Search results for: public financial policy

Authors: Estelle Abrahams, Tania Pretorius

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A joint media statement by the South African Reserve Bank, the Banking Association of South Africa, the Financial Sector Conduct Authority, and the Payments Association of South Africa was recently published, stating that the receipt or acceptance of cheques will terminate effectively on 31 December 2020. All stakeholders are urged to cease accepting or issuing cheques as a payment method. The purpose of the study is to examine the effect that the discontinuation of the usage of cheques has on bank reconciliations for the subject: economic and management sciences. A literature study was performed to gain insight into the bank reconciliation process to be able to draw conclusions on the outcome of the discontinuation of cheques on the bank reconciliation. The study found that the teaching of the bank reconciliation process will change to introduce new replacement source documents for digital payments, and this impacts the teaching of reconciling differences.

Keywords: bank reconciliation, internal control, accounting education, source documents

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Authors: Elisavet Anastasiadou

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Global citizenship refers to an economic, social, political, and cultural interconnectedness, and it is inextricably intertwined with social justice, respect for human rights, peace, and a sense of responsibility to act on a local and global level. It aims to be transformative, enhance critical thinking and participation with pedagogical approaches based on social justice and democracy. The purpose of this study is to explore how Global Citizenship Education (GCE) is presented and implemented in two educational contexts, specifically in the curricula and pedagogical practices of primary education in Finland and Scotland. The impact of GCE is recognized as means for further development by institution such as and Finnish and Scottish curricula acknowledge the significance of GCE, emphasizing the student's ability to act and succeed in diverse and global communities. This comparative study should provide a good basis for further developing teaching practices based on informed understanding of how GCE is constrained or enabled from two different perspectives, extend the methodological applications of Practice Architectures and provide critical insights into GCE as a theoretical notion adopted by national and international educational policy. The study is directly connected with global citizenship aiming at future and societal change. The empirical work employs a multiple case study approach, including interviews and analysis of existing documents (textbook, curriculum). The data consists of the Finnish and Scottish curriculum. A systematic analysis of the curriculum in relation to GCE will offer insights into how the aims of GCE are presented and framed within the two contexts. This will be achieved using the theory of Practice Architectures. Curricula are official policy documentations (texts) that frame and envisage pedagogical practices. Practices, according to the theory of practice architectures, consist of sayings, doings, and relatings. Hence, even if the text analysis includes the semantic space (sayings) that are prefigured by the cultural-discursive arrangements and the relating prefigured by the socio-political arrangements, they will inevitably reveal information on the (doings) prefigured by the material-economic arrangements, as they hang together in practices. The results will assist educators in making changes to their teaching and enhance their self-conscious understanding of the history-making significance of their practices. It will also have a potential reform and focus on educationally relevant to such issues. Thus, the study will be able to open the ground for interventions and further research while it will consider the societal demands of a world in change.

Keywords: citizenhsip, curriculum, democracy, practices

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Authors: Errol J. Haarhoff

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Housing in New Zealand, particularly in Auckland, is dominated by low-density suburbs. Over the past 20 years, housing intensification policies aimed to curb outward low-density sprawl and to concentrate development within an urban boundary have been implemented. This requires the greater deployment of attached housing typologies such apartments, duplexes and terrace housing. There has been strong market response and uptake for higher density development, with the number of building approvals received by the Auckland Council for attached housing units increasing from around 15 percent in 2012/13, to 54 percent in 2017/18. A key question about intensification and strong market uptake in a city where lower density has been the norm, is whether higher density neighborhoods will deliver necessary housing satisfaction? This paper reports on the findings to a questionnaire survey and focus group discussions probing resident perceptions to living at higher density in relation to their dwellings, the neighborhood and their sense of community. The findings reveal strong overall housing satisfaction, including key aspects such as privacy, noise and living in close proximity to neighbors. However, when residents are differentiated in terms of length of tenure, age or whether they are bringing up children, greater variation in satisfaction is detected. For example, residents in the 65-plus age cohort express much higher levels of satisfaction, when compared to the 18-44 year cohorts who more likely to be binging up children. This suggests greater design sensitivity to better accommodate the range of household types. Those who have live in the area longer express greater satisfaction than those with shorter duration, indicating time for adaption to living at higher density. Findings strongly underpin the instrumental role that the public amenities play in overall housing satisfaction and the emergence of a strong sense of community. This underscores the necessity for appropriate investment in the public amenities often lacking in market-led higher density housing development. We conclude with an evaluation of the PPP model, and its part in delivering housing satisfaction. The findings should be of interest to cities, housing developers and built environment professional pursuing housing policies promoting intensification and higher density.

