Search results for: family business founders

Authors: Jai Bakliya, Palak Dhamecha

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Today customer satisfaction is given utmost priority be it any industry. But when it comes to hospitality industry this applies even more as they come in direct contact with customers while providing them services. Employee engagement is new concept adopted by Human Resource Department which impacts customer satisfactions. To satisfy your customers, it is necessary to see that the employees in the organisation are satisfied and engaged enough in their work that they meet the company’s expectations and contribute in the process of achieving company’s goals and objectives. After all employees is human capital of the organisation. Employee engagement has become a top business priority for every organisation. In this fast moving economy, business leaders know that having a potential and high-performing human resource is important for growth and survival. They recognize that a highly engaged manpower can increase innovation, productivity, and performance, while reducing costs related to retention and hiring in highly competitive talent markets. But while most executives see a clear need to improve employee engagement, many have yet to develop tangible ways to measure and tackle this goal. Employee Engagement is an approach which is applied to establish an emotional connection between an employee and the organisation which ensures the employee’s commitment towards his work which affects the productivity and overall performance of the organisation. The study was conducted in hospitality industry. A popular branded hotel was chosen as a sample unit. Data were collected, both qualitative and quantitative from respondents. It is found that employee engagement level of the organisation (Hotel) is quite low. This means that employees are not emotionally connected with the organisation which may in turn, affect performance of the employees it is important to note that in hospitality industry individual employee’s performance specifically in terms of emotional engagement is critical and, therefore, a low engagement level may contribute to low organisation performance. An attempt to this study was made to identify employee engagement level. Another objective to take this study was to explore the factors impeding employee engagement and to explore employee engagement facilitation. While in the hospitality industry where people tend to work for as long as 16 to 18 hours concepts like employee engagement is essential. Because employees get tired of their routine job and in case where job rotation cannot be done employee engagement acts as a solution. The study was conducted at Trident Hotel, Udaipur. It was conducted on the sample size of 30 in-house employees from 6 different departments. The various departments were: Accounts and General, Front Office, Food & Beverage Service, Housekeeping, Food & Beverage Production and Engineering. It was conducted with the help of research instrument. The research instrument was Questionnaire. Data collection source was primary source. Trident Udaipur is one of the busiest hotels in Udaipur. The occupancy rate of the guest over there is nearly 80%. Due the high occupancy rate employees or staff of the hotel used to remain very busy and occupied all the time in their work. They worked for their remuneration only. As a result, they do not have any encouragement for their work nor they are interested in going an extra mile for the organisation. The study result shows working environment factors including recognition and appreciation, opinions of the employee, counselling, feedback from superiors, treatment of managers and respect from the organisation are capable of increasing employee engagement level in the hotel. The above study result encouraged us to explore the factors contributed to low employee engagement. It is being found that factors such as recognition and appreciation, feedback from supervisors, opinion of the employee, counselling, feedback from supervisors, treatment from managers has contributed negatively to employee engagement level. Probable reasons for the low contribution are number of employees gave the negative feedback in accordance to the factors stated above of the organisation. It seems that the structure of organisation itself is responsible for the low contribution of employee engagement. The scope of this study is limited to trident hotel situated in the Udaipur. The limitation of the study was that that the results or findings were only based on the responses of respondents of Trident, Udaipur. And so the recommendations were also applicable in Trident, Udaipur and not to all the like organisations across the country. Through the data collected was further analysed, interpreted and concluded. On the basis of the findings, suggestions were provided to the hotel for improvisation.

Keywords: human resource, employee engagement, research, study

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Authors: J. Vasauskaite

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From the perspective of Lithuanian furniture enterprises, the role of energy efficiency is significant as it leads to direct economic benefits, increased competitiveness and higher productivity. There are various possible improvements in energy efficiency in industry: changes in the production process, investment in R&D, implementation of energy-saving technologies or energy management systems. The research aims to contribute the understanding of energy efficiency importance in industry by presenting possible improvements of energy use in different manufacturing process of enterprises. The evaluation methodology included quantitative and qualitative research methods: the comparative and statistical analysis of primary and secondary sources of information. This paper provides the detailed analysis of the energy efficiency development opportunities and challenges in Lithuanian furniture industry. The results of the study show the importance of technological innovations, energy efficiency policies and environmental management strategies in developing energy efficiency within the wood and furniture industry. The analysis of energy efficiency development in Lithuanian furniture industry showed that the industrial activities are influenced by various internal and external factors such as increasing flows of products, human resources and overall management decisions; dynamic growth and increasing competition; emerging need for environmental information. In the light of these factors, Lithuanian furniture industry has undergone significant changes – restructuring, technological advances and business model innovations, allowing it to be more export-oriented and focus on upgrading quality, design and innovation.

Keywords: energy efficiency, energy policy, furniture industry, technological innovation

Procedia PDF Downloads 509

Authors: Olga Leontjeva

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In the age of Artificial Intelligence (AI), some organization management approaches need to be adapted or changed. Human Resource Management (HRM) is a part of organization management that is under the managers' focus nowadays, because AI integration into organization activities brings some HRM-connected challenges. The topic became more significant during the crises of many organizations in the world caused by the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19). The paper presents an approach, which will be used for the study that is going to be focused on the various case analysis. The author of the future study will analyze the cases of the organizations from Latvia and Spain that are grouped by the size, type of activity and area of business. The information for the cases will be collected through structured interviews and online surveys. The main result presented is the questionnaire developed that will be used for the study as well as the definition and description of sampling. The first round of the survey will be based on convenience sampling that is the main limitation of the study. To conclude, the approach developed will help to collect valid data if the organizations participating in the survey are ready to share their cases in depth, so the researchers could draw the right conclusions and generalize compared organizations’ cases. The questionnaire developed for the survey is applicable for both written online data collection as well as for the interviews. The case analysis will help to identify some HRM challenges that are connected to AI integration into organization activities such as management of different generation employees and their training peculiarities.

