Search results for: community health workers masters list (CHWML)

Authors: A. Nazilah

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Floods are classified among sudden onset phenomenon and the highest natural disasters happen in Malaysia. Floods have a negative impact on mental health. Measuring the psychopathology symptoms among flood victims is an important step for intervention and treatment. However, there is a gap of a valid, reliable and an efficient instrument to measure flood victims' mental health, especially in Malaysia. This study aims to replicate the earlier studies of developing e-Psychological Instrument for Flood Victims (e-PIFV). The e-PIFV is a digital self-report inventory that has 84 items with 4 dimension scales namely stress, anxiety, depression, and trauma. Two replicated studies have been done to validate the instrument using expert judgment method. Results showed that content coefficient validity for each sub-scale of the instrument ranging from moderate to very strong validity. In study I, coefficient values of stress was 0.7, anxiety was 0.9, depression was 1.0, trauma was 0.6 and overall was 0.8. In study II, the coefficient values for two subscales and overall scale were increased. The coefficient value of stress was 0.8, anxiety was 0.9, depression was 1.0, trauma was 0.8 and overall was 0.9. This study supports the theoretical framework and provides practical implication in the field of clinical psychology and flood management.

Keywords: developing e-psychological instrument, content validity, instrument, mental health management, flood victims, psychopathology, validity

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Authors: G. Erkomaishvili, M. Kobalava, T. Lazariashvili, N. Damenia

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Current state of foreign direct investment (FDI) in Georgia is analyzed and evaluated in the paper, the existing legislative background for regulating investments and stimulating policies to attract investments are shown. It is noted that in developing countries encouragement of investment activity, support and implementation are of the most important tasks, implying a consistent investment policy, investor-friendly tax regime and the legal system, reducing administrative barriers and restrictions, fare competitive conditions and business development infrastructure. The work deals with the determining factor of FDIs and the main directions of stimulation, as well as prospective industries where new investments are needed. Contributing and hindering factors and stimulating measures are analyzed. As a result of the research, the direct and indirect factors attracting FDI have been identified. Facilitating factors to FDI inflow are as follows: simplicity of starting business, geopolitical location, low taxes, access to credit, ease of ownership registration, natural resources, low burden of regulations, low level of corruption and low crime rates. Hindering factors to FDI inflow are as follows: small market, lack of policy for attracting investments, low qualification of the workforce (despite the large number of unemployed people it is difficult to find workers with necessary special skills and qualifications), high interest rates, instability of national currency exchange rate, presence of conflict zones within the country and so forth.

Keywords: foreign direct investment, investor, investment attracting marketing policies, reinvestment

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Authors: Minna Pikkarainen, Yueqiang Xu

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The integration of digital technology with existing healthcare processes has been painfully slow, a huge gap exists between the fields of strictly regulated official medical care and the quickly moving field of health and wellness technology. We claim that the promises of preventive healthcare can only be fulfilled when this gap is closed – health care and self-care becomes seamless continuum “correct information, in the correct hands, at the correct time allowing individuals and professionals to make better decisions” what we call connected health approach. Currently, the issues related to security, privacy, consumer consent and data sharing are hindering the implementation of this new paradigm of healthcare. This could be solved by following MyData principles stating that: Individuals should have the right and practical means to manage their data and privacy. MyData infrastructure enables decentralized management of personal data, improves interoperability, makes it easier for companies to comply with tightening data protection regulations, and allows individuals to change service providers without proprietary data lock-ins. This paper tackles today’s unprecedented challenges of enabling and stimulating multiple healthcare data providers and stakeholders to have more active participation in the digital health ecosystem. First, the paper systematically proposes the MyData approach for healthcare and preventive health data ecosystem. In this research, the work is targeted for health and wellness ecosystems. Each ecosystem consists of key actors, such as 1) individual (citizen or professional controlling/using the services) i.e. data subject, 2) services providing personal data (e.g. startups providing data collection apps or data collection devices), 3) health and wellness services utilizing aforementioned data and 4) services authorizing the access to this data under individual’s provided explicit consent. Second, the research extends the existing four archetypes of orchestrator-driven healthcare data business models for the healthcare industry and proposes the fifth type of healthcare data model, the MyData Blockchain Platform. This new architecture is developed by the Action Design Research approach, which is a prominent research methodology in the information system domain. The key novelty of the paper is to expand the health data value chain architecture and design from centralization and pseudo-decentralization to full decentralization, enabled by blockchain, thus the MyData blockchain platform. The study not only broadens the healthcare informatics literature but also contributes to the theoretical development of digital healthcare and blockchain research domains with a systemic approach.

Keywords: blockchain, health data, platform, action design

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Authors: Job Bapyibi Guyson, Bangripa Kefas

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The advent of social media has no doubt provided platforms that facilitate the spread of fake news. The devastating impact of this does not only end with the prevalence of rumours and propaganda but also poses potential impact on individuals’ mental well-being. Therefore, this study on examining the impact of fake news on the mental health of residents in Jos metropolis among others interrogates the impact of exposure to fake news on residents' mental health. Anchored on the Cultivation Theory, the study adopted quantitative method and surveyed two the opinions of hundred (200) social media users in Jos metropolis using purposive sampling technique. The findings reveal that a significant majority of respondents perceive fake news as highly prevalent on social media, with associated feelings of anxiety and stress. The majority of the respondents express confidence in identifying fake news, though a notable proportion lacks such confidence. Strategies for managing the mental impact of encountering fake news include ignoring it, fact checking, discussing with others, reporting to platforms, and seeking professional support. Based on these insights, recommendations were proposed to address the challenges posed by fake news. These include promoting media literacy, integrating fact-checking tools, adjusting algorithms and fostering digital well-being features among others.