Keywords: medium density, housing satisfaction, neighborhoods, sense of community

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Authors: Qasim M. Kriri

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Few Saudi Arabia production companies face financial profit issues until this moment. This work presents a linear integer programming model that solves a production problem of a Saudi Food Company in Saudi Arabia. An optimal solution to the above-mentioned problem is a Linear Programming solution. In this regard, the main purpose of this project is to maximize profit. Linear Programming Technique has been used to derive the maximum profit from production of natural juice at Saudi Food Co. The operations of production of the company were formulated and optimal results are found out by using Lindo Software that employed Sensitivity Analysis and Parametric linear programming in order develop Linear Programming. In addition, the parameter values are increased, then the values of the objective function will be increased.

Keywords: parameter linear programming, objective function, sensitivity analysis, optimize profit

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Authors: Fatemeh Dehghan Khangahi, Hakan Gunes

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Transforming a public necessity into a commercial commodity becomes more and more evident as time goes on, and it is one of the issues of water shortage. Development projects of countries, consume the water and waterbeds in various forms, ignoring the concepts such as sustainability and the negative effects they place on the environment, pollute and change the ways of waterways. Throughout these processes, the water basins and all the vital environments sometimes can suffer damage to the irreparable level. In this context, the issue of Lake Urmia that is located in the North West of Iran left alone by drought, has been researched. The lake, which is on the list of UNESCO's biosphere reserves, is now exposed to the danger of desiccation. If the desiccation is fully realized, more than 5.000.000 people that they are living around the lake, will have to migrate as a result of negative living conditions. As a matter of fact, along with the recent years of increasing drought level, regional migrations have begun. In addition to migration issues, it is also necessary to specify the negative effects on human and all-round’s life that depend on the formation of salt storms, mixing of salt into the air and soil, which threaten human health seriously because the lake is salty. The main aim of this work is to raise national and international awareness of this problem, which is an environment and a human tragedy at the same time. This research has two basic questions: 1) In the case of Lake Urmia, what are environmental problems and how they have emerged and what is the role of governments? 2) What is the social consequence of this problem in relation to the first question? In response, after the literature search, having a comparative view of the situation of the Aral Sea and the Great Salt Lake (Utah, USA), which involved the two major international examples. The first, one is related to the terms of population and migration, the second is about biological properties. Then, data and status information that provided after 3 years area research has been evaluated. Towards the end, with the support of qualitative and quantitative methods, the study of social mobilization in the region has been carried out. An example of it is using the public space of TRAXTOR matches like a protests area.

Keywords: environment problems, water, social mobilization, Lake Urmia, migration

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Authors: Muhammad Taimoor Hassan, Kausar Abbas

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The Islamic Banking Services is one of the growing businesses in financial sector around the globe with 15 to 18 percent growth all over the world and 10-12 percent growth rate in Pakistan. This research study is aimed at measuring the impact of religiosity on the customer loyalty of Islamic Banking in Pakistan. The study has utilized cause and effect research design to assess the impact of religiosity on Islamic Banking. Data from 350 respondents have been collected to meet the purpose of the study. The results revealed that the religiosity has a significant impact on the customer loyalty of Islamic Banking through the customer attitude and customer trust on the sequential model. The results suggest that the religiosity, customer attitude, and customer trust are the interconnected variables which lead to customer loyalty in Islamic Banking of Pakistan. The study is useful in the setting of Pakistan to further increase the customer loyalty for Islamic Banks.