Keywords: age of artificial intelligence, case analysis, generation Y and Z employees, human resource management

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Authors: Delaram Ghodsi, Nasrin Omidvar, Hassan Eini-Zinab, Arash Rashidian, Hossein Raghfar

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Food supplementary programs are policy approaches that aim to reduce financial barriers to healthy diets and tackle food insecurity. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of the supportive section of Multidisciplinary Supplementary Program for Improvement of Nutritional Status of Children (MuPINSC) on households’ food security status and nutritional status of mothers. MuPINSC is a national integrative program in Iran that distributes supplementary food basket to malnourished or growth retarded children living in low-income families in addition to providing health services, including sanitation, growth monitoring, and empowerment of families. This longitudinal study is part of a comprehensive evaluation of the program. The study participants included 359 mothers of children aged 6 to 72 month under coverage of the supportive section of the program in two provinces of Iran (Semnan and Qazvin). Demographic and economic characteristics of families were assessed by a questionnaire. Data on food security of family was collected by locally adapted Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS) at the baseline of the study and six month thereafter. Weight and height of mothers were measured at the baseline and end of the study and mother’s BMI was calculated. Data were analysed, using paired t-test, GEE (Generalized Estimating Equation), and Chi-square tests. Based on the findings, at the baseline, only 4.7% of families were food-secure, while 13.1%, 38.7% and, 43.5% were categorized as mild, moderate and severe food insecure. After six months follow up, the distribution of different levels of food security changed significantly (P<0.001) to 7.9%, 11.6%, 42.6%, and 38%, respectively. At the end of the study, the chance of food insecurity was significantly 20% lower than the beginning (OR=0.796; 0.653-0.971). No significant difference was observed in maternal BMI based on food security (P>0.05). The findings show that the food supplementary program for children improved household food security status in the studied households. Further research is needed to assess other factors that affect the effectiveness of this large scale program on nutritional status and household’s food security.

Keywords: food security, food supplementary program, household, malnourished children

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Authors: Woosik Jang, Seung Heon Han, Seung Won Baek

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Natural gas (NG) is an energy resource in a few countries, and most NG producers do business in politically unstable countries. In addition, as 90% of the LNG market is controlled by a small number of international oil companies (IOCs) and national oil companies (NOCs), entry of latecomers into the market is extremely limited. To meet these challenges, project viability needs to be assessed based on limited information from a project screening perspective. However, the early stages of the project have the following difficulties: (1) What are the factors to consider? (2) How many professionals do you need to decide? (3) How to make the best decision with limited information? To address this problem, this study proposes a model for evaluating LNG project viability based on the Dempster-Shafer theory (DST). A total of 11 indicators for analyzing the gas field, reflecting the characteristics of the LNG industry, and 23 indicators for analyzing the market environment, were identified. The proposed model also evaluates the LNG project based on the survey and provides uncertainty of the results based on DST as well as quantified results. Thus, the proposed model is expected to be able to support the decision-making process of the gas field project using quantitative results as a systematic framework, and it was developed as a stand-alone system to improve its usefulness in practice. Consequently, the amount of information and the mathematical approach are expected to improve the quality and opportunity of decision making for LNG projects for enterprises.

Keywords: project screen, energy enterprise, decision support system, Dempster-Shafer theory

Procedia PDF Downloads 340

Authors: John M. Frimpong, Matilda K. Owusu-Bio, Caleb Annan

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Business today is highly competitive, and the automobile industry is no exception. Therefore, it is necessary to determine the customer value and service quality measures that lead to customer satisfaction which in turn lead to customer loyalty. However, in the automobile industry, the role of logistics service support in these relationships cannot be undermined. It could be inferred that logistics service supports and its management has a direct correlation with customer service and or service quality. But this is not always the same for all industries. Therefore, this study was to investigate how automobile companies implement the concept of customer service through logistics service supports. In order to ascertain this, two automobile companies in Ghana were selected, and these are Toyota Ghana Limited and Mechanical Lloyd Company Ltd. The study developed a conceptual model to depict the study’s objectives from which questionnaires were developed from for data collection. Respondents were made up of customers and staff of the two companies. The findings of the study revealed that the automobile industry partly attributes their customer satisfaction to the customer value, service quality or customer value. It shows a positive relationship between logistics service supports and service quality and customer value. However, the results indicate that customer satisfaction is not predicted by logistics services. This implies that in the automobile industry, it is not always the case that when customer service is implemented through logistics service supports, it leads to customer satisfaction. Therefore, there is the need for all players and stakeholders in the automobile industry investigate other factors which help to increase customer satisfaction in addition to logistics service supports. It is recommended that logistics service supports should be geared towards meeting customer expectations and not just based on the organization’s standards and procedures. It is necessary to listen to the voice of the customer to tailor the service package to suit the needs and expectations of the customer.

Keywords: customer loyalty, customer satisfaction, customer service, customer value, logistics service supports

Procedia PDF Downloads 492

Authors: Lubisi L. V., Madumo M. B., Mudau N. P., Makhuvele L., Sibuyi M. M.

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Background and Aims: Learners with disabilities can be integrated into mainstream schools, whereas there are those learners that are accommodated in special schools based on the support needs they require. These needs, among others, pertain to access to high-intensity therapeutic support by physiotherapists, occupational therapists, and speech therapists. However, access to physiotherapists in low- and middle-income countries is limited, and this creates a knowledge gap in identifying, to the best of our knowledge, best practice patterns aligned with physiotherapy at special schools. This gap compromises the quality of support to be rendered towards strengthening rehabilitation and optimising the participation of learners with disabilities in special schools. The aim of the scoping review was to map the evidence on practice patterns employed by physiotherapists at special schools for learners with disabilities. Methods: The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) guidelines were followed. Key terms regarding physiotherapy practice patterns for learners with disabilities at special schools were used to search the literature on the databases. Literature was sourced from Google Scholar, EBSCO, PEDro, PubMed, and Research Gate from 2013 to 2023. A total of 28 articles were initially retrieved and after a process of screening and exclusion, nine articles were included. All the researchers reviewed the articles for eligibility. Articles were initially screened based on the titles, followed by full text. Articles written in English or translated into English mentioned physical / physiotherapy interventions in special schools, both published and unpublished, were included. A qualitative data extraction template was developed and an inductive approach to thematic data analysis was used for included articles to see which themes emerged. Results: Three themes emerged after inductive thematic data analysis. 1. Collaboration with educators, parents, and therapists 2. Family Centred Approach 3. Telehealth. Conclusion: Collaboration is key in delivering therapeutic support to learners with disabilities at special schools. Physiotherapists need to be collaborators at the level of interprofessional and transprofessional. In addition, they need to explore technology to work remotely, especially when learners become absent physically from school.

Keywords: learners with disabilities, special school, physiotherapists, therapeutic support

Procedia PDF Downloads 74

Authors: Azadeh Davachi

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Although there is a growing interest in Iranian female migration and gender roles, little attention has been paid to how Iranian migrant women in Australia access and sustain social networks, both locally and spatially dispersed over time. Social network theories have much to offer an analysis of migrant’s social ties and interpersonal relationships. Thus, it is important to note that social media are not only new communication channels in a migration network but also that they actively transform the nature of these networks and thereby facilitate migration for migrants. Drawing on that, this article will focus on Iranian women migrants and the use of social media in migration in Australia. Based on the case of main social networks such as Facebook and Instagram; this paper will investigate that how women migrants use these networks to facilitate the process of migration and integration. In addition, with the use of social networks, they could promote their home business and as a result become more engaged economically in Australian society. This paper will focus on three main Iranian pages in Instagram and Facebook, they will contend that compared to men, women are more active in these social networks. Consequently, as this article will discuss with the use of these social media Iranian migrant women can become more engaged and overcome post migration hardships, thus, gender plays a key role in using social media in migrant communities. Based on these findings from these social media pages, this paper will conclude that social media are transforming migration networks and thereby lowering the threshold for migration. It also will be demonstrated that these networks boost Iranian women’s confidence and lead them to become more visible in Iranian migrant communities comparing to men.