Keywords: fake news, mental health, social media, impact

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Authors: Diana Peninger

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Over 10% of couples in the U.S. have infertility problems, with roughly 40% traceable to the male partner. Yet, little attention has been given to improving men’s contribution to the conception process. One solution that is showing promise in increasing conception rates for IVF and other assisted reproductive technology treatments is a first-of-its-kind semen collection that has been engineered to mitigate sperm damage caused by traditional collection methods. Patients are able to collect semen at home and deliver to clinics within 48 hours for use in fertility analysis and treatment, with less stress and improved specimen viability. This abstract will share these findings along with expert insight and tips to help attendees understand the key role sperm collection plays in addressing and treating reproductive issues, while helping to improve patient outcomes and success. Our research was to determine if male reproductive outcomes can be increased by improving sperm specimen health with a focus on technology. We utilized a redesigned semen collection cup (patented as the Device for Improved Semen Collection/DISC—U.S. Patent 6864046 – known commercially as a ProteX) that met a series of physiological parameters. Previous research demonstrated significant improvement in semen perimeters (motility forward, progression, viability, and longevity) and overall sperm biochemistry when the DISC is used for collection. Animal studies have also shown dramatic increases in pregnancy rates. Our current study compares samples collected in the DISC, next-generation DISC (DISCng), and a standard specimen cup (SSC), dry, with the 1 mL measured amount of media and media in excess ( 5mL). Both human and animal testing will be included. With sperm counts declining at alarming rates due to environmental, lifestyle, and other health factors, accurate evaluations of sperm health are critical to understanding reproductive health, origins, and treatments of infertility. An increase in the health of the sperm as measured by extensive semen parameter analysis and improved semen parameters stable for 48 hours, expanding the processing time from 1 hour to 48 hours were also demonstrated.

Keywords: reprodutive, sperm, male, infertility

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Authors: Monica Hoeldtke Pietruchinski, Andrey Ricardo Pimentel

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The teaching of computer programming for beginners has been presented to the community as a not simple or trivial task. Several methodologies and research tools have been developed; however, the problem still remains. This paper aims to present multi-agent system architecture to be incorporated to the educational collaborative game software for teaching programming that monitors, evaluates and encourages collaboration by the participants. A literature review has been made on the concepts of Collaborative Learning, Multi-agents systems, collaborative games and techniques to teach programming using these concepts simultaneously.

Keywords: architecture of multi-agent systems, collaborative evaluation, collaboration assessment, gamifying educational software

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Authors: Ainur Bulasheva

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During the last decade, the dual learning system (DLS) has been actively introduced in various industries in Kazakhstan, including both vocational, post-secondary, and higher education levels. It is a relatively new practice-oriented approach to training qualified personnel in Kazakhstan, officially introduced in 2012. Dual learning was integrated from the German vocational education and training system, combining practical training with part-time work in production and training in an educational institution. The policy of DLS has increasingly focused on decreasing youth unemployment and the shortage of mid-level professionals by providing incentives for employers to involve in this system. By participating directly in the educational process, the enterprise strives to train its future personnel to meet fast-changing market demands. This study examines the effectiveness of DLS from the perspective of employers to understand the motivations of businesses to participate (invest) in this program. The human capital theory of Backer, which predicts that employers will invest in training their workers (in our case, dual students) when they expect that the return on investment will be greater than the cost - acts as a starting point. Further extensionists of this theory will be considered to understand investing intentions of businesses. By comparing perceptions of DLS employers and non-dual practices, this study determines the efficiency of promoted training approach for enterprises in the Kazakhstan agri-food industry.

Keywords: vocational and technical education, dualeducation, human capital theory, argi-food industry

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Authors: Dean Sinković, Tea Golja, Morena Paulišić

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Upon the end of the vicious war in former Yugoslavia in 1995, international development community widely promoted microfinance as the key development framework to eradicate poverty, create jobs, increase income. Widespread claims were made that microfinance institutions would play vital role in creating a bedrock for sustainable ‘bottom-up’ economic development trajectory, thus, helping newly formed states to find proper way from economic post-war depression. This uplifting neoliberal narrative has no empirical support in the Republic of Croatia. Firstly, the type of enterprises created via microfinance sector are small, unskilled, labor intensive, no technology and with huge debt burden. This results in extremely high failure rates of microenterprises and poor individuals plunging into even deeper poverty, acute indebtedness and social marginalization. Secondly, evidence shows that microcredit is exact reflection of dangerous and destructive sub-prime lending model with ‘boom-to-bust’ scenarios in which benefits are solely extracted by the tiny financial and political elite working around the microfinance sector. We argue that microcredit providers are not proper financial structures through which developing countries should look way out of underdevelopment and poverty. In order to achieve sustainable long-term growth goals, public policy needs to focus on creating, supporting and facilitating the small and mid-size enterprises development. These enterprises should be technically sophisticated, capable of creating new capabilities and innovations, with managerial expertise (skills formation) and inter-connected with other organizations (i.e. clusters, networks, supply chains, etc.). Evidence from South-East Europe suggest that such structures are not created via microfinance model but can be fostered through various forms of social enterprises. Various legal entities may operate as social enterprises: limited liability private company, limited liability public company, cooperative, associations, foundations, institutions, Mutual Insurances and Credit union. Our main hypothesis is that cooperatives are potential agents of social and economic transformation and community development in the region. Financial cooperatives are structures that can foster more efficient allocation of financial resources involving deeper democratic arrangements and more socially just outcomes. In Croatia, pioneers of the first social enterprises were civil society organizations whilst forming a separated legal entity. (i.e. cooperatives, associations, commercial companies working on the principles of returning the investment to the founder). Ever since 1995 cooperatives in Croatia have not grown by pursuing their own internal growth but mostly by relying on external financial support. The greater part of today’s registered cooperatives tend to be agricultural (39%), followed by war veterans cooperatives (38%) and others. There are no financial cooperatives in Croatia. Due to the above mentioned we look at the historical developments and the prevailing social enterprises forms and discuss their advantages and disadvantages as potential agents for social and economic transformation and community development in the region. There is an evident lack of understanding of this business model and of its potential for social and economic development followed by an unfavorable institutional environment. Thus, we discuss the role of governance and management in the formation of social enterprises in Croatia, stressing the challenges for the governance of the country’s social enterprise movement.