Keywords: Islamic banks, customer loyalty, attitude, Pakistan

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Authors: Najam U. Saqib

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Self-construal or an individual’s view of him or herself is an important variable by which culture affects the way people think and act. This notion of self-construal is identified with two distinct perspectives on the self. Within the independent construal, the self is seen as different from others, a way of defining the self, prominent in Western societies. The interdependent perspective which is typical for Eastern cultures emphasizes the connectedness of the self to others. The degree of independence-interdependence in one’s self-construal is thought to affect behavior, acceptance of social values, and decision making. This paper manipulates self-construal of Qatari consumers and investigates its effects on accepting incongruent changes in culture as a result of adopting market offerings and behavior that may be perceived as inconsistent with their self-construal. The research recommends strategies for policy makers in Qatar for successful advocacy of initiatives of national importance such as reducing diabetes and obesity by applying self-construal theory.

Keywords: cross-cultural, consumer behavior, self-construal, GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council)

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Authors: Fatemeh Noughani, Seyd Mehdi Sadat

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Violence against women as a global problem is not confined to any geographical and cultural area. The thoughts and opinions propagating the violence are seen in many cultural beliefs of societies. However, the shape, type and nature of it is different in different cultures. Also, many Iranian women have experienced different dimensions of domestic violence in their lives. This experience may vary with the family economic situation and poverty. Therefore, this research had studied the effects of family economic situation (poverty) on the increase of domestic violence against women. The sample of this study includes 126 married women older than 8 years old and they were selected by stratified and quota sampling method. The results showed that there is a direct and significant between the family economic situation and employment situation of women and domestic violence against women. More precisely, having economic capital, financial ability, affects the couple’s relationship and will solve their many social problems and perhaps, it seem that in terms of economic violence, the men who have higher economic capital, exert the lowest level of economic violence against their wives.

Keywords: economic situation , domestic violence, poverty, Iran

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Authors: Young Sik Kim, Tae Kwon Ha

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This article considers the problems of economic growth and Russian energy strategy. Also in this paper, the issues related to the economic growth prospects of Russian were discussed. Russian energy strategy without standing Russia`s stature in global energy markets, at the current production and extraction rates, will not be able to sustain its own production as well as fulfil its energy strategy. Indeed, Russia’s energy sector suffers from a chronic lack of investments which are necessary to modernize its energy supply system. In recent years, especially since the international financial crisis, Russia-EU energy cooperation has made substantive progress. Recently the break-through progress has been made, resulting mainly from long-term contributing factors between the countries and recent international economic and political situation changes. Analytical material presented in the article is intended for a more detailed or substantive analysis related to foreign economic relations of the countries and Russia as well.

Keywords: Russia, energy strategy, economic growth, cooperation

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Authors: A. Sottomayor, M. Perez Duque, M. C. Henriques

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Introduction: Migration is not a new phenomenon; nomads often traveled, seeking better living conditions, including food and water. The increase of migrations affects all countries, rising health-related challenges. In Portugal, we have had migrant movements in the last decades, pairing with economic behavior. Irregular immigrants are detained in Santo António detention center from Portuguese Immigration and Borders Service (USHA-SEF) in Porto until court decision for a maximum of 60 days. It is the only long stay officially designated detention center for immigrants in Portugal. Immigrant health is important for public health (PH). It affects and is affected by the community. The XXVII Portuguese Government considered immigrant integration, including access to health, health promotion, protection and reduction of inequities a political priority. Many curative, psychological and legal services are provided for detainees, but until 2015, no structured health promotion or prevention actions were being held at USHA-SEF. That year, Porto Occidental PH Local Unit started to provide vaccination and health literacy on this theme for detainees and SEF workers. Our activities include a vaccine lecture, a medical consultation with vaccine prescription and administration, along with documented proof of vaccination. All vaccines are volunteer and free of charge. This action reduces the risk of importation and transmission of diseases, contributing to world eradication and elimination programs. We aimed to characterize the demography of irregular immigrant detained at UHSA-SEF and describe our activity. Methods: All data was provided by Porto Occidental Public Health Unit. All paper registers of vaccination were uploaded to MicrosoftExcel®. We included all registers and collected demographic variables, nationality, vaccination date, category, and administered vaccines. Descriptive analysis was performed using MicrosoftExcel®. Results: From 2015 to 2018, we delivered care to 256 individuals (179 immigrants; 77 workers). Considering immigrants, 72% were male, and 8 (16%) women were pregnant. 85% were between 20-54 years (ᵡ=30,8y; 2-71y), and 11 didn’t report any age. Migrants came from 48 countries, and India had the highest number (9%). MMR and Tetanus vaccines had > 90% vaccination rate and Poliomyelitis, hepatitis B and flu vaccines had around 85% vaccination rates. We had a consistent number of refusals. Conclusion: Our irregular migrant population comes from many different countries, which increases the risk of disease importation. Pregnant women are present as a particular subset of irregular migrants, and vaccination protects them and the baby. Vaccination of migrant is valuable for them and for the countries in which they pass. It contributes to universal health coverage, for eradication programmes and accomplishment of the Sustainable Development Goals. Peer influence may present as a determinant of refusals so we must consistently educate migrants before vaccination. More studies would be valuable, particularly on the migrant trajectory, duration of stay, destiny after court decision and health impact.