Keywords: integration, gender, migration, women migrants

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Authors: Reema K. AlEssa, Sahar Alshomer, Abdullah Alfaleh, Sultan ALkhenaizan, Mohammed Albalwi

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Ichthyosis is a disorder of abnormal keratinization, characterized by excessive scaling, and consists of more than twenty subtypes varied in severity, mode of inheritance, and the genes involved. There is insufficient data in the literature about the epidemiology and characteristics of ichthyosis locally. Our aim is to identify the histopathological features and genetic profile of ichthyosis. Method: It is an observational retrospective case series study conducted in March 2020, included all patients who were diagnosed with Ichthyosis and confirmed by histological and molecular findings over the last 20 years in King Abdulaziz Medical City (KAMC), Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Molecular analysis was performed by testing genomic DNA and checking genetic variations using the AmpliSeq panel. All disease-causing variants were checked against HGMD, ClinVar, Genome Aggregation Database (gnomAD), and Exome Aggregation Consortium (ExAC) databases. Result: A total of 60 cases of Ichthyosis were identified with a mean age of 13 ± 9.2. There is an almost equal distribution between female patients 29 (48%) and males 31 (52%). The majority of them were Saudis, 94%. More than half of patients presented with general scaling 33 (55%), followed by dryness and coarse skin 19 (31.6%) and hyperlinearity 5 (8.33%). Family history and history of consanguinity were seen in 26 (43.3% ), 13 (22%), respectively. History of colloidal babies was found in 6 (10%) cases of ichthyosis. The most frequent genes were ALOX12B, ALOXE3, CERS3, CYP4F22, DOLK, FLG2, GJB2, PNPLA1, SLC27A4, SPINK5, STS, SUMF1, TGM1, TGM5, VPS33B. Most frequent variations were detected in CYP4F22 in 16 cases (26.6%) followed by ALOXE3 6 (10%) and STS 6 (10%) then TGM1 5 (8.3) and ALOX12B 5 (8.3). The analysis of molecular genetic identified 23 different genetic variations in the genes of ichthyosis, of which 13 were novel mutations. Homozygous mutations were detected in the majority of ichthyosis cases, 54 (90%), and only 1 case was heterozygous. Few cases, 4 (6.6%) had an unknown type of ichthyosis with a negative genetic result. Conclusion: 13 novel mutations were discovered. Also, about half of ichthyosis patients had a positive history of consanguinity.

Keywords: ichthyosis, genetic profile, molecular characterization, congenital ichthyosis

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Authors: Jutamas Wisansing, Thanakarn Vongvisitsin, Udom Hongchatikul

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Designated Areas for Sustainable Tourism Administration (DASTA) is a public organization, dedicating to sustainable tourism development in 6 designated areas in Thailand. This paper provides rich reflections from a decade of DASTA, formulating an advanced model to deepen our understanding of 2 key intertwining issues; 1) what are the new landscapes of actors for community based tourism and 2) who are the benefactors and beneficiaries of tourism development within the community? An action research approach was used, enabling the process and evidence-based cases to be better captured. The aim is to build theoretical foundation through 13 communities/cases, which have engaged in community based tourism pilot projects. Drawing from emic and qualitative research, specific and contextual phenomenon provides succinct patterns of ‘Community Benefitting through Tourism (CbtT)’ model. The re-definition of the 2 key issues helps shape the interlinking of actors; practicalities of inclusive tourism and inter-sectoral framework and its value chain will also be set forth. In tourism sector, community members could be active primarily on the supply side as employees, entrepreneurs and local heritage experts. CbtT when well defined stimulates the entire value chain of local economy while promoting social innovation through positive dialogue with wider actors. Collaboration with a new set of actors who are from the tourism-related businesses and non-tourism related businesses create better impacts on mutual benefits.

Keywords: community based tourism, community benefitting through tourism -CbtT DASTA model, sustainable tourism in thailand, value chain and inclusive business

Procedia PDF Downloads 297

Authors: A. Priyanka, Sunil Kumar Kainoor, Parinitha Nayaka

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Introduction: Ever since the ancient times, rape and other sexual offences are considered to be heinous crimes. Rape is not just another word in the dictionary, but it is the most barbaric act of violence committed with sex being the weapon. Rape is among the highest forms of crime experienced by women and children in all sectors of the society. In recent years, there has been an alarming rise in ratio of rape in India. The burden of such crimes on the society is very huge. The venereal diseases are the worst consequence along with unwanted pregnancies. Aims and Objectives: To determine the socio-demographic profile of the survivors of sexual offences reported to Dept. of Forensic Medicine of a South Indian medical college. Material methods: This retrospective study was conducted in the Department of Forensic Medicine of Raichur Institute of Medical Sciences, Raichur, Karnataka, India. Only survivors of sexual offences cases were included in the study group. Examination of all survivors was carried out by doctors of the said Department. Study period is one year six months, January 2015 to June 2016. Results/ case history: In total 140 cases of sexual offences were examined during study period of which the total survivors accounted to 62.85% i.e. 88 cases. Of the 88 survivors, 61 (69.31%) were registered under POCSO Act. The most affected age group of victims was 10-18 years in 59 (67%) cases. 61% were in acquaintance with the assailants, 18% were classmates/ friends, 13% of accused were Family members/ Relatives, 8% were strangers. 85% of the survivors were hailing from rural setup, while 15% were from urban. 60.65% of the survivors were students, 37.7% were doing Coolie/ Agricultural works. Conclusion: Delay in reporting of cases resulted in loss of vital physical evidences as no concrete report could be generated from the forensic lab after examination of specimens thus there should be coordination among doctors, forensic experts and investigating agency. It is worth mentioning that though a large number of cases of sexual offences are reported as rape many among them are consented acts and hence definite evidence of forceful sexual intercourse is lagging.