Keywords: financial cooperatives, governance and management models, microfinance institutions, social enterprises

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Authors: Ismail Becenen

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Air pollution, a consequence of urbanization brought about by modern life, is as global as it is local and regional. Because of the adverse effects of air pollution on human health, air quality is given importance all over the world. According to the decision of the World Health Organization, clean air is the basic necessity for human health and well-being. It poses a very high risk especially for heart diseases and stroke cases. In this study, the positive effects of natural gas usage on air pollution in cities are explained by using literature scans and air pollution measurement values. Natural gas is cleaner than other types of fuel. It contains less sulfur and organic sulfur compounds. When natural gas burns, it does not leave ashes, it does not cause problems in the rubbish mountains. It's a clean fuel, it easily burns and shines. It is a burning gas that is easy and efficient. In addition, there is not a toxic effect for people in case of inhalation. As a result, the use of natural gas needs to be widespread to reduce air pollution around the world in order to provide a healthier life for people and the environment.

Keywords: natural gas, air pollution, sulfur dioxide, particulate matter, energy

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Authors: Babak Nemat

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Background and Purpose: Non-alcoholic fatty liver is one of the most common liver disorders, which, as the most important cause of death from liver disease, has unpleasant consequences and complications. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of an educational intervention based on a health belief model to prevent non-alcoholic fatty liver among women. Materials and Methods: This experimental study was performed among 110 women referring to comprehensive health service centers in Malayer City, west of Iran, in 2023. Using the available sampling method, 110 participants were divided into experimental and control groups. The data collection tool included demographic characteristics and a questionnaire based on the health belief model. In the experimental group, three one-hour training sessions were conducted in the form of pamphlets, lectures, and group discussions. Data were analyzed using SPSS software version 21, by correlation tests, paired t-tests, and independent t-tests. Results: The mean age of participants was 38.07±6.28 years, and most of the participants were middle-aged, married, housewives with academic education, middle-income, and overweight. After the educational intervention, the mean scores of the constructs include perceived sensitivity (p=0.01), perceived severity (p=0.01), perceived benefits (p=0.01), guidance for internal (p=0.01), and external action (p=0.01), and perceived self-efficacy (p=0.01) in the experimental group were significantly higher than the control group. The score of perceived barriers in the experimental group decreased after training. The perceived obstacles score in the test group decreased after the training (15.2 ± 3.9 v.s 11.2 ± 3.3, (p<0.01). Conclusion: The findings of the study showed that the design and implementation of educational programs based on the constructs of the health belief model can be effective in preventing women from developing higher levels of non-alcoholic fatty liver.

Keywords: non-alcoholic fatty liver, health belief model, education, women

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Authors: Charita B. Lasala, Lakambini G. Reluya

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The human factor composing the organization is an asset that needs to be managed conscientiously and to be in tuned with the organization’s need. Thus, the human resources add value to the organization by using their talents, skills and knowledge in transforming the other resources of the organization to either produce or to deliver products and services that generate profits or other valued forms for return. Keeping these kinds of employees has always been the main goal of each Human Resources Department in every company worldwide; regardless of the work being done. They are the most important resource a company can have and treating them well will make them priceless assets that can help make a business a success. Larmen de Guia Memorial College (LGMC) and Royal Oaks International School (ROIS) is one of the many organizations that seek ways to keep the human factor and are in the process of formalization and that people management is on the top of the list thus, this study was made since there was a need for the creation of the Human Resources Department due to its absence in the organization and to help the organization in keeping these valued employees. The study was anchored on the concept that human resources consist of people who perform its activities and that all decisions that affect the workforce concern the organization’s human resources functions. In conducting this study, it made use of the mixed method using both the qualitative and quantitative approaches with focus group discussions. The design has three stages namely: problem conceptualization, case analysis, and output. The output from the survey and interviews tells the abstracted ideas on the proposed HR program for the said institution. Based on the findings of the study, it can be concluded that the personnel in the institution is not in the correct perspective, much more that the personnel has no specific job descriptions. The hiring procedure is not extensive, nor the personnel was given the chance to be exposed to training that would aid them in job development and enhancement of their skills and talents. The compensation package offered by the institution does not commensurate to their services rendered. Lastly, it is concluded that in the opinion/decision rendered by the grievance committee is not fair and that the institution failed to give good motivation/initiative for the employees to be more productive.

Keywords: employee benefits, employee relations, human resources and management, people management, recruitment, trainings

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Authors: Srushti R. Joshi, Ujjwal Rakesh, Spoorthi Sripad

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The rapid advancement of remote sensing technologies has revolutionized plant health monitoring, offering valuable insights for precision agriculture and environmental management. This paper presents a comprehensive comparative analysis between the widely employed normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and state-of-the-art hyperspectral sensors in the context of plant health assessment. The study aims to elucidate the weigh ups of spectral resolution. Employing a diverse range of vegetative environments, the research utilizes simulated datasets to evaluate the performance of NDVI and hyperspectral sensors in detecting subtle variations indicative of plant stress, disease, and overall vitality. Through meticulous data analysis and statistical validation, this study highlights the superior performance of hyperspectral sensors across the parameters used.