Keywords: migrants, public health, universal health coverage, vaccination

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Authors: Mohanad Elemary, Imose Itua, Rajeswari B. Matam

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Virologists and public health experts have been predicting potential pandemics from coronaviruses for decades. The viruses which caused the SARS and MERS pandemics and the Nipah virus led to many lost lives, but still, the COVID-19 pandemic caused by the SARS-CoV2 virus surprised many scientific communities, experts, and governments with its ease of transmission and its pathogenicity. Governments of various countries reacted by locking down entire populations to their homes to combat the devastation caused by the virus, which led to a loss of livelihood and economic hardship to many individuals and organizations. To revive national economies and support their citizens in resuming their lives, governments focused on the development and use of contact tracing apps as a digital way to track and trace exposure. Google and Apple introduced the Exposure Notification Systems (ENS) framework. Independent organizations and countries also developed different frameworks for contact tracing apps. The efficiency, popularity, and adoption rate of these various apps have been different across countries. In this paper, we present a critical analysis of the different contact tracing apps with respect to their efficiency, adoption rate and general perception, and the governmental strategies and policies, which led to the development of the applications. When it comes to the European countries, each of them followed an individualistic approach to the same problem resulting in different realizations of a similarly functioning application with differing results of use and acceptance. The study conducted an extensive review of existing literature, policies, and reports across multiple disciplines, from which a framework was developed and then validated through interviews with six key stakeholders in the field, including founders and executives in digital health startups and corporates as well as experts from international organizations like The World Health Organization. A framework of best practices and tactics is the result of this research. The framework looks at three main questions regarding the contact tracing apps; how to develop them, how to deploy them, and how to regulate them. The findings are based on the best practices applied by governments across multiple countries, the mistakes they made, and the best practices applied in similar situations in the business world. The findings include multiple strategies when it comes to the development milestone regarding establishing frameworks for cooperation with the private sector and how to design the features and user experience of the app for a transparent, effective, and rapidly adaptable app. For the deployment section, several tactics were discussed regarding communication messages, marketing campaigns, persuasive psychology, and the initial deployment scale strategies. The paper also discusses the data privacy dilemma and how to build for a more sustainable system of health-related data processing and utilization. This is done through principles-based regulations specific for health data to allow for its avail for the public good. This framework offers insights into strategies and tactics that could be implemented as protocols for future public health crises and emergencies whether global or regional.

Keywords: contact tracing apps, COVID-19, digital health applications, exposure notification system

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Authors: Tesfaye Dagne, Dagmawit Solomon, Firmaye Bogale, Yosef Gebreyohannes, Samson Mideksa, Mamuye Hadis, Desalegn Ararso, Ermias Woldie, Tsegaye Getachew, Sabit Ababor, Zelalem Kebede