Keywords: consensual sex, India, POCSO Act- 2012, India, pregnancy, rape, sexual offence

Procedia PDF Downloads 309

Authors: Elina Bakhtieva

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The variety of available digital tools, strategies and activities might confuse and disorient even an experienced marketer. This applies in particular to B2B companies, which are usually less flexible in uptaking of digital technology than B2C companies. B2B companies are lacking a framework that corresponds to the specifics of the B2B business, and which helps to evaluate a company’s capabilities and to choose an appropriate path. A B2B digital marketing maturity model helps to fill this gap. However, modern marketing offers no widely approved digital marketing maturity model, and thus, some marketing institutions provide their own tools. The purpose of this paper is building an optimized B2B digital marketing maturity model based on a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis of existing models. The current study provides an analytical review of the existing digital marketing maturity models with open access. The results of the research are twofold. First, the provided SWOT analysis outlines the main advantages and disadvantages of existing models. Secondly, the strengths of existing digital marketing maturity models, helps to identify the main characteristics and the structure of an optimized B2B digital marketing maturity model. The research findings indicate that only one out of three analyzed models could be used as a separate tool. This study is among the first examining the use of maturity models in digital marketing. It helps businesses to choose between the existing digital marketing models, the most effective one. Moreover, it creates a base for future research on digital marketing maturity models. This study contributes to the emerging B2B digital marketing literature by providing a SWOT analysis of the existing digital marketing maturity models and suggesting a structure and main characteristics of an optimized B2B digital marketing maturity model.

Keywords: B2B digital marketing strategy, digital marketing, digital marketing maturity model, SWOT analysis

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Authors: Arlene Caney, Linda Fellag

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To counter the adverse effect of Covid-19 on college student success, two faculty members at a US community college have used web-based assessment data to improve curricula and, thus, student outcomes. This case study exemplifies how “closing the loop” by analyzing outcome assessments in real time can improve student learning for academically underprepared students struggling during the pandemic. The purpose of the study was to develop ways to mitigate the negative impact of Covid-19 on student success of underprepared college students. Using the Assessment, Evaluation, Feedback and Intervention System (AEFIS) and other assessment tools provided by the college’s Office of Institutional Research, an English professor and a Music professor collected data in skill areas related to their curricula over four semesters, gaining insight into specific course sections and learners’ performance across different Covid-driven course formats—face-to-face, hybrid, synchronous, and asynchronous. Real-time data collection allowed faculty to shorten and close the assessment loop, and prompted faculty to enhance their curricula with engaging material, student-centered activities, and a variety of tech tools. Frequent communication, individualized study, constructive criticism, and encouragement were among other measures taken to enhance teaching and learning. As a result, even while student success rates were declining college-wide, student outcomes in these faculty members’ asynchronous and synchronous online classes improved or remained comparable to student outcomes in hybrid and face-to-face sections. These practices have demonstrated that even high-risk students who enter college with remedial level language and mathematics skills, interrupted education, work and family responsibilities, and language and cultural diversity can maintain positive outcomes in college across semesters, even during the pandemic.

Keywords: AEFIS, assessment, distance education, institutional research center

Procedia PDF Downloads 86

Authors: Elżbieta Turska

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Introduction: One of the most difficult times in a person’s life is adolescence. The experiences in this period may shape the future life of this person to a large extent. This is the reason why many young people experience sadness, dejection, hopelessness, sense of worthlessness, as well as losing interest in various activities and social relationships, all of which are often classified as mood disorders. As many as 15-40% adolescents experience depressed moods and for most of them they resolve and are not carried into adulthood. However, (5-6%) of those affected by mood disorders develop the depressive syndrome and as many as (1-3%) develop full-blown clinical depression. Materials: A large questionnaire was given to 2508 students, aged 13–16 years old, and one of its parts was the Burns checklist, i.e. the standard test for identifying depressed mood. The questionnaire asked about many aspects of the student’s life, it included a total of 53 questions, most of which had subquestions. It is important to note that the data suffered from many problems, the most important of which were missing data and collinearity. Aim: In order to identify the correlates of mood disorders we built predictive models which were then trained and validated. Our aim was not to be able to predict which students suffer from mood disorders but rather to explore the factors influencing mood disorders. Methods: The problems with data described above practically excluded using all classical statistical methods. For this reason, we attempted to use the following Artificial Intelligence (AI) methods: classification trees with surrogate variables, random forests and xgboost. All analyses were carried out with the use of the mlr package for the R programming language. Resuts: The predictive model built by classification trees algorithm outperformed the other algorithms by a large margin. As a result, we were able to rank the variables (questions and subquestions from the questionnaire) from the most to least influential as far as protection against mood disorder is concerned. Thirteen out of twenty most important variables reflect the relationships with parents. This seems to be a really significant result both from the cognitive point of view and also from the practical point of view, i.e. as far as interventions to correct mood disorders are concerned.

Keywords: mood disorders, adolescents, family, artificial intelligence

Procedia PDF Downloads 100

Authors: Christine O. Wangia, Jennifer A. Orwa, Francis W. Muregi, Patrick G. Kareru, Kipyegon Cheruiyot, Eric Guantai

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Ruellia (syn. Dipteracanthus) species are wild perennial creepers belonging to the Acanthaceae family. These species are reported to possess anti-inflammatory, analgesic, antioxidant, gastroprotective, anticancer, and immuno-stimulant properties. Phytochemical screening of both aqueous and methanolic extracts of Ruellia species revealed the presence of saponins. Saponins have been reported to possess anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, immuno-stimulant, antihepatotoxic, antibacterial, anticarcinogenic, and antiulcerogenic activities. The objective of this study was to quantify and analyze the Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectra of saponins in crude extracts of three Kenyan Ruellia species namely Ruellia prostrata (RPM), Ruellia lineari-bracteolata (RLB) and Ruellia bignoniiflora (RBK). Sequential organic extraction of the ground whole plant material was done using petroleum ether (PE), chloroform, ethyl acetate (EtOAc), and absolute methanol by cold maceration, while aqueous extraction was by hot maceration. The plant powders and extracts were mixed with spectroscopic grade KBr and compressed into a pellet. The infrared spectra were recorded using a Shimadzu FTIR spectrophotometer of 8000 series in the range of 3500 cm^-1 - 500 cm^-1. Quantitative determination of the saponins was done using standard procedures. Quantitative analysis of saponins showed that RPM had the highest quantity of crude saponins (2.05% ± 0.03), followed by RLB (1.4% ± 0.15) and RBK (1.25% ± 0.11), respectively. FTIR spectra revealed the spectral peaks characteristic for saponins in RPM, RLB, and RBK plant powders, aqueous and methanol extracts; O-H absorption (3265 - 3393 cm^-1), C-H absorption ranging from 2851 to 2924 cm^-1, C=C absorbance (1628 - 1655 cm^-1), oligosaccharide linkage (C-O-C) absorption due to sapogenins (1036 - 1042 cm^-1). The crude saponins from RPM, RLB and RBK showed similar peaks to their respective extracts. The presence of the saponins in extracts of RPM, RLB and RBK may be responsible for some of the biological activities reported in the Ruellia species.1