Keywords: normalized difference vegetation index, hyperspectral sensor, spectral resolution, infrared

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Authors: Aloysius Colman Chukwuemeka Ezeabasili, Chibuike Patrick Ezeabasili

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Medium Sized Construction Companies in Nigeria are those employing 50-250 workers that are mostly involved in roads, Commercial and domestic building Construction, among others. These companies are in the majority and contribute immensely to infrastructural development in Nigeria. Despite the last eight years of economic downturn and the past years of COVID-19 pandemic, signs of these Companies recovering from the economic recession and pandemic seem bright. Nigeria has recorded 213,000 confirmed cases 3968 deaths from COVID-19 as at now. These medium sized companies are currently trying to explore various opportunities to grow their businesses to achieve competitive advantages over others by studying and improving on their bidding efficiency, Strategies for selecting businesses, bidding markup Strategies, and cash flow. These strategies were studied through the recruitment of construction experts and professionals. Many of them have acquired new technologies that have impacted positively on their strategies. The impact of these technologies like the BIM, e-tendering, conditions of contract, and claim management strategies are advantages to them and has given them good advantages over their peers. Monte Carlo solution, Swot analysis, and average bid methods have also clearly added advantages to bidding practices. New and existing strategies are Scrutinized, and training of young Nigerians in advanced countries to acquire knowledge in best practices have elevated some of these companies. The Covid-19 has not been very harsh to Nigeria, and the country is surely not as devastated as the advanced countries. Nigeria has therefore been able to cope with the combination of the downturn and the pandemic.

Keywords: medium sized construction companies, competitive advantage, new bidding technologies, Nigeria

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Authors: U. S. Babuga, A. H. Danwanka, A. Garba

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The research was carried out to compare the yield of respondents before and after access to extension services on crop production technologies in the study area. Data were collected from the study area through questionnaires administered to seventy-five randomly selected respondents. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, t-test and regression models. The result disclosed that majority (97%) of the respondent attended one form of school or the other. The majority (78.67%) of the respondents had farm size ranging between 1-3 hectares. The majority of the respondent adopt improved variety of crops, plant spacing, herbicide, fertilizer application, land preparation, crop protection, crop processing and storage of farm produce. The result of the t-test between the yield of respondents before and after access to extension services shows that there was a significant (p<0.001) difference in yield before and after access to extension. It also indicated that farm size was significant (p<0.001) while household size, years of farming experience and extension contact were significant at (p<0.005). The major constraint to adoption of crop production technologies were shortage of extension agents, high cost of technology and lack of access to credit facility. The major pre-requisite for the improvement of extension service are employment of more extension agents or workers and adequate training. Adequate agricultural credit to farmers at low interest rates will enhance their adoption of crop production technologies.

Keywords: comparative, analysis, yield, access, extension

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Authors: Bartosz Kedra, Robert Malkowski

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This paper provides description and presentation of laboratory test unit built basing on 150 kVA power frequency converter and Simulink RealTime platform. Assumptions, based on criteria which load and generator types may be simulated using discussed device, are presented, as well as control algorithm structure. As laboratory setup contains transformer with thyristor controlled tap changer, a wider scope of setup capabilities is presented. Information about used communication interface, data maintenance, and storage solution as well as used Simulink real-time features is presented. List and description of all measurements are provided. Potential of laboratory setup modifications is evaluated. For purposes of Rapid Control Prototyping, a dedicated environment was used Simulink RealTime. Therefore, load model Functional Unit Controller is based on a PC computer with I/O cards and Simulink RealTime software. Simulink RealTime was used to create real-time applications directly from Simulink models. In the next step, applications were loaded on a target computer connected to physical devices that provided opportunity to perform Hardware in the Loop (HIL) tests, as well as the mentioned Rapid Control Prototyping process. With Simulink RealTime, Simulink models were extended with I/O cards driver blocks that made automatic generation of real-time applications and performing interactive or automated runs on a dedicated target computer equipped with a real-time kernel, multicore CPU, and I/O cards possible. Results of performed laboratory tests are presented. Different load configurations are described and experimental results are presented. This includes simulation of under frequency load shedding, frequency and voltage dependent characteristics of groups of load units, time characteristics of group of different load units in a chosen area and arbitrary active and reactive power regulation basing on defined schedule.

Keywords: MATLAB, power converter, Simulink Real-Time, thyristor-controlled tap changer

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Authors: Stavros T. Ponis, George D. Plakas-Koumadorakis, Sotiris P. Gayialis

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Augmented Reality (AR) can be defined as a technology, which takes the capabilities of computer-generated display, sound, text and effects to enhance the user's real-world experience by overlaying virtual objects into the real world. By doing that, AR is capable of providing a vast array of work support tools, which can significantly increase employee productivity, enhance existing job training programs by making them more realistic and in some cases introduce completely new forms of work and task executions. One of the most promising AR industrial applications, as literature shows, is the use of Head Worn, monocular or binocular Displays (HWD) to support logistics and production operations, such as order picking, part assembly and maintenance. This paper presents the initial results of an ongoing research project for the introduction of a dedicated AR-HWD solution to the picking process of a Distribution Center (DC) in Greece operated by a large Telecommunication Service Provider (TSP). In that context, the proposed research aims to determine whether gamification elements should be integrated in the functional requirements of the AR solution, such as providing points for reaching objectives and creating leaderboards and awards (e.g. badges) for general achievements. Up to now, there is a an ambiguity on the impact of gamification in logistics operations since gamification literature mostly focuses on non-industrial organizational contexts such as education and customer/citizen facing applications, such as tourism and health. To the contrary, the gamification efforts described in this study focus in one of the most labor- intensive and workflow dependent logistics processes, i.e. Customer Order Picking (COP). Although introducing AR in COP, undoubtedly, creates significant opportunities for workload reduction and increased process performance the added value of gamification is far from certain. This paper aims to provide insights on the suitability and usefulness of AR-enhanced gamification in the hard and very demanding environment of a logistics center. In doing so, it will utilize a review of the current state-of-the art regarding gamification of production and logistics processes coupled with the results of questionnaire guided interviews with industry experts, i.e. logisticians, warehouse workers (pickers) and AR software developers. The findings of the proposed research aim to contribute towards a better understanding of AR-enhanced gamification, the organizational change it entails and the consequences it potentially has for all implicated entities in the often highly standardized and structured work required in the logistics setting. The interpretation of these findings will support the decision of logisticians regarding the introduction of gamification in their logistics processes by providing them useful insights and guidelines originating from a real life case study of a large DC operating more than 300 retail outlets in Greece.