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Globally, road traffic accident (RTA) is causing millions of deaths and injuries every year. It is one of the leading causes of death among people of all age groups and the problem is worse among young reproductive age group. Moreover the problem is increasing with an increasing number of vehicles. The majority of the problem happen in low and middle income countries (LMIC), even if the number of vehicles in these countries is low compared to their population. So, the objective of this paper is to summarize the best available evidence on interventions that can reduce road traffic accidents in low and middle income countries (LMIC). Method: A rapid evidence synthesis approach adapted from the SURE Rapid Response Service was applied to search, appraise and summarize the best available evidence on effective intervention in reducing road traffic injury. To answer the question under review, we searched for relevant studies from databases including PubMed, the Cochrane Library, TRANSPORT, Health system evidence, Epistemonikos, and SUPPORT summary. The following key terms were used for searching: Road traffic accident, RTA, Injury, Reduc*, Prevent*, Minimiz*, “Low and middle-income country”, LMIC. We found 18 articles through a search of different databases mentioned above. After screening for the titles and abstracts of the articles, four of them which satisfy the inclusion criteria were included in the final review. Then we appraised and graded the methodological quality of systematic reviews that are deemed to be highly relevant using AMSTAR. Finding: The identified interventions to reduce road traffic accidents were legislation and enforcement, public awareness/education, speed control/ rumble strips, road improvement, mandatory motorcycle helmet, graduated driver license, street lighting. Legislation and Enforcement: Legislation focusing on mandatory motorcycle helmet usage, banning cellular phone usage when driving, seat belt laws, decreasing the legal blood alcohol content (BAC) level from 0.06 g/L to 0.02 g/L bring the best result where enforcement is there. Public Awareness/Education: focusing on seat belt use, child restraint use, educational training in health centers and schools/universities, and public awareness with media through the distribution of videos, posters/souvenirs, and pamphlets are effective in the short run. Speed Control: through traffic calming bumps, or speed bumps, rumbled strips are effective in reducing accidents and fatality. Mandatory Motorcycle Helmet: is associated with reduction in mortality. Graduated driver’s license (GDL): reduce road traffic injury by 19%. Street lighting: is a low-cost intervention which may reduce road traffic accidents.

Keywords: evidence synthesis, injury, rapid review, reducing, road traffic accident

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Authors: Vera Jancurova

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People are, in general, exposed to behavioral biases, however, the degree and impact are affected by experience, knowledge, and other characteristics. The purpose of this article is to study two of defined behavioral biases, the overconfidence and self-attribution bias, and its impact on economic and non-economic students at different stage of the study. The research method used for the purpose of this study is a controlled field study that contains questions on perception of own confidence and self-attribution and estimation of limits to analyse actual abilities. The results of the research show that economic students seem to be more overconfident than their non–economic colleagues, which seems to be caused by the fact the questionnaire was asking for predicting economic indexes and own knowledge and abilities in financial environment. Surprisingly, the most overconfidence was detected by the students at the beginning of their study (1st-semester students). However, the estimations of real numbers do not point out, that economic students have better results by the prediction itself. The study confirmed the presence of self-attribution bias at all of the respondents.

Keywords: behavioral finance, overconfidence, self-attribution, heuristics and biases

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Authors: Masami Usui

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Kazuo Ishiguro’s The Remains of the Day (1989) underlines another holocaust, an imprisonment of human life, dignity, and self in the globalizing sphere of the twentieth century. The Remains of the Day delineates the invisible and cruel space of “lost and found” in the postcolonial and post-imperial discourse of this century, that is, the Holocaust. The context of the concentration camp or wartime imprisonment such as Auschwitz is transplanted into the public sphere of modern England, Darlington Hall. The voice is retrieved and expressed by the young journalist and heir of Darlington Hall, Mr. David Cardinal. The new media of journalism is an intruder at Darlington Hall and plays a role in revealing the wrongly-input ideology. “Lost and Found” consists of the private and public retrieved voices. Stevens’ journey in 1956 is a return to the past, especially the period between 1935 and 1936. Lost time is retrieved on his journey; yet lost life cannot be revived entirely in his remains of life. The supreme days of Darlington Hall are the terrifying days caused by the Nazis. Fascism, terrorism, and militarism destroyed the wholesomeness of the globe. Into blind Stevens, both Miss Kenton and Mr. Cardinal bring out the common issue, that is, the political conflicts caused by Nazis. Miss Kenton expresses her own ideas against anti-Semitism regarding the Jewish maids in the crucial time when Sir Oswald Mosley’s Blackshirts organization attacked the Anglo Jews between 1935 and 1936. Miss Kenton’s half-muted statement is reinforced and assured by Cardinal in his mention of the 1934 Olympic Rally threatened by Mosley’s Blackshirts. Cardinal’s invasion of Darlington Hall embodies the increasing tension of international politics related to World War II. Darlington Hall accommodates the crucial political issue that definitely influences the fate of the house, its residents, and the nation itself and that is retrieved in the newly progressive and established media.