Keywords: Ruellia bignoniiflora, Ruellia linearibracteolata, Ruellia prostrata, Saponins

Procedia PDF Downloads 175

Authors: Lienjang Zeite

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Over the past few years, Turkish and Indian series have been distributed worldwide to countless households and have found ardent followers across different age group. The series have captured numerous hearts. Turkish and Indian series have become not only one of the best means of entertainment and relaxation but also a platform to learn and appreciate shared emotions and social messages. The popularity of the series has created a kind of interest in representing human emotions and stories like never before. The demands for such series have totally shifted the entertainment industry at a new level. The interest and vibe created by the series have had impacts on various departments spanning from technology to the fashion industry and it has also become the bridge to connect viewers across the globe. The series have amassed avid admirers who find solace in the beautiful visual representations of human relationships whether it is of lovers, family or friendship. The influence of Turkish and Indian series in many parts of the world has created a cultural phenomenon that has taken viewers beyond cultural and language differences. From China to Latin America, Arab countries and the Caucasus region, the series have been accepted and loved by millions of viewers. It has captivated audiences ranging from grandmothers to teenagers. Issues like language barrier are easily solved by means of translation or dubbing making it easier to understand and enjoy the series. Turkey and India are two different countries with their own unique culture and traditions. Both the countries are exporters of series in large scale. The series function as a platform to reveal the plots and shed lights on characters of all kinds. Both the countries produce series that are more or less similar in nature. However, there are also certain issues that are shown in different ways and light. The paper will discuss how emotions are represented in Turkish and Indian series. It will also discuss the ways the series have impacted the art of representing emotions and characters in the digital era. The representation of culture through Turkish and Indian series will be explored as well. The paper will also locate the issue of gender roles and how relationships are forged or abandoned in the series. The issue of character formation and importance of moral factors will be discussed. It will also examine the formula and ingredients of turning human emotions and characters into a much loved series.

Keywords: characters, cultural phenomenon, emotions, Turkish and Indian series

Procedia PDF Downloads 135

Authors: Jaeyoung Kim, Heeju Lee, Huijin Jung, Heesoo Pyo, Seungki Kim, Joonseok Lee

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Avian influenza viruses (AIV) are the primary cause of highly contagious respiratory diseases caused by type A influenza viruses of the Orthomyxoviridae family. AIV are categorized on the basis of types of surface glycoproteins such as hemagglutinin and neuraminidase. Certain H5 and H7 subtypes of AIV have evolved to the high pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) virus, which has caused considerable economic loss to the poultry industry and led to severe public health crisis. Several commercial kits have been developed for on-site detection of AIV. However, the sensitivity of these methods is too low to detect low virus concentrations in clinical samples and opaque stool samples. Here, we introduced a background-free near-infrared (NIR)-to-NIR upconversion nanoparticle-based lateral flow immunoassay (NNLFA) platform to yield a sensor that detects AIV within 20 minutes. Ca²⁺ ion in the shell was used to enhance the NIR-to-NIR upconversion photoluminescence (PL) emission as a heterogeneous dopant without inducing significant changes in the morphology and size of the UCNPs. In a mixture of opaque stool samples and gold nanoparticles (GNPs), which are components of commercial AIV LFA, the background signal of the stool samples mask the absorption peak of GNPs. However, UCNPs dispersed in the stool samples still show strong emission centered at 800 nm when excited at 980 nm, which enables the NNLFA platform to detect 10-times lower viral load than a commercial GNP-based AIV LFA. The detection limit of NNLFA for low pathogenic avian influenza (LPAI) H5N2 and HPAI H5N6 viruses was 10² EID₅₀/mL and 10³.⁵ EID₅₀/mL, respectively. Moreover, when opaque brown-colored samples were used as the target analytes, strong NIR emission signal from the test line in NNLFA confirmed the presence of AIV, whereas commercial AIV LFA detected AIV with difficulty. Therefore, we propose that this rapid and background-free NNLFA platform has the potential of detecting AIV in the field, which could effectively prevent the spread of these viruses at an early stage.

Keywords: avian influenza viruses, lateral flow immunoassay on-site detection, upconversion nanoparticles

Procedia PDF Downloads 163

Authors: S. Probine

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The visual arts have been proven to be a central means through which young children can communicate their ideas, reflect on experience, and construct new knowledge. Despite this, perceptions of, and the degree to which the visual arts are valued within education, vary widely within political, educational, community and family contexts. These differing perceptions informed my doctoral research project, which explored the contextual factors that affect how young children come to value and use the visual arts in their lives and learning. The qualitative methodology of narrative inquiry with inclusion of arts-based methods was most appropriate for this inquiry. Using a sociocultural framework, the stories collected were analysed through the sociocultural theories of Lev Vygotsky as well as the work of Urie Bronfenbrenner, together with postmodern theories about identity formation. The use of arts-based methods such as teacher’s reflective art journals and the collection of images by child participants and their parent/caregivers allowed the research participants to have a significant role in the research. Three early childhood settings at which the visual arts were deeply valued as a meaning-making device in children’s learning, were purposively selected to be involved in the research. At each setting, the study found a unique and complex web of influences and interconnections, which shaped how children utilised the visual arts to mediate their thinking. Although the teachers' practices at all three centres were influenced by sociocultural theories, each settings' interpretations of these theories were unique and resulted in innovative interpretations of the role of the teacher in supporting visual arts learning. These practices had a significant impact on children’s experiences of the visual arts. For many of the children involved in this study, visual art was the primary means through which they learned. The children in this study used visual art to represent their experiences, relationships, to explore working theories, their interests (including those related to popular culture), to make sense of their own and other cultures, and to enrich their imaginative play. This research demonstrates that teachers have fundamental roles in fostering and disseminating the importance of the visual arts within their educational communities.

Keywords: arts-based methods, early childhood education, teacher's visual arts pedagogies, visual arts

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Authors: V. Charaia

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From the strategic point of view, not all Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) are always positively benefiting the host economy, i.e. not all Multinational Enterprises (MNEs) are promoting local/host economies. FDI could have different impact on different sectors of the economy, based not only on annual investment amount, but MNE motivations and peculiarities of the host economy in particular. FDI analysis based only on its amount can lead to incorrect decisions, it is much more important to understand the essence of investment. Consequently, our research is oriented on MNE’s motivations, answering which sectors are most popular among international investors and why, what motivated them to invest into one or another business. Georgian economy for the last period of time is attracting more and more efficiency seeking investments, which could be translated as - concentrating production in a limited number of locations to supply various markets, while benefiting local economy with: new technologies, employment, exports diversification, increased income for the local economy and so on. Foreign investors and MNEs in particular are no longer and not so much interested in the resource seeking investments, which was the case for Georgia in the last decade of XX century. Despite the fact of huge progress for the Georgian economy, still there is a room for foreign investors to make a local market oriented investments. The local market is still rich in imported products, which should be replaced by local ones. And the last but not the least important issue is that approximately 30% of all FDIs in Georgia according to this research are “efficiency seeking” investments, which is an enormous progress and a hope for future Georgian success.