Keywords: augmented reality, technology acceptance, warehouse management, vision picking, new forms of work, gamification

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Authors: Allison Streutker, Josephine Tan

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Universities across Canada have experienced unprecedented growth in international student enrollment from across the world. As cultural diversity in Canada and other countries increases, understanding the social support needs of all students is important for providing them with the assistance they need to thrive psychologically and academically. Those from individualistic cultural orientations tend to seek explicit social support, which involves expressly asking for assistance in times of stress. However, those from collectivistic cultural orientations are more likely to seek implicit social support, where encouragement is obtained from spending time among valued social groups without explicitly talking about problems. This study explored whether the relationship between the type of social support needs (implicit or explicit) and psychological and academic functioning might be moderated by cultural orientations (individualistic, collectivistic) among university students. Participants were 110 university students (70 women, 40 men; mean age = 24.8 years, SD = 6.6). They completed the Individualism and Collectivism Scale (ICS), Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), Interpersonal Support Evaluation List (ISEL) which assesses implicit and explicit social support, Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS), Scale of Positive and Negative Experience (SPANE) which yields positive and negative experience scores, Flourishing Scale (FS), and reported their grade point average (GPA) as a measure of academic performance. Moderated regression analysis demonstrated that, for those scoring lower on individualism, reporting lower level of implicit support predicted higher levels of perceived stress. For those scoring higher on individualism, lower levels of explicit social support predicted higher levels of perceived stress and a greater number of negative experiences. Generally, higher levels of implicit support were associated with greater satisfaction with life for all students, with the association becoming stronger among students with higher collectivism scores. No other significant findings were found. The results point to the value of considering the cultural orientations of students when designing programs to maintain and improve their sense of well-being.

Keywords: cultural orientation, social support, university students, well-being

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Authors: Maria Antonietta Marongiu

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Propositional information in discourse is made coherent, intelligible, and persuasive through metadiscourse. The linguistic and rhetorical choices that writers/speakers make to organize and negotiate content matter are intended to help relate a text to its context. Besides, they help the audience to connect to and interpret a text according to the values of a specific discourse community. Based on these assumptions, this work aims to analyse the use of metadiscourse in the spoken performance of teachers in online EFL, ESP, and subject-teacher courses taught in English to non-native learners in higher education. In point of fact, the global spread of Covid 19 has forced universities to transition their in-class courses to online delivery. This has inevitably placed on the instructor a heavier interactional responsibility compared to in-class courses. Accordingly, online delivery needs greater structuring as regards establishing the reader/listener’s resources for text understanding and negotiating. Indeed, in online as well as in in-class courses, lessons are social acts which take place in contexts where interlocutors, as members of a community, affect the ways ideas are presented and understood. Following Hyland’s Interactional Model of Metadiscourse (2005), this study intends to investigate Teacher Talk in online academic courses during the Covid 19 lock-down in Italy. The selected corpus includes the transcripts of online EFL and ESP courses and subject-teachers online courses taught in English. The objective of the investigation is, firstly, to ascertain the presence of metadiscourse in the form of interactive devices (to guide the listener through the text) and interactional features (to involve the listener in the subject). Previous research on metadiscourse in academic discourse, in college students' presentations in EAP (English for Academic Purposes) lessons, as well as in online teaching methodology courses and MOOC (Massive Open Online Courses) has shown that instructors use a vast array of metadiscoursal features intended to express the speakers’ intentions and standing with respect to discourse. Besides, they tend to use directions to orient their listeners and logical connectors referring to the structure of the text. Accordingly, the purpose of the investigation is also to find out whether metadiscourse is used as a rhetorical strategy by instructors to control, evaluate and negotiate the impact of the ongoing talk, and eventually to signal their attitudes towards the content and the audience. Thus, the use of metadiscourse can contribute to the informative and persuasive impact of discourse, and to the effectiveness of online communication, especially in learning contexts.

Keywords: discourse analysis, metadiscourse, online EFL and ESP teaching, rhetoric

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Authors: Dilip Nath

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A study has been conducted on the available aquatic invertebrates in the river Dhansiri at Dimapur site. The study confirmed that the river body composed of aquatic macroinvertebrate community under two phyla viz., Arthropods and Molluscs. Total 10 species have been identified from there as the source of alternative protein food for the common people. Not only the protein source, they are also the component of aquatic food chain and indicators of aquatic ecosystem. Proper management and strategies to promote the edible invertebrates can be considered as the alternative protein and alternative income source for the common people for sustainable livelihood improvement.

Keywords: Dhansiri, Dimapur, invertebrates, livelihood improvement, protein

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Authors: Aryan Sood, Shruti Pathak, Dipanshu Chaudhary, Shreyanshi, Yogesh Pal

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In this comprehensive meta-analysis, the study delves into the widespread issue of body shaming, revealing its pervasive impact on various aspects of human life and its profound implications for mental health. The paper first explores the origins of body shaming, including societal norms, media influences, and interpersonal dynamics. It highlights the various forms it takes and its detrimental effects on self-esteem, body image, and psychological well-being. Particularly among adolescents and teenagers in today's social media-driven world, the pressure to conform to idealized beauty standards is significant, leading to negative consequences for their development and health. The research emphasizes the long-lasting mental health effects of body shaming, including depression, body dysmorphia, low self-esteem, and eating disorders. The study also discusses the emergence of body positivity movements as a means to challenge societal norms and promote inclusivity and empathy. Furthermore, the research addresses body shaming in the workplace and presents strategies to combat it, stressing the importance of awareness campaigns, education, and policy changes. In conclusion, the study underscores the critical need for a culture of acceptance and support, the promotion of positive body image, and efforts to mitigate the severe mental health toll that body shaming takes on individuals and communities. Overall, this research provides a comprehensive overview of body shaming, its root causes, and its far-reaching impacts on mental health and well-being. It highlights the urgency of addressing this issue in various contexts, from adolescence to the workplace, and offers solutions, such as awareness campaigns and societal changes, to foster a more inclusive and empathetic future.