Keywords: modern English literature, culture studies, communication, history

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Authors: Thomai Voulgari, Vasilis Vasilopoulos, Antonis Skamnakis

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The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of the European election campaigns (May 23-26, 2019) on Twitter achieving with artificial intelligence tools such as troll factories and automated inauthentic accounts. Our research focuses on the last European Parliamentary elections that took place between 23 and 26 May 2019 specifically in Italy, Greece, Germany and France. It is difficult to estimate how many Twitter users are actually bots (Echeverría, 2017). Detection for fake accounts is becoming even more complicated as AI bots are made more advanced. A political bot can be programmed to post comments on a Twitter account for a political candidate, target journalists with manipulated content or engage with politicians and artificially increase their impact and popularity. We analyze variables related to 1) the scope of activity of automated bots accounts and 2) degree of coherence and 3) degree of interaction taking into account different factors, such as the type of content of Twitter messages and their intentions, as well as the spreading to the general public. For this purpose, we collected large volumes of Twitter accounts of party leaders and MEP candidates between 10th of May and 26th of July based on content analysis of tweets based on hashtags while using an innovative network analysis tool known as MediaWatch.io (https://mediawatch.io/). According to our findings, one of the highest percentage (64.6%) of automated “bot” accounts during 2019 European election campaigns was in Greece. In general terms, political bots aim to proliferation of misinformation on social media. Targeting voters is a way that it can be achieved contribute to social media manipulation. We found that political parties and individual politicians create and promote purposeful content on Twitter using algorithmic tools. Based on this analysis, online political advertising play an important role to the process of spreading misinformation during elections campaigns. Overall, inauthentic accounts and social media algorithms are being used to manipulate political behavior and public opinion.

Keywords: artificial intelligence tools, human-bot interactions, political manipulation, social networking, troll factories

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Authors: Tianyue Wan

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Lost space is the space that has not been used for a long time and is in decline, proposed by Roger Trancik. And in his book Finding Lost Space: Theories of Urban Design, the concept of lost space is defined as those anti-traditional spaces that are unpleasant, need to be redesigned, and have no benefit to the environment and users. They have no defined boundaries and do not connect the various landscape elements in a coherent way. With the rapid development of urbanization in China, the blind areas of urban renewal have become a chaotic lost space that is incompatible with the rapid development of urbanization. Therefore, lost space needs to be reconstructed urgently under the background of infill development and reduction planning in China. The formation of lost space is also an invisible division of social hierarchy. This paper tries to break down the social class division and the estrangement between people through the regeneration of lost space. Ultimately, it will enhance vitality, rebuild a sense of belonging, and create a continuous open public space for local people. Based on the concept of lost space and energy field, this paper clarifies the significance of the energy field in the lost space renovation. Then it introduces the energy field into lost space by using the magnetic field in physics as a prototype. The construction of the energy field is support by space theory, spatial morphology analysis theory, public communication theory, urban diversity theory and city image theory. Taking Wuhan’s Lingjiao Park of China as an example, this paper chooses the lost space on the west side of the park as the research object. According to the current situation of this site, the energy intervention strategies are proposed from four aspects: natural ecology, space rights, intangible cultural heritage and infrastructure configuration. And six specific lost space renewal methods are used in this work, including “riveting”, “breakthrough”, “radiation”, “inheritance”, “connection” and “intersection”. After the renovation, space will be re-introduced into the active crow. The integration of activities and space creates a sense of place, improve the walking experience, restores the vitality of the space, and provides a reference for the reconstruction of lost space in the city.