Keywords: investments, MNE, FDI motivations, Georgian economy

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Authors: Antonio Lopez-Villegas, Rafael Bautista-Mesa, Emilio Robles-Musso, Daniel Catalan-Matamoros, Cesar Leal-Costa

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Objectives: The purpose of this trial was to evaluate the burden borne by and the costs to informal caregivers of users with telemonitoring of pacemakers. Methods: This is a controlled, non-randomised clinical trial, with data collected from informal caregivers, five years after implantation of pacemakers. The Spanish version of the Survey on Disabilities, Personal Autonomy, and Dependency Situations was used to get information on clinical and social characteristics, levels of professionalism, duration and types of care, difficulties in providing care, health status, economic and job aspects, impact on the family or leisure due to informal caregiving for patients with pacemakers. Results: After five years of follow-up, 55 users with pacemakers finished the study. Of which, 50 were helped by a caregiver, 18 were included in the telemonitoring group (TM) and 32 in the conventional follow-up group (HM). Overall, females represented 96.0% of the informal caregivers (88.89% in TM and 100.0% in HM group). The mean ages were 63.17 ± 15.92 and 63.13 ± 14.56 years, respectively (p = 0.83) in the groups. The majority (88.0%) of the caregivers declared that they had to provide their services between 6 and 7 days per week (83.33% in TM group versus 90.63% in HM group), without significant differences between both groups. The costs related to care provided by the informal caregivers were 47.04% higher in the conventional follow-up group than in the TM group. Conclusions: The results of this trial confirm that there were no significant differences between the informal caregivers regarding to baseline characteristics, workload and time worked in both groups of follow-up. The costs incurred by the informal caregivers providing care for users with pacemakers included in telemonitoring group are significantly lower than those in the conventional follow-up group. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02234245. Funding: The PONIENTE study, has been funded by the General Secretariat for Research, Development and Innovation, Regional Government of Andalusia (Spain), project reference number PI/0256/2017, under the research call 'Development and Innovation Projects in the Field of Biomedicine and Health Sciences', 2017.

Keywords: costs, disease burden, informal caregiving, pacemaker follow-up, remote monitoring, telemedicine

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Authors: Mohamed Shafi Bin Mahboob Ali

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Introduction: Synchronous tumor is defined as the presence of more than one primary malignant lesion in the same patient at the indexed diagnosis. It is a rare occurrence, especially in the spectrum of colorectal cancer, which accounts for less than 4%. The underlying pathology of a synchronous tumor is thought to be due to a genomic factor, which is microsatellite instability (MIS) with the involvement of BRAF, KRAS, and the GSRM1 gene. There are no specific sites of occurrence for the synchronous colorectal tumor, but many studies have shown that a synchronous tumor has about 43% predominance in the ascending colon with rarity in the sigmoid colon. Case Report: We reported a case of a young lady in the middle of her 30's with no family history of colorectal cancer that was diagnosed with a synchronous adenocarcinoma at the descending colon and rectosigmoid region. The lady's presentation was quite perplexing as she presented to the district hospital initially with simple, uncomplicated hemorrhoids and constipation. She was then referred to our center for further management as she developed a 'football' sized right gluteal swelling with a complete intestinal obstruction and bilateral lower-limb paralysis. We performed a CT scan and biopsy of the lesion, which found that the tumor engulfed the sacrococcygeal region with more than one primary lesion in the colon as well as secondaries in the liver. The patient was operated on after a multidisciplinary meeting was held. Pelvic exenteration with tumor debulking and anterior resection were performed. Postoperatively, she was referred to the oncology team for chemotherapy. She had a tremendous recovery in eight months' time with a partial regain of her lower limb power. The patient is still under our follow-up with an improved quality of life post-intervention. Discussion: Synchronous colon cancer is rare, with an incidence of 2.4% to 12.4%. It has male predominance and is pathologically more advanced compared to a single colon lesion. Down staging the disease by means of chemoradiotherapy has shown to be effective in managing this tumor. It is seen commonly on the right colon, but in our case, we found it on the left colon and the rectosigmoid. Conclusion: Managing a synchronous colon tumor could be challenging to surgeons, especially in deciding the extent of resection and postoperative functional outcomes of the bowel; thus, individual treatment strategies are needed to tackle this pathology.

Keywords: synchronous, colon, tumor, adenocarcinoma

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Authors: Nidhal Mgadmi, Abdelhafidh Othmani

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This article examines the causal relationship between stock indices and cryptocurrencies during the current war between Russia and Ukraine. The econometric investigation runs from February 24, 2022, to April 12, 2023, focusing on seven stock market indices (S&P500, DAX, CAC40, Nikkei, TSX, MOEX, and PFTS) and seven cryptocurrencies (Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litcoin, Dash, Ripple, DigiByte and XEM). In this article, we try to understand how investors react to fluctuations in financial assets to seek safe havens in cryptocurrencies. We used dynamic causality to detect a possible causal relationship in the short term and seven models to estimate the long-term relationship between cryptocurrencies and financial assets. The causal relationship between financial market indexes and cryptocurrency coins in the short run indicates that three famous cryptocurrencies (BITCOIN, ETHEREUM, RIPPLE) and the two digital assets with minor popularity (XEM, Digibyte) are impacted by the German, Russian, and Ukrainian stock markets. In the long run, we found a positive and significate effect of the American, Canadian, French, and Ukrainian stock market indexes on Bitcoin. Thus, the stability of the traditional financial markets during the current war period can be explained on the one hand by investors’ fears of an unstable business climate, and on the other hand, by speculators’ sentiment towards new electronic products, which are perceived as hedging instruments and a safe haven in the face of the conflict between Ukraine and Russia.

Keywords: causality, stock indices, cryptocurrency, war, Russia, Ukraine

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Authors: Hanen Khanchel, Karim Ben Kahla

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Pharmaceutical companies are facing competition. Indeed, the price differences between competing products can be such that it becomes difficult to compensate them by differences in value added. The conditions of competition are no longer homogeneous for the players involved. The price of a product is a given that puts a company and its customer face to face. However, price fixing obliges the company to consider internal factors relating to production costs and external factors such as customer attitudes, the existence of regulations and the structure of the market on which the firm evolved. In setting the selling price, the company must first take into account internal factors relating to its costs: costs of production fall into two categories, fixed costs and variable costs that depend on the quantities produced. The company cannot consider selling below what it costs the product. It, therefore, calculates the unit cost of production to which it adds the unit cost of distribution, enabling it to know the unit cost of production of the product. The company adds its margin and thus determines its selling price. The margin is used to remunerate the capital providers and to finance the activity of the company and its investments. Production costs are related to the quantities produced: large-scale production generally reduces the unit cost of production, which is an asset for companies with mass production markets. This shows that small and medium-sized companies with limited market segments need to make greater efforts to ensure their profit margins. As a result, and faced with high and low market prices for raw materials and increasing staff costs, the company must seek to optimize its production time in order to reduce loads and eliminate waste. Then, the customer pays only value added. Thus, and based on this principle we decided to create a project that deals with the problem of waste in our company, and having as objectives the reduction of production costs and improvement of performance indicators. This paper presents the implementation of the Value Stream Mapping (VSM) project in a pharmaceutical company. It is structured as follows: 1) determination of the family of products, 2) drawing of the current state, 3) drawing of the future state, 4) action plan and implementation.

Keywords: VSM, waste, production time, kaizen, cartography, improvement

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Authors: Joao Gouveia

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This is a study about Hegelian political and moral philosophy. Our aim is to understand the relevance that Hegel attributes to ethics in the concrete political configuration of society. But our analysis isn’t limited to Hegel’s most known political work (the Grundlinien der Philosophie des Rechts). Instead, we also analyze the Phänomenologie des Geistes and establish a comparison between them. In the Moralität of the Grundlinien der Philosophie des Rechts, consciousness acquires the disposition that allows it to see any determination as its own (the certainty about itself or Gewissen). This certainty is the essential disposition that makes itself felt throughout all Sittlichkeit –the dispositions of family member and citizen (Bürger) are only configurations of it. Although consciousness is alienated in these dispositions, it doesn’t lose the certainty about itself that it reached in the Moralität. As our major finding, we point out that it is the moral learning that allows consciousness to resist the temptation of focusing so intensely on specific content that it excludes all the others (a temptation that is stimulated by the very intensity with which each content presents itself to consciousness). As the world of Bildung of the Phänomenologie des Geistes isn’t preceded by a sphere of Moralität, consciousness is thrown into a frenzy of destruction of all the powers of objectivity, and it ends up having to withdraw from the concrete contents and to focus in an abstract whole, where it doesn’t find opposite determinacies. The evidence supporting our thesis is the fact that the transition from abstraction into particularity, that we see in the Grundlinien der Philosophie des Rechts, allows the preservation of abstraction (it isn’t lost as we penetrate in particularity). On the other hand, the transition we find in the Phänomenologie des Geistes is a transition from particularity to abstraction, which takes every particularity to be eliminated in the war with others. While in the Phänomenologie des Geistes, the state may only be seen as a moment or facet of the object (it is only Staatsmacht); in the Grundlinien der Philosophie des Rechts, it is seen as a whole that contains various moments in itself (Staat). Therefore, the element of the Phänomenologie des Geistes that is closer to the State of the Grundlinien der Philosophie des Rechts is language (or the language of perversion) –something that can’t be defined as an individuality. This way, we want to show that, between the Phänomenologie des Geistes and the Grundlinien der Philosophie des Rechts, there is truly no remarkable evolution to report in Hegel’s ethical thought. What the difference in the structure of the two works show is a specific thesis respecting the influence of ethics in the configuration of society, and this thesis has implications at various levels, including in the philosophy of history.

Keywords: Grundlinien der Philosophie des Rechts, Hegelian ethics, Hegelian politics, Phänomenologie des Geistes

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Authors: Javad Izadi, Sahar Majioud

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This study presents an approach of assessing the choice of performance measures of companies in the United Kingdom after the application of IFRS in 2005. The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of IFRS on the choice of performance evaluation methods for UK companies. We analyse through an econometric model the relationship of the dependent variable, the firm’s performance, which is a nominal variable with the independent ones. Independent variables are split into two main groups: the first one is the group of accounting-based measures: Earning per share, return on assets and return on equities. The second one is the group of market-based measures: market value of property plant and equipment, research and development, sales growth, market to book value, leverage, segment and size of companies. Concerning the regression used, it is a multinomial logistic regression performed on a sample of 130 UK listed companies. Our finding shows after IFRS adoption, and companies give more importance to some variables such as return on equities and sales growth to assess their performance, whereas the return on assets and market to book value ratio does not have as much importance as before IFRS in evaluating the performance of companies. Also, there are some variables that have no impact on the performance measures anymore, such as earning per share. This article finding is empirically important for business in subjects related to IFRS and companies’ performance measurement.

Keywords: performance’s Measure, nominal variable, econometric model, evaluation methods

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Authors: Jennifer Duffy, Liz Fleming

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Teacher shortage in special education is an American educational problem. Due to the implementation of The No Child Left Behind Act (2001) and The Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (2004), there has been an increase in the number of students requiring special education services. Consequently, there has been an influx to hire more special education teachers. However, the historic challenge of hiring certified special education teachers has been intensified with this the profession’s increasing demand of positions to fill. Efforts to improve recruitment and entry into the field must be informed by an understanding of the factors that initially inspire special education teachers to choose this career pathway. Hence, an understanding of reasons why teachers select special education as a profession is needed. The purpose of this study was to explore personal, academic, and professional motivations that lead to the selection of special education as a career choice. Using the grounded theory approach, this research investigation examined the factors that were most instrumental in influencing applicants to select special education as a career choice. Over one hundred de-identified graduate school applications to Bay Path University’s Graduate Special Education Programs from 2014- 2017 were qualitatively analyzed. Grounded coding was used to discover themes that emerged in applicants’ admissions essays explaining why he/she was pursuing a career in special education. The central themes that were most influential in applicants’ selection of special education as a career trajectory were (a) personal/familial connections to disability, (b) meaningful paraprofessional experiences working with disabled children, (c) aptitudes for teaching, and (d) finding personal rewards and professional fulfillment by advocating for vulnerable children. Implications from these findings include educating family members of children with disabilities about possible career tracks in special education, designing programs for paraprofessionals to become certified teachers, exposing prospective teacher candidates to the field of special education, and recruiting professionals from the human services field who seek to improve the quality of life and educational opportunities for children with special needs.

Keywords: career choice, professional pathways to teaching children with disabilities, special education, teacher recruitment

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Authors: David Sarpong, Waleed Khursheed, Ernest Danquah, Erin Murphy

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Shigella is a pathogenic bacterium responsible for shigellosis, a severe diarrheal disease that claims the lives of immunocompromised individuals worldwide. To develop therapeutics against this disease, an understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying the pathogen’s physiology is crucial. Small non-coding RNAs (sRNAs) have emerged as important regulators of bacterial physiology, including as components of toxin-antitoxin systems. In this study, we investigated the role of RyfA in S. flexneri physiology and virulence. RyfA, originally identified as an sRNA in Escherichia coli, is conserved within the Enterobacteriaceae family, including Shigella. Whereas two copies of ryfA are present in S. dysenteriae, all other Shigella species contain only one copy of the gene. Additionally, we identified a putative open reading frame within the RyfA transcript, suggesting that it may be a dual-functioning gene encoding a small protein in addition to its sRNA function. To study ryfA in vitro, we cloned the gene into an inducible plasmid and observed the effect on bacterial growth. Here, we report that RyfA production inhibits the growth of S. flexneri, and this inhibition is dependent on the contained open reading frame. In-silico analyses have revealed the presence of two divergently transcribed sRNAs, RyfB1 and RyfB2, which share nucleotide complementarity with RyfA and thus are predicted to function as anti-toxins. Our data demonstrate that RyfB2 has a stronger antitoxin effect than RyfB1. This regulatory pattern suggests a novel form of a toxin-antitoxin system in which the activity of a single toxin is inhibited to varying degrees by two sRNA antitoxins. Studies are ongoing to investigate the regulatory mechanism(s) of the antitoxin genes, as well as the downstream targets and mechanism of growth inhibition by the RyfA toxin. This study offers distinct insights into the regulatory mechanisms underlying Shigella physiology and may inform the development of new anti-Shigella therapeutics.

Keywords: sRNA, shigella, toxin-antitoxin, Type 1 toxin antitoxin

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Authors: Ali Alavi, Hong-Oanh Nguyen, ‎Jiangang Fei, Jafar Sayareh

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The recent competitive market in the port sector highly depend on logistics practices, functions ‎and activities and seaports play a key role in port logistics chains. Despite the well-articulated importance of ports and terminals in integrated logistics, the role of success factors in port logistics integration has been rarely mentioned‎. The objective of this paper is to ‎fill this gap in the literature and provide an insight into how seaports and terminals may improve their logistics integration. First, a literature review of studies on logistics integration in seaports and terminals is conducted. Second, a new conceptual framework for port logistics integration is proposed to incorporate the role of the new variables emerging from the recent developments in the global business environment. Third, the model tested in Iranian port and maritime sector using self-administered and online survey among logistics chain actors in Iranian seaports such shipping line operators, logistics service providers, port authorities, logistics companies and other related actors. The results have found the logistics process and operations, information integration, ‎value-added services, and logistics practices being influential to logistics integration. A proposed conceptual framework is developed to extend the existing ‎framework and incorporates the variables namely organizational activities, resource ‎sharing, and institutional support.‎ Further examination of the proposed model across multiple contexts is necessary for the validity of the findings. The framework could be more detailed on each factor and consider actors perspective.

Keywords: maritime logistics‎, port integration‎, logistics integration‎, supply chain integration

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Authors: Atitallah Sofien, Bouyahia Olfa, Krifi farah, Missaoui Nada, Ben Rabeh Rania, Yahyaoui Salem, Mazigh Sonia, Boukthir Samir

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Introduction: Subcutaneous fat necrosis of the newborn (SCFN) is a rare acute hypodermatitis characterized by skin lesions in the form of infiltrated, hard plaques and subcutaneous nodules, with a purplish-red color, occurring between the first and sixth week of life. SCFN is generally a benign condition that spontaneously regresses without sequelae, but it can be complicated by severe hypercalcemia. Methodology: This is a retrospective case report of neonatal subcutaneous fat necrosis complicated with severe hypercalcemia and nephrocalcinosis. Results: This is a case of a female newborn with a family history of a hypothyroid mother on Levothyrox, born to non-consanguineous parents and from a well-monitored pregnancy. The newborn was delivered by cesarean section at 39 weeks gestation due to severe preeclampsia. She was admitted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at 1 hour of life for the management of grade 1 perinatal asphyxia and immediate neonatal respiratory distress related to transient respiratory distress. Hospitalization was complicated by a healthcare-associated infection, requiring intravenous antibiotics for ten days, with a good clinical and biological response. On the 20th day of life, she developed skin lesions in the form of indurated purplish-red nodules on the back and on both arms. A SCFN was suspected. A calcium level test was conducted, which returned a result of 3 mmol/L. The rest of the phosphocalcic assessment was normal, with early signs of nephrocalcinosis observed on renal ultrasound. The diagnosis of SCFN complicated by nephrocalcinosis associated with severe hypercalcemia was made, and the condition improved with intravenous hydration and corticosteroid therapy. Conclusion: SCFN is a rare and generally benign hypodermatitis in newborns with an etiology that is still poorly understood. Despite its benign nature, SCFN can be complicated by hypercalcemia, which can sometimes be life-threatening. Therefore, it is important to conduct a thorough skin examination of newborns, especially those with risk factors, to detect and correct any potential hypercalcemia.

Keywords: subcutaneous fat necrosis, newborn, hypercalcemia, nephrocalcinosis

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Authors: Olatokunbo Shoyemi, Mario Brito, Ian Dawson

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In recent times, the Nigerian motor insurers have experienced high volume of motor insurance claim pay-outs and insignificant contribution to the net premium income of the Nigerian insurance market, which has been a major concern for the shareholders/stakeholders. It has been argued that there are many factors that have brought about these concerns. However, anecdotal evidence (ongoing debates among industry practitioners) suggests prevalence of fraud due to poor practices in motor insurance business in Nigeria. This study is therefore aimed to carry out an assessment of fraud in motor insurance claims as perceived by experts in the Nigerian insurance market. This study adopted a descriptive research design, and the analysis was built on a survey among insurance experts in Nigeria using a designed questionnaire. A purposive and snowball sampling were used to select our sample (N = 120) - representing a selection of all professionally qualified insurance experts in Nigeria insurance industry. The study found that Nigerian insurance experts (i) largely agree that there is a problematic level of fraud in the Nigerian motor insurance industry; (ii) perceive soft fraud to be about 3 times more common than hard fraud in the Nigerian motor insurance industry, and (iii) strongly agree there are problematic impacts from fraud on the solvency of the Nigerian motor insurers. This paper has provided an empirical understanding of the existence, extent, and impact of fraud risks within the Nigerian insurance market based on expert knowledge and insights rather than, as has often been the case, a reliance on individual anecdotes.

Keywords: claims, net premium income, motor insurance, soft fraud, hard fraud

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