Keywords: body shaming, mental health, age, gender, societal norms, appearance-based discrimination, cyberbullying, self-esteem, social media, depression, acceptance

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Authors: Aspalella A. Rahman

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Domestic violence is not an uncommon phenomenon throughout the world. Malaysia is no exception. However, the exact prevalence of domestic violence in Malaysia is difficult to capture due to cultural understanding and sensitivity of the issues existing in the society. This paper aims to examine the issues and problems with the law of domestic violence in Malaysia. As such, it will mainly rely on statutes as its primary sources of information. It will analyse the scope and provisions of the Penal Code as well as the Domestic Violence Act 1994. Any shortcomings and gaps in the laws will be highlighted. It is submitted that domestic violence remains a problem in Malaysia. Although many strategies and plans have been implemented in attempting to combat this social problem, it remains unresolved. This is due to the inefficient implementation of the law. Although much has been done, there is still more to be done by the Malaysian government to combat domestic violence more effectively. For this reason, significant cooperation between the law enforcement authorities, NGOs, and the community must be established.

Keywords: challenges, domestic violence, issues, Malaysia

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Authors: Sk Ajim Ali

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The present study is an attempt to overview on the major environmental and health impacts due to hazardous waste generation and poor management. In present scenario, not only hazardous waste, but as a common term ‘Waste’ is one of the acceptable and thinkable environmental issues. With excessive increasing population, industrialization and standardization of human’s life style heap in extra waste generation which is directly or indirectly related with hazardous waste generation. Urbanization and population growth are solely responsible for establishing industrial sector and generating various Hazardous Waste (HW) and concomitantly poor management practice arising adverse effect on environment and human health. As compare to other Indian state, West Bengal is not too much former in HW generation. West Bengal makes a rank of 7th in HW generation followed by Maharashtra, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, U.P, Punjab and Andhra Pradesh. During the last 30 years, the industrial sectors in W.B have quadrupled in size, during 1995 there were only 440 HW generating Units in West Bengal which produced 129826 MTA hazardous waste but in 2011, it rose up into 609 units and it produced about 259777 MTA hazardous waste. So, the notable thing is that during a 15 year interval there increased 169 waste generating units but it produced about 129951 MTA of hazardous waste. Major chemical industries are the main sources of HW and causes of adverse effect on the environment and human health. HW from industrial sectors contains heavy metals, cyanides, pesticides, complex aromatic compounds (i.e. PCB) and other chemical which are toxic, flammable, reactive, and corrosive and have explosive properties which highly affect the surrounding environment and human health in and around he disposal sites. The main objective of present study is to highlight on the sources and components of hazardous waste in West Bengal and impacts of improper HW management on health and environment. This study is carried out based on a secondary source of data and qualitative method of research. The secondary data has been collected annual report of WBPCB, WHO’s report, research paper, article, books and so on. It has been found that excessive HW generation from various sources and communities has serious health hazards that lead to the spreading of infectious disease and environmental change.

Keywords: environmental impacts, existing HW generation and management practice, hazardous waste (HW), health impacts, recommendation and planning

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Authors: Muhammad Ade Andriansyah Efendi, Ika Monika

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Mini coal gasifier (GasMin) is a small reactor that could convert coal into combustible gas or producer gas which is designed to fulfill energy needs of small-scale industries. The producer gas can be utilized for both external and internal combustion. The design of coal gasifier is suitable for community require because it is easy to handle, affordable and environmentally friendly. The feasibility study shows that the substitution of 12 kg LPG or specially 50 kg LPG into GasMin of 20 kg coal capacity per hour is very attractive. The estimation price of 20 kg coal per hour capacity GasMin is 40 million rupiahs. In the year 2016, the implementation of GasMin conducted at alumunium industry and batik industry at Yogyakarta, Indonesia.

Keywords: biomass, coal, energy, gasification

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Authors: Maria Luisa Nozawa Ribeiro, Maria Teresa Miceli Kerbauy

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This paper aims to present the theories of public participation in order to understand the context of the public GMO (Genetic Modified Organisms) policies in Brazil, highlighting the characteristics of its configuration and the dialog with the experts. As a controversy subject, the commercialization of GMO provoked manifestation of some popular and environmental representative groups questioning the decisions of policy makers and experts on the matter. Many aspects and consequences of the plantation and consumption of this crops emerged and the safety of this technology was questioned. Environmentalists, Civil Right's movement, representatives of rural workers, farmers and organics producers, etc. demonstrated their point of view, also sustained by some experts of medical, genetical, environmental, agronomical sciences, etc. fields. Despite this movement, the precautionary principle (risk management), implemented in 1987, suggested precaution facing new technologies and innovations in the sustainable development society. This principle influenced many legislation and regulation on GMO around the world, including Brazil, which became a reference among the world regulatory GMO systems. The Brazilian legislation ensures the citizens participation on GMO discussion, characteristic that was important to establish the connection between the subject and the participation theory. These deliberation spaces materialized in Brazil through the "Public Audiences", which are managed by the National Biosafety Technical Commission (CTNBio), the department responsible for controlling the research, production and commercialization of GMOs in Brazil.