Keywords: dynamic vitality intervention, lost space, space vitality, sense of place

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Authors: Muwaffaq Usman Adam, Isaac Quaye, Jim Anbazu, Yetimoni Kpeebi, Michael Osei-Assibey

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Urban informality, characterized by spontaneous and self-organized practices, plays a significant but often overlooked role in shaping the development of cities, particularly in the context of mixed-use and compact urban environments. This paper aims to explore the invisible planning processes inherent in informal practices and their influence on the urban form of Ghanaian cities. By examining the dynamic interplay between informality and formal planning, the study will discuss the ways in which informal actors shape and plan for mixed-use and compact development. Drawing on the synthesis of relevant secondary data, the research will begin by defining urban informality and identifying the factors that contribute to its prevalence in Ghanaian cities. It will delve into the concept of mixed-use and compact development, highlighting its benefits and importance in urban areas. Drawing on case studies, the paper will uncover the hidden planning processes that occur within informal settlements, showcasing their impact on the physical layout, land use, and spatial arrangements of Ghanaian cities. The study will also uncover the challenges and opportunities associated with informal planning. It examines the constraints faced by informal planners (actors) while also exploring the potential benefits and opportunities that emerge when informality is integrated into formal planning frameworks. By understanding the invisible planner, the research will offer valuable insights into how informal practices can contribute to sustainable and inclusive urban development. Based on the findings, the paper will present policy implications and recommendations. It highlights the need to bridge the policy gaps and calls for the recognition of informal planning practices within formal systems. Strategies are proposed to integrate informality into planning frameworks, fostering collaboration between formal and informal actors to achieve compact and mixed-use development in Ghanaian cities. This research underscores the importance of recognizing and leveraging the invisible planner in Ghanaian cities. By embracing informal planning practices, cities can achieve more sustainable, inclusive, and vibrant urban environments that meet the diverse needs of their residents. This research will also contribute to a deeper understanding of the complex dynamics between informality and planning, advocating for inclusive and collaborative approaches that harness the strengths of both formal and informal actors. The findings will likewise contribute to advancing our understanding of informality's role as an invisible yet influential planner, shedding light on its spatial planning implications on Ghanaian cities.

Keywords: informality, mixed-uses, compact development, land use, ghana

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Authors: Ashish Kumar Dwivedi

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Uttar Pradesh is largest part of Indian Federal system encapsulating twenty two million populations and has huge cultural, economic and religious diversity. The newly elected 18 months old state leadership of Uttar Pradesh has envisaged and initiated various proactive strides for the public grievance redressal and inclusive development schemes for all the sections of population from its very day of assumption of the office by Hon’ble Chief Minster Shri Yogi Adtiyanath. These initiatives also include Departmental responses via social media handles as Twitter, Facebook Page, and Web interaction. In the same course, every department of state government has been guided for the correct usage of verified social media handle separately and in co-ordination with other departments. These guidelines included making new WhatsApp groups to connect technocrats and politicians to communicate on common platform. Minister for Department of Infrastructure and Industrial Development, Shri Satish Mahana is a very popular leader and very intuitive statesman, has thousands of followers on social media and his accounts receive almost three hundred individually mentioned notifications from the various parts of Uttar Pradesh. These notifications primarily include problems related to livelihood and grievances concerned to department. To address these communications, a body of five experts has been set who are actively responding on various levels and increase bureaucratic engagements with marginalized sections of society. With reference to above background, this piece of research was conducted to analyze, categorize and derive effective implementation of public policies via social media platforms. This act of responsiveness has brought positive change in the mindset of population for the government, which was missed earlier. Department of Industrial Development in the Government is also inclined to attract investors aiming to become first trillion-dollar economy of India henceforth department also organized two major successful events in last one year. These events were also frame worked on social media platform to update 2.5 million population of state who is actively using social media in many ways. To analyze change scientifically, this study has been conducted and big data has been collected from October 2017 to September 2018 from the departmental social media handles as Twitter, Facebook, and emails. For this data, a statistical study has been conducted to analyze sentiments and expectations, specific and common requirement of communities, nature of grievances and their effective elucidation fitted into government policies. The control sample has also been taken from previous government activities to analyze the change. The statistical study used tools such as correlation study and principal component analysis. Also in this research communication, the modus operandi of grievance redressal, proliferation of government policies, connections to their beneficiaries and quick response procedure will be discussed.

Keywords: correlation study, principal component analysis, bureaucratic engagements, social media

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Authors: Seung Chul Lee, Jooyeong Kim, Ki Ok Ahn, