partnerships with external organizations to offer credit and non-credit services and support is consistent with UN’s Sustainability Development Goal 17. The study suggests that policymakers should foster the creation of more member-based financial and non-financial institutions which are ethically and morally responsible to their members in both good and bad times.

Keywords: COVID-19, financial inclusion, microfinance, sustainable development, microlending

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Authors: Sadullah Rahmani

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Legends, stories, beliefs and traditions in every nation represent the collective dreams, secrets and aspirations of a nation and on the other hand, the foundation of their collective memory; What generally forms the foundation of the culture of any nation has undergone changes and transformations due to the passage of time and changes in political, religious and social conditions. Afghanistan is one of the richest countries in terms of cultural diversity. This country is home to people of different languages, ethnicities and religions. The purpose of this article is to analyze the contrasts and cultural commonalities between two ethnic groups in Afghanistan, namely the Hazara and Uzbek peoples. This research was done with qualitative method and structured interview tool. The method of data analysis is content analysis. In order to explain the intercultural sensitivities of the two groups, Milton Bennett's intercultural sensitivities measures have been used. Based on the theory of intercultural sensitivities, the development of communication is an important factor in reducing intercultural sensitivities. In this research, 8 people from the Hazara and Uzbek tribes were interviewed. Various factors such as customs and manners, music, language, art, lifestyle, etc. have been examined in the article. These factors can contribute to cultural differences and commonalities between the Hazara and Uzbek peoples. The results of this research show that according to Bennett's theory, there are less cultural sensitivities between the Hazara and Uzbek peoples of Afghanistan, especially in matters of marriage, language, economic poverty, being discriminated against, and work relationships; But cultural sensitivities are more in many other cases such as education, religion and the formation of cultural communities.

Keywords: Keywords: Uzbek, language, culture, religion, Hazara.

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Authors: Save Kumwenda, Khumbo Kalulu, Kondwani Chidziwisano, Limbani Kalumbi, Vincent Doyle, Bagrey Ngwira

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Introduction: The Malawi Government in partnership with Non-Governmental Organizations adopted Community Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) in 2008 as an approach in sanitation and hygiene promotion with an aim of declaring Malawi Open Defeacation Free (ODF) by 2015. While there is a significant body of research into CLTS available in public domain, there is little research done on challenges faced in implementing CLTS in Malawi. Methods: A cross-sectional qualitative study was carried out in three districts of Ntcheu, Balaka, and Phalombe. Data was collected using Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) and Key informant interviews (KII) and analysed manually. Results: In total, 96 people took part in FGDs and 9 people in KII. It was shown that choice of leaders after triggering was commonly done by chiefs, facilitators, and VHC without following CLTS principles as opposed to identifying individuals who showed leadership skills. Despite capacity building initiatives involving District Coordinating Teams, lack of resources to undertake follow-ups contributed to failure to sustain ODF in the community. It was also found that while most respondents appreciating the need for no subsidies, the elderly and those with disabilities felt the need for external support because do not have money for buying strong logs, slabs for durable toilet floor and also to hire people to build latrines for them. Conclusion: Effective implementation of CLTS requires comprehensive consideration of various issues that may affect its success.

Keywords: open defecation, community-led, sanitation, faecal matter, hygiene, Malawi

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Authors: Medine Baran, Abdulkadir Maskan, Mehmet Ikbal Yetişir, Mukadder Baran, Azmi Türkan, Şeyma Yaşar

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The purpose of this study was to determine the views of physics teachers from several secondary schools in Turkey towards context-based learning approach. In the study, the context-based learning opinion questionnaire developed by the researchers for use as the data collection tool was piloted with 250 physics teachers. The questionnaire examined by the researchers and field experts was initially made up of 53 items. Following the evaluation process of the questionnaire, it included 37 items. In this way, the reliability and validity process of the measurement tool was completed. In the end, the finalized questionnaire was applied to 144 physics teachers from several secondary schools in different cities in Turkey (F:73, M:71). In the study, the participants were determined based on ease of reaching them. The results revealed no remarkable difference between the views of the physics teachers with respect to their gender, region and school. However, when the items in the questionnaire were considered, it was found that the participants interestingly agreed on some of the choices in the items. Depending on this, it was found that there were high levels of differences between the frequencies of those who agreed and those who disagreed with the 16 items in the questionnaire. Therefore, as the following phase of the present study, further research has been planned using the same questions. Based on these questions, which received opposite responses, physics teachers will be asked for their views about the results of the study using the interview technique, one of qualitative research techniques. In this way, the results will be evaluated both by the researchers and by the participants, and the problems and difficulties will be determined. As a result, related suggestions can be put forward.

Keywords: context bases learning, physics teachers, views

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Authors: Jeyarajan Sivapathasundram

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Knowledge management has been recognised as an emerging factor for being competitive among institutions and performances in firms. As such, being recognised as knowledge rich institution, higher education institutes have to be recognised knowledge management based resources for achieving competitive advantages. Present research picked result out of postgraduate research conducted in knowledge management at non-state higher educational institutes of Sri Lanka. Besides, the present research aimed to discover knowledge management for competition and firm performances of higher educational institutes out of the result produced by the postgraduate study. Besides, the results are found in a pair that developed out of knowledge management practices and the reason behind the existence of the practices. As such, the present research has developed a filter to pick the pairs that satisfy its condition of competition and performance of the firm. As such, the pair, such as benchmarking is practised to be ethically competing through conducting courses. As the postgraduate research tested results of foreign researches in a qualitative paradigm, the finding of the present research are generalise fact for knowledge management for competitiveness and performances in higher educational institutes. Further, the presented research method used attributes which explain competition and performance in its filter to discover the pairs relevant to competition and performances. As such, the fact in regards to knowledge management for competition and performances in higher educational institutes are presented in the publication that the presentation is out of the generalised result. Therefore, knowledge management for competition and performance in higher educational institutes are generalised.

Keywords: competition in and among higher educational institutes, performances of higher educational institutes, noun based filtering, production out of generalisation of a research

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Authors: Aisha M. Memon, Arabella Bhutto, Zahid A. Memon, Adnan Pitafi

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This study aims to identify the existing and non-existing elements in the entrepreneurial ecosystem which include finance, institutions, laws and regulations, human capital, culture, and markets, to measure the level of effectiveness of existing elements and to develop recommendations for improving the ecosystem to facilitate the women entrepreneurs in Jamshoro, Pakistan. The nature of this study is qualitative. Data were drawn from 25 in-depth, semi-structured interviews and a focus group discussion with women entrepreneurs in rural Jamshoro, Pakistan. The findings show the lack of awareness and knowledge among women entrepreneurs about available financial resources, lack of knowledge about laws, an absence of familial and societal support for women in accessing the entrepreneurial ecosystem, the absence of business and innovation enablers in rural areas, communication gaps, and unskilled human capital. The study found that institutions like non-for-profit organizations are playing an active role in the growth of women entrepreneurs. The existing entrepreneurial ecosystem in Jamshoro can be improved through culturally sensitive coordinated approach, interventions aimed at increasing awareness about the resources, promoting an understanding about the laws and regulations, making business enablers more effective, establishing public-private partnerships, and providing the women entrepreneurs easy access to market and financial resources.

Keywords: entrepreneurship, entrepreneurship ecosystem, Pakistan, women entrepreneurs

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Authors: Roengchai Tansuchat, Woraphon Yamaka, Paravee Maneejuk

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From the past recent, the global financial crisis, economic instability, and large fluctuation in agricultural commodity price have led to increased concerns about the volatility transmission among them. The problem is further exacerbated by commodities volatility caused by other commodity price fluctuations, hence the decision on hedging strategy has become both costly and useless. Thus, this paper is conducted to analysis the volatility spillover effect among major agriculture including corn, soybeans, wheat and rice, to help the commodity suppliers hedge their portfolios, and manage the risk and co-volatility of them. We provide a switching regime approach to analyzing the issue of volatility spillovers in different economic conditions, namely upturn and downturn economic. In particular, we investigate relationships and volatility transmissions between these commodities in different economic conditions. We purposed a Copula-based multivariate Markov Switching GARCH model with two regimes that depend on an economic conditions and perform simulation study to check the accuracy of our proposed model. In this study, the correlation term in the cross-hedge ratio is obtained from six copula families – two elliptical copulas (Gaussian and Student-t) and four Archimedean copulas (Clayton, Gumbel, Frank, and Joe). We use one-step maximum likelihood estimation techniques to estimate our models and compare the performance of these copula using Akaike information criterion (AIC) and Bayesian information criteria (BIC). In the application study of agriculture commodities, the weekly data used are conducted from 4 January 2005 to 1 September 2016, covering 612 observations. The empirical results indicate that the volatility spillover effects among cereal futures are different, as response of different economic condition. In addition, the results of hedge effectiveness will also suggest the optimal cross hedge strategies in different economic condition especially upturn and downturn economic.

Keywords: agricultural commodity futures, cereal, cross-hedge, spillover effect, switching regime approach

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Authors: Maria Elisa B. Manuel

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The Philippine housing sector is bracing challenges with the massive housing backlog and the adamant cycle of relocation, resettlement and returns to the cities of informal settler families due to the vast inaccessibility of necessities and opportunities in the past off-city housing projects. Bistekville 2 has been established as a model socialized housing project by utilizing government partnerships with private developers and individuals in the first in-city and onsite resettlement effort in the country. The study looked into the resilience of the residents to idiosyncratic economic shocks by analyzing their vulnerabilities, assets and coping strategies. The study formulated an economic resilience framework to identify how these factors that interact to build the household’s capacity to positively adapt to sudden expenses in their households. The framework is supplemented with a scale that presents the proximity of the household to resilience by identifying through its indicators whether the households are in the level of subsistence, coping, adaptive or transformative. Survey interviews were conducted with 91 households from Bistekville 2 on the components that have been identified by the framework that was processed with qualitative and quantitative processes. The study has found that the households are highly vulnerable due to their family composition and other conditions such as unhealthy loans, inconsistent amortization payment. Along with their high vulnerability, the households have inadequate strategies to anticipate shocks and primarily react to the shock. This has led to the conclusion that the households do not reflect resilience to idiosyncratic economic shocks and are still at the level of coping.

Keywords: idiosyncratic economic shocks, socialized housing, economic resilience, economic vulnerability, adaptive capacity

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Authors: Rayah Asiri, Anna Robinson-Barella, Adam Todd, Andy Husband

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Introduction: A high prevalence of diabetes and diabetes-related complications in ethnic minority communities is of significant concern. Several studies have indicated low adherence rates to antidiabetic medications in ethnic minorities. Poor adherence to antidiabetic medications leads to a higher risk of complications and mortality. This review aims to explore the barriers to and facilitators of adherence to antidiabetic medication among ethnic minority groups in high-income countries. Methods: A comprehensive search of MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL, and PsycINFO databases for qualitative studies exploring the barriers to or facilitators of adherence to antidiabetic medication in ethnic minority groups were conducted from database inception to March 2022 (PROSPERO CRD42022320681). A quality assessment of the studies was conducted using the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (CASP) tool. Key concepts and themes from relevant studies were synthesised using a meta-ethnographic approach. Result: A total of 18 studies were included in the review, and three major themes were developed: 1) cultural underpinnings, 2) communication and building relationships, and 3) managing diabetes during holidays. Conclusion: Multiple barriers and facilitators of adherence to antidiabetic medication among ethnic minority people in high-income countries have been identified. A medication adherence intervention focusing on identified barriers to adherence to antidiabetic medication in ethnic minorities may help in improving diabetes outcomes in these groups.

Keywords: medication adherence, diabetes, ethnic minority, barriers, facilitators

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Authors: Saba Atefyekta

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Aim: Control of bacterial bioburden in wounds is an important step for minimizing the risk of wound infection. An antimicrobial hydrogel wound dressing is developed out of soft polymeric hydrogels that contain antimicrobial peptides (AMPs). Such wound dressings can bind and kill all types of bacteria, even the resistance types at the wound site. Methods: AMPs are permanently bonded onto a soft nanostructured polymer via covalent attachment and physical entanglement. This improves stability, rapid antibacterial activity, and, most importantly, prevents the leaching of AMPs. Major Findings: Antimicrobial analysis of antimicrobial hydrogels using in-vitro wound models confirmed >99% killing efficiency against multiple bacterial trains, including MRSA, MDR, E. Coli. Furthermore, the hydrogel retained its antibacterial activity for up to 4 days when exposed to human serum. Tests confirmed no release of AMPs, and it was proven non-toxic to mammalian cells. An in-vivo study on human intact skin showed a significant reduction of bacteria for part of the subject’s skin treated with antibacterial hydrogels. A similar result was detected through a qualitative study in veterinary trials on different types of surgery wounds in cats, dogs, and horses. Conclusions: Antimicrobial hydrogels wound dressings developed by permanent attachment of AMPs can effectively and rapidly kill bacteria in contact. Such antibacterial hydrogel wound dressings are non-toxic and do not release any substances into the wound.

Keywords: antibacterial wound dressing, antimicrobial peptides, post-surgical wounds, infection

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Authors: Godaye Gobena Gomiole

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The purpose of this study was to investigate school context-related factors that affect principals' instructional leadership competence in primary schools in Tarcha Town, Ethiopia. A qualitative case study research design was used. The data were collected through semi-structured interviews and document analysis. Twelve senior principals were included in the study through purposive sampling. Interviews were used to collect in-depth data. The data was analyzed thematically. The findings of the study indicated that primary school principals face both internal and external challenges. Internally, they face limited knowledge and skills, a lack of courage and commitment, and administrative work overload. Their external challenges included negative attitudes from parents and teachers, a lack of instructional materials, and little support from local education authorities. Consequently, they can't serve effectively as instructional leaders or resource people. Based on the findings, it is recommended that the Ministry of Education, South West Regional Education Bureau, Dawuro Zone Education Department, and Tarcha Town Administration Education Officers and Cluster Supervisors regularly monitor and support school leaders and prepare and provide pertinent teaching materials and training so that the principals can lead in the capacity that is appropriate for the position.

Keywords: instructional leadership, primary school, principals, school context related factors

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Authors: Yuki Hara

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Entrepreneurs are welcomed to the landscaping industry, conserving practically and theoretically biological diversity in landscaping construction, although there are limited reports on corporative trials making a market with a new logistics system of native plants (NP) between landscaping companies and nurserymen. This paper explores the entrepreneurial process of a landscaping company, “5byMidori” for NP marketing. This paper employs a case study design. Data are collected in interviews with the manager and designer of 5byMidori, 2 scientists, 1 organization, and 18 nurserymen, fieldworks at two nurseries, observations of marketing activities in three years, and texts from published documents about the business concept and marketing strategy with NP. These data are analyzed by qualitative methods. The results show that NP is suitable for the vision of 5byMidori improving urban desertified environment with closer urban-rural linkage. Professional landscaping team changes a forestry organization into NP producers conserving a large nursery of a mountain. Multifaceted PR based on the entrepreneurial context and personal background of a landscaping venture can foster team members' businesses and help customers and users to understand the biodiversity value of the product. Wider partnerships with existing nurserymen at other sites in many regions need socio-economic incentives and environmental reliability. In conclusion, the entrepreneurial marketing of a landscaping company needs to add more meanings and a variety of merits in terms of ecosystem services, as NP tends to be in academic definition and independent from the cultures like nurseryman and forestry.

Keywords: biological diversity, landscaping industry, marketing, native plants

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Authors: Silvia Alaimo

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This lecture brings to our attention the theme of spirituality within Gestalt therapy’s theoretical and clinical perspectives and which is closely connected to the fertile emptiness and creative indifference’ experiences. First of all, the premise that must be done is the overcoming traditional western culture’s philosophical and religious misunderstandings, such as the dicotomy between spirituality and pratical/material daily life, as well as the widespread secular perspective of classic psychology. Even fullness and emptiness have traditionally been associated with the concepts of being and not being. "There is only one way through which we can contact the deepest layers of our existence, rejuvenate our thinking and reach intuition (the harmony of thought and being): inner silence" (Perls) *. Therefore, "fertile void" doesn't mean empty in itself, but rather an useful condition of every creative and responsible act, making room for a deeper dimension close to spirituality. Spirituality concerns questions about the meaning of existence, which lays beyond the concrete and literal dimension, looking for the essence of things, and looking at the value of personal experience. Looking at fundamentals of Gestalt epistemology, phenomenology, aesthetics, and the relationship, we can reach the heart of a therapeutic work that takes spiritual contours and which are based on an embodied (incarnate size), through the relational aesthetic knowledge (Spagnuolo Lobb ), the deep contact with each other, the role of compassion and responsibility, as the patient's recognition criteria (Orange, 2013) rooted in the body. The aesthetic dimension, like the spiritual dimension to which it is often associated, is a subtle dimension: it is the dimension of the essence of things, of their "soul." In clinical practice, it implies that the relationship between therapist and patient is "in the absence of judgment," also called "zero point of creative indifference," expressed by ‘therapeutic mentality’. It consists in following with interest and authentic curiosity where the patient wants to go and support him in his intentionality of contact. It’s a condition of pure and simple awareness, of the full acceptance of "what is," a moment of detachment from one's own life in which one does not take oneself too seriously, a starting point for finding a center of balance and integration that brings to the creative act, to growth, and, as Perls would say, to the excitement and adventure of living.