Keywords: public engagement, public participation, science and technology studies, transgenic politics

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Authors: Satoshi Kusaka

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The term ‘competency’ is attracting considerable scholarly attention worldwide with the advance of globalization in the 21st century and with the arrival of a knowledge-based society. In the current world environment, familiarity with varied disciplines is regarded to be vital for personal success. The idea of a competency-based educational system was mooted by the ‘Definition and Selection of Competencies (DeSeCo)’ project that was conducted by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Further, attention to this topic is not limited to developed countries; it can also be observed in developing countries. For instance, the importance of a competency-based curriculum was mentioned in the ‘2013 Harmonized Curriculum Framework for the East African Community’, which recommends key competencies that should be developed in primary schools. The introduction of such curricula and the reviews of programs are actively being executed, primarily in the East African Community but also in neighboring nations. Taking Mozambique as a case in point, the present paper examines the conception of ‘competency’ as a target of frontline education in developing countries. It also aims to discover the manner in which the syllabus, textbooks and lessons, among other things, in primary-level math education are developed and to determine the challenges faced in the process. This study employs the perspective of competency-based education design to analyze how the term ‘competency’ is defined in the primary-level math syllabus, how it is reflected in the textbooks, and how the lessons are actually developed. ‘Practical competency’ is mentioned in the syllabus, and the description of the term lays emphasis on learners' ability to interactively apply socio-cultural and technical tools, which is one of the key competencies that are advocated in OECD's ‘Definition and Selection of Competencies’ project. However, most of the content of the textbooks pertains to ‘basic academic ability’, and in actual classroom practice, teachers often impart lessons straight from the textbooks. It is clear that the aptitude of teachers and their classroom routines are greatly dependent on the cultivation of their own ‘practical competency’ as it is defined in the syllabus. In other words, there is great divergence between the ‘syllabus’, which is the intended curriculum, and the content of the ‘textbooks’. In fact, the material in the textbooks should serve as the bridge between the syllabus, which forms the guideline, and the lessons, which represent the ‘implemented curriculum’. Moreover, the results obtained from this investigation reveal that the problem can only be resolved through the cultivation of ‘practical competency’ in teachers, which is currently not sufficient.

Keywords: competency, curriculum, mathematics education, Mozambique

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Authors: Ayla Hoeta

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In a post-colonial Aotearoa New Zealand, solutions by rangatahi (youth) for rangatahi are essential as is civic participation and building economic agency in an increasingly tough economic climate. Upsouth was an online community crowdsourcing platform developed by The Southern Initiative, in collaboration with Itsnoon that provides rangatahi and whānau (family) a safe space to share lived experience, thoughts and ideas about local kaupapa (issues/topics) of importance to them. The target participants were Māori indigenous peoples and Pacifica groups, aged 14 - 21 years. In the Aotearoa New Zealand context, this participant group is not likely to engage in traditional consultation processes despite being an essential constituent in helping shape better local communities, whānau and futures. The Upsouth platform was active for two years from 2018-2019 where it completed 42 callups with 4300+ participants. The web platform collates the ideas, voices, feedback, and content of users around a callup that has been commissioned by a sponsor, such as Auckland Council, Z Energy or Auckland Transport. A callup may be about a pressing challenge in a community such as climate change, a new housing development, homelessness etc. Each callup was funded by the sponsor with Upsouths main point of difference being that participants are given koha (money donation) through digital wallets for their ideas. Depending on the quality of what participants upload, the koha varies between small micropayments and larger payments. This encouraged participants to develop creative and critical thinking - upskilling for future focussed jobs, enterprise and democratic skills while earning pocket money at the same time. Upsouth enables youth-led action and voice, and empowers them to be a part of a reciprocal and creative economy. Rangatahi are encouraged to express themselves culturally, creatively, freely and in a way they are free to choose - for example, spoken word, song, dance, video, drawings, and/or poems. This challenges and changes what is considered acceptable as community engagement feedback by the local government. Many traditional engagement platforms are not as consultative, do not accept diverse types of feedback, nor incentivise this valuable expression of feedback. Upsouth is also empowering for rangatahi, since it allows them the opportunity to express their opinions directly to the government. Upsouth gained national and international recognition for the way it engages with youth: winning the Supreme Award and the Accessibility and Transparency Award at Auckland Council’s 2018 Engagement Awards, becoming a finalist in the 2018 Digital Equity and Accessibility category of International Data Corporation’s Smart City Asia and Pacific Awards. This paper will fully contextualize the challenges of rangatahi and whānau civic engagement in Aotearoa New Zealand and then present a reflective case study of the Upsouth project, with examples from some of the callups. This is intended to form part of the Divided Cities 22 conference New Ground sub-theme as a critical reflection on a design intervention, which was conceived and implemented by the lead author to overcome the post-colonial divisions of Māori, Pacifica and minority ethnic rangatahi in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Keywords: rangatahi, youth empowerment, civic engagement, enabling, relating, digital platform, participation

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Authors: Jianzhou Ni, Hua Fan

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It has been determined that supervisor support has a major influence on postgraduate students' academic emotions and is considered a method of successfully anticipating postgraduates' good psychological well-being levels. As a result, by assessing the mediating influence upon academic emotions for contemporary postgraduates in China, this study investigated the tight reciprocal relationship between psychological empowerment and positive mental well-being among postgraduates. To that end, a help enables a theoretical analysis of role clarity, academic emotion, and positive psychological health was developed, and its validity and reliability were demonstrated for the first time using the normalized postgrad relationship with supervisor scale, academic emotion scale, and positive mental scale, as well as questionnaire data from Chinese postgraduate students. This study used the cross-lagged (ARCL) panel model data to longitudinally measure 798 valid data from two survey questions polls taken in 2019 (T1) and 2021 (T2) to investigate the link between supervisor support and positive graduate student mental well-being in a bidirectional relationship of influence. The study discovered that mentor assistance could have a considerable beneficial impact on graduate students' academic emotions and, as a result, indirectly help learners attain positive mental health development. This verifies the theoretical premise that academic emotions partially mediate the effect of mentor support on positive mental health development and argues for the coexistence of the two. The outcomes of this study can help researchers gain a better knowledge of the dynamic interplay among three different research variables: supervisor support, academic emotions, and positive mental health, as well as fill gaps in previous research. In this regard, the study indicated that mentor assistance directly stimulates students' academic drive and assists graduate students in developing good academic emotions, which contributes to the development of positive mental health. However, given the restricted measurement time in this study's cross-lagged panel data and the potential effect of moderating effects other than academic mood on graduate students' good mental health, the results of this study need to be more fully understood and validated.