Keywords: spirituality, bodily, embodied aesthetics, phenomenology, relationship

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Authors: Naoum Abderrahmane, Boumehed Meriem, Alshaqaqi Belal

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Background subtraction algorithm is a larger used technique for detecting moving objects in video surveillance to extract the foreground objects from a reference background image. There are many challenges to test a good background subtraction algorithm, like changes in illumination, dynamic background such as swinging leaves, rain, snow, and the changes in the background, for example, moving and stopping of vehicles. In this paper, we propose an efficient and accurate background subtraction method for moving object detection in video surveillance. The main idea is to use a developed fast-independent component analysis (ICA) algorithm to separate background, noise, and foreground masks from an image sequence in practical environments. The fast-ICA algorithm is adapted and adjusted with a matrix calculation and searching for an optimum non-quadratic function to be faster and more robust. Moreover, in order to estimate the de-mixing matrix and the denoising de-mixing matrix parameters, we propose to convert all images to YCrCb color space, where the luma component Y (brightness of the color) gives suitable results. The proposed technique has been verified on the publicly available datasets CD net 2012 and CD net 2014, and experimental results show that our algorithm can detect competently and accurately moving objects in challenging conditions compared to other methods in the literature in terms of quantitative and qualitative evaluations with real-time frame rate.

Keywords: background subtraction, moving object detection, fast-ICA, de-mixing matrix

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Authors: Gift Salawa, Perkins Erhijakpor, Henry Ukwu

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This study will explore child labour issues in Nigeria because it is capable of affecting the physical and general well-being of children who perform hazardous work. This feat will be achieved through qualitative research methodology. Data collection shall be elicited by oral interviews and documental content analysis to delve on the application of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), International Labour Organization ILO and Geneva Convention relating to child labour practices in Nigeria. This will include the relevance of present domestic laws relating to child labour as implemented in Nigeria, together with factors that contribute to the practice of child labour in the country. The oral interview data analysis will be performed by breaking the interview data into significant statements and themes. This shall be done by comparing and determining the commonalities that are prevalent in the participants’ views regarding child labour menace in Nigeria. Presumably, findings from this study shall unveil that a poor educational policy, a widespread poverty level which is mostly prevalent amongst families in the rural areas of the country, a lack of employment for adults, have led to the ineffectiveness of the local child labour laws in Nigeria. These has in turn culminated into a somewhat non-implementation of the international laws of the CRC, ILO and Geneva Declaration on child labour to which the Nigerian government is a signatory. Based on the finding, this study will calls on the government of Nigeria to extend its free educational policy from the elementary, secondary to tertiary educations. The government also has to ensure that offenders of children’s rights should face a severe punishment.

Keywords: child labour, educational policy, human right, protection right

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Authors: Ermias Melake Tesfay

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The importance of evaluation practice and feedback to student advancement and retention has gained importance in the literature over the past ten years. So many issues and cases have been raised about the quality and types of evaluation carried out in higher education and the quality and quantity of student feedback. The aim of this study was to explore the students’ perspectives on the quality of course evaluation practice and feedback in College of Education and College of Science. The study used both quantitative and qualitative methods to collect data. Data were collected from third-year and fourth-year students of 13 departments in the College of Education and College of Science in Eritrea. A modified Service Performance (SERVPERF) questionnaire and focus group discussions were used to collect the data. The sample population comprised of 135 third-year and fourth-year students’ from both Colleges. A questionnaire using a 5 point Likert-scale was administered to all respondents whilst two focus group discussions were conducted. Findings from survey data and focus group discussions showed that the majority of students hold a positive perception of the quality of course evaluation practice but had a negative perception of methods of awarding grades and administrators’ role in listening to the students complain about the course. Furthermore, the analysis from the questionnaire showed that there is no statistically significant difference between third-year and fourth-year students, College of Education and College of Science and male and female students on the quality of course evaluation practice and feedback. The study recommends that colleges improve the quality of fairness and feedback during course assessment.

Keywords: evaluation, feedback, quality, students' perception

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Authors: Jamila Fliou, Federica Spinola, Ouassima Riffi, Asmaa Zriouel, Ali Amechrouq, Luca Nalbone, Alessandro Giuffrida, Filippo Giarratana

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This study performed a preliminary evaluation of the phytochemical composition and in vitro antibacterial activity of ethanolic extracts of Lavandula x intermedia leaves and flowers collected in the Fez-Meknes region of Morocco. Phytochemical analyses comprised qualitative colourimetric determinations of alkaloids, anthraquinones, and terpenes and quantitative analysis of total polyphenols, flavonoids, and condensed tannins by UV spectrophotometer. Antibacterial activity was evaluated by determining minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) values against different ATCC bacterial strains. The phytochemical analysis showed a high amount of total polyphenols, flavonoids, and tannins in the leaf extract and a higher amount of terpenes based on colourimetric reaction than the flower extract. A positive colourimetric reaction for alkaloids and anthraquinones was detected for both extracts. The antibacterial activity of leaves and flower extract was not different against Gram-positive and Gram-negative strains (p<0.05). The results of the present study suggest the possible use of ethanolic extracts of L. x intermedia collected in the Fez-Meknes region of Morocco as a natural agent against bacterial pathogens.

Keywords: antimicrobial activity, Lavandula spp., lavender, lavandin, UV spectrophotometric analysis

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Authors: Alaa A. Al-Harthi, Abdulrahman S. Bageis, Bingunath Ingirige

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Poor levels of performance and low productivity were highlighted by many previous studies as a major cause of failure in the Saudi construction industry. This paper provides recommendations to address key external indicators that led to poor levels of performance and low productivity in Engineering and Technical Departments (ETDs) within the Saudi governmental agencies. The ETDs are client’s representative on behalf of the Saudi Ministries. This paper represents a part of an investigation which contained external and internal challenges that led to occurrence of the research problem. The paper is focusing on the external challenges which contain 14 indicators. These 14 external indicators had been examined carefully through comprehensive review of the literature then have been tested through quantitative and qualitative methods. 400 questionnaires were distributed to dozens of different bodies. The actual response rate was 47% completed responses. Four semi-structured interviews were conducted with senior practitioners from the Public Construction Sector. The finding showed that the 14 external indicators directly and/or indirectly influence the Public Construction Sector. It was noticed significantly that these indicators have prevented the ETDs from performing properly. It was also found that the 14 external indicators were constant with all kinds of Government Construction Projects in the Saudi context. Addressing the 14 external indicators requires to be planned over the long run which is responsible by relevant Saudi governmental authorities under the umbrella of the Saudi Council of Ministers. The study recommends that Project Management Office (PMO) should be considered in order to improve the performance of the ETDs.

Keywords: construction projects' performance, low engineering productivity, public construction sector

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Authors: Karwan K. Abdalrahman

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Due to the impacts of the internet and social media, new words and expressions enter the Kurdish language, and a number of familiarized words get new meanings. The case is especially true when the technique of transliteration is taken into consideration. Through transliteration, a number of selected words widely used on social media are entering the Kurdish media discourse. In addition, a selected number of Kurdish words get new cultural and psychological meanings. The significance of this study is to delve into the process of word formation in the Kurdish language and explore how new words and expressions are formed by social media users and got public recognition. First, the study investigates the English words that enter the Kurdish language through different social media platforms. All of these words are transliterated and are used in spoken and written discourses. Second, there are a specific number of Kurdish words that got new meanings in social media. As for these words, there are psychological and cultural factors that make people use these expressions for specific political reasons. It can be argued that they have an indirect political message along with their new linguistic usages. This is a qualitative study analyzing video content that was published in the last two years on social media platforms, including Facebook and YouTube. The collected data was analyzed based on the themes discussed above. The findings of the research can be summarized as follows: the widely used transliterated words have entered both the spoken and written discourses. Authors in online and offline newspapers, TV presenters, literary writers, columnists are using these new expressions in their writings. As for the Kurdish words with new meanings, they are also widely used for psychological, cultural, and political reasons.

Keywords: Kurdish language, social media, new meanings, transliteration, vocabulary

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Authors: Samar Alharbi, Yota Dimitriadi

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With the exponential growth of information and communication technologies in higher education, new online teaching strategies have become increasingly important for student engagement and learning. In particular, some institutions depend solely on asynchronous e-learning to provide courses for their students. The major challenge facing these institutions is how to improve the quality of teaching and learning in their asynchronous tools. One of the most important methods that can help e-learner to enhance their social learning and social presence in asynchronous learning setting is immediacy. This study explores tutors perceptions of their instructional immediacy practices as part of their communication actions in online learning environments. It was used a mixed-methods design under the umbrella of pragmatic philosophical assumption. The participants included tutors at an educational institution in a Saudi university. The participants were selected with a purposive sampling approach and chose an institution that offered fully online courses to students. The findings of the quantitative data show the importance of teachers’ immediacy practices in an online text-based learning environment. The qualitative data contained three main themes: the tutors’ encouragement of student interaction; their promotion of class participation; and their addressing of the needs of the students. The findings from these mixed methods can provide teachers with insights into instructional designs and strategies that they can adopt in order to use e-immediacy in effective ways, thus improving their students’ online learning experiences.

Keywords: asynchronous e-learning, higher education, immediacy, tutor

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Authors: Mohd Asharf Ganie, Aafia Rashid, Mohd Afzal Zargar, Showkat Ali Zargar, Syed Mudasar, Tabasum Parvaiz, Zafar Amin Shah

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Accumulating evidence suggests that Vitamin D deficiency (VDD) might at least contribute to the metabolic co-morbidities in PCOS. Hence, we aimed to study the effect of vitamin D supplementation in co-prescription with insulin sensitizers like metformin and pioglitazone on clinical, hormonal and metabolic parameters in women with PCOS. In this open label randomized, controlled trial a total of 120 women with PCOS diagnosis (AE-PCOS 2009 Criteria) were assigned to four treatment groups (n= 30 in each): group I (metformin 1 gm/day in combination with cholecalciferol 4000 IU/day), group II (pioglitazone 30 mg/day in combination with cholecalciferol 4000 IU/day), group III (metformin 1 gm /day) and group IV (pioglitazone 30 mg/day). Vitamin D supplementation was given as 60,000 units every two weeks for 24 weeks. All the subjects were routinely evaluated for clinical, biochemical, hormonal and insulin sensitivity parameters in addition to various safety parameters especially serum calcium levels at baseline and after 24 weeks of the treatment. Our results indicate that 95.5% of PCOS women were vitamin D deficient at baseline. Serum 25 (OH) D levels increased significantly (p < 0.001) in groups I and II without any adverse effects after 24 weeks of oral administration of 4000 IU cholecalciferol daily. However, serum 25 (OH) D levels remained unchanged in group III and IV. By six months, number of menstrual cycles per year increased whereas Ferriman-Gallwey score, serum total testosterone and HOMA-IR decreased significantly (P < 0.001) in the treatment groups supplemented with cholecalciferol as compared to those treated either drug alone. No significant beneficial changes were observed on weight, BMI, blood pressure, glucose tolerance and serum lipids in any of the groups supplemented with cholecalciferol. We conclude that daily dose of 4000 IU cholecalciferol might be a useful adjunct in complex treatment of PCOS with fewer adverse events. Furthermore, pioglitazone and cholecalciferol combination seems to be marginally better although there was no statistical significance.

Keywords: PCOS, vitamin D supplementation, insulin resistance, spironolactone, metformin, pioglitazone

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Authors: Morgan Dempsey, Sam Lewis, Maggie Pierce, Alex Goodman

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This research investigates the impact of equine-assisted therapy programs on occupational engagement for children with intellectual and developmental disabilities. There is a general lack of evidence for equine-based services for this population, so this research aims to decrease gaps in the current literature. To gain comprehensive insight, data will be collected from both the child and their caregiver. This study takes a qualitative approach utilizing online surveys and in-person guided interviews. The participants are individuals ages 4-17 with a diagnosed intellectual or developmental disability who are currently participating in a PATH int. certified equine-assisted therapy program. Also, caregivers of individuals who meet this criterion are included. This study decreases gaps in the literature by providing comprehensive data regarding the impacts of these services on occupational engagement. The addressed domains are physical, behavioral, emotional, and social functioning, as well as overall activity engagement and impacts in everyday life. With a better understanding of how equine-assisted therapy affects relevant outcomes for children with disabilities, an increased number of occupational therapists can implement these uniquely effective services while adhering to standards of evidence-based practice. Ultimately, this research strives to contribute to generalizable data in occupational therapy by supporting the implementation of equine-assisted services for children with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities and their caregivers/families.

Keywords: occupational therapy, pediatric, rehabilitation, hippotherapy

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Authors: Udeh Nneka Evelyn

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The shortcoming of traditional costing system in terms of validity, accuracy, consistency, and Relevance increased the need for modern management accounting system. Activity –Based Costing (ABC) can be used as a modern tool for planning, Control and decision making for management. Past studies on ABC system have focused on manufacturing firms thereby making the studies on service firms scanty to some extent. This paper reviewed the application and relevance of activity-based costing technique in service oriented business organizations by employing a qualitative research method which relied heavily on literature review of past and current relevant articles focusing on ABC. Findings suggest that ABC is not only appropriate for use in a manufacturing environment; it is also most appropriate for service organizations such as financial institutions, the healthcare industry and government organization. In fact, some banking and financial institutions have been applying the concept for years under other names. One of them is unit costing, which is used to calculate the cost of banking services by determining the cost and consumption of each unit of output of functions required to deliver the service. ABC in very basic terms may provide very good payback for businesses. Some of the benefits that relate directly to the financial services industry are: identification the most profitable customers: more accurate product and service pricing: increase product profitability: Well organized process costs.

Keywords: business, costing, organizations, planning, techniques

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Authors: Vaishali Anagal, Vasudha Gokhale, Sharvey Dhongde

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Old buildings have significance in many aspects. The manifold significance may include historic, architectural and cultural aspects. In a cultural city like Pune, India, numerous residential buildings exist in the core city whose age may range between 60-100 years. These represent the city’s history and culture. Most of them are still in use as residential buildings with adaptations in various degrees. Some of these buildings are enlisted as ‘Heritage Buildings’ by local municipal authority. However, there are number of buildings that have heritage value although they are not enlisted as heritage sites. A lot of these buildings have already been pulled down for several reasons such as end of technical life, inadequacy for users, increasing floor area ratios, inflating land prices and changing lifestyles etc. Literature suggest that place attachment and residential satisfaction are positively related. It also indicates that length of residency is positively correlated with the place attachment. Residential satisfaction is associated with number of factors including socio demographic characteristics of users, housing characteristics, neighborhood characteristics and behavioral characteristics. This research paper poses an inquiry about the dynamics of co-relation between place attachment and residential satisfaction in case of old residential buildings. The motive of this enquiry is to examine if place attachment can serve as a strong ground for restoration of these old buildings and evade the devastation of emblems of cultural heritage of the city. The methodology includes questionnaire survey of users as well as a qualitative assessment regarding place attachment and residential satisfaction. About 20 residential buildings in the core city of Pune are selected for this purpose. The results of survey are analyzed and conclusions are drawn.

Keywords: place attachment, residential satisfaction, old residential buildings, housing characteristics, cultural heritage

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Authors: Mandisi Matyana

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Although the South African local government is doing all the best in ensuring improved service delivery for the citizens, service delivery disparity still remains the real challenge for other municipalities. The unequal distribution of services within municipal wards is causing unequal happiness among the citizens; hence others do enjoy different provided municipal services, while others do not. It is acknowledged that less access to municipal services infringes one’s rights, such as the right to human dignity and the right to life. Some of the municipal services are basic services and they are the mainstay of human survival, such as water, housing, etc. It is quite evident that the service delivery disparity could be caused by the various factors within the local municipality affairs, including both administrative and political factors. Therefore, this study is undertaken to check and evaluate the main foundations of service delivery disparity in ensuring equal development of the state, particularly for local communities. The study used the qualitative method to collect the data from the citizens of Winnie Madikizela Mandela Local Municipality. An extensive literature was also conducted in understanding the causes of service delivery disparity. Study findings prove that the service delivery disparity could be caused by factors such as political interference in administration, corruption and fraud, elevated unemployment levels, inadequate institutional capacity, etc. Therefore, the study recommends strong community participation and constant external supervision in the local government so as to encourage openness in local government to ensure fair administration towards services to be provided.

Keywords: administration, development, municipal services, service delivery disparity, Winnie Madikizela Mandela local municipality

Procedia PDF Downloads 103