Keywords: supervisor support, academic emotions, positive mental health, interaction effects, longitudinal cross-lagged measurements

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Authors: Saba Nuzhat

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The present ethnographic study examines how domestic violence and authoritative knowledge affect the reproductive health of females; in terms of contraceptive behavior and induced abortion. This qualitative study has been conducted by collecting in depth informal interviews and case studies of 12 female respondents living in an urban slum of Keraniganj, located Dhaka city. The study depicts how multivariable factors are linked to a woman’s ability to contracept and make abortion decisions in a cultural context where being a wife infers to submission, limited mobility, sexual availability, and restricted autonomy on her own reproduction health. This study shows how violence is being normalized and socially acceptable, every time women do not adhere to go through expected gender roles. The study primarily explores the subjective experiences and perceptions of the females about contraceptive behavior as well as abortions from a medical anthropological perspective. A number of salient examples are highlighted into this paper where women who go through abortion or adopt various measures of contraceptives get highly influenced by authoritative knowledge or under the pressure of male dominance. The lack of female autonomy or prevalence of domestic violence challenges the gender equality of Bangladeshi society and female sovereignty in accessing sexual or reproductive rights. This paper remarks the significance of medical anthropological research that helps to understand the intricate interrelationship between authoritative knowledge and male dominance with female reproductive health in order to reduce women’s risk of experiencing domestic violence and to promote reproductive health autonomy for themselves for espousing contraceptive behaviors and abortion decisions.

Keywords: abortion, authoritative knowledge, contraception, domestic violence, reproductive health

Procedia PDF Downloads 125

Authors: Veruska C. Dutra, Lucio F.M. Adorno, Mary L. G. S. Senna

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Since it recognized the importance of planning sustainable tourism, which has been discussed effective methods of monitoring tourist. In this sense, the indicators, can transmit a set of information about complex processes, events or trends, showing up as an important monitoring tool and aid in the environmental assessment, helping to identify the progress of it and to chart future actions, contributing, so for decision making. The World Tourism Organization - WTO recognizes the importance of indicators to appraise the tourism activity in the point of view of sustainability, launching in 1995 eleven Keys Indicators of Sustainable Tourism to assist in the monitoring of tourist destinations. So we propose a case study to examine the applicability or otherwise of a monitoring methodology and aid in the understanding of tourism sustainability, analyzing the effectiveness of local indicators on the approach defined by the WTO. The study was applied to the Lagoa da Confusão City, in the state of Tocantins - North Brazil. The case study was carried out in 2006/2007, with the guiding deductive method. The indicators were measured by specific methodologies adapted to the study site, so that could generate quantitative results which could be analyzed at the proposed scale WTO (0 to 10 points). Applied indicators: Attractive Protection – AP (level of a natural and cultural attractive protection), Sociocultural Impact–SI (level of socio-cultural impacts), Waste Management - WM (level of management of solid waste generated), Planning Process-PP (trip planning level) Tourist Satisfaction-TS (satisfaction of the tourist experience), Community Satisfaction-CS (satisfaction of the local community with the development of local tourism) and Tourism Contribution to the Local Economy-TCLE (tourist level of contribution to the local economy). The city of Lagoa da Confusão was presented as an important object of study for the methodology in question, as offered condition to analyze the indicators and the complexities that arose during the research. The data collected can help discussions on the sustainability of tourism in the destination. The indicators TS, CS, WM , PP and AP appeared as satisfactory as allowed the measurement "translating" the reality under study, unlike TCLE and the SI indicators that were not seen as reliable and clear and should be reviewed and discussed for an adaptation and replication of the same. The application and study of various indicators of sustainable tourism, give better able to analyze the local tourism situation than monitor only one of the indicators, it does not demonstrate all collected data, which could result in a superficial analysis of the tourist destination.

Keywords: indicators, Lagoa da Confusão, Tocantins, Brazil, monitoring, sustainability

Procedia PDF Downloads 387

Authors: Jiashu Shen

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With the increase in the prevalence of divorce, the impact of divorce on children’s sexual and reproductive health has received wide attention, while few studies have investigated parent marital relationship. This study aims to study the relation of both parent divorce and perceived parental marital relationship with children’s sexual behaviors among Chinese university or vocational college students. The study used data from “National College Student Survey on Sexual and Reproductive Health 2019”, an internet-based survey conducted from November 2019 to February 2020, in 241 universities or vocational colleges in China. Statistical analyses were conducted to assess the relationship of perceived parental marital relationship and parents’ divorce of distinct occurrence time with sexual intercourse, risky sexual behaviors, unintended health outcomes and sexual abuse. Among 51,124 university or vocational college students, those whose parents had divorced accounted for 10.72%. Better perceived parental relationship was associated with a lower likelihood to have sexual intercourse (male: OR: 0.83, 95%CI: 0.80-0.86; female: OR: 0.73, 95%CI: 0.70-0.75), sexual abuse, risky sexual behaviors and unintended health outcomes. Divorce was also found to be associated with higher risk of sexual abuse, risky sexual behaviors and unintended health outcomes. The findings highlight the importance of parental marital relationship and divorce in risky sexual behavior among young adults. The findings may provide implications on intervention programs targeting at children with divorced parents from an early stage.

Keywords: college students, divorce, family relationship, sexual behavior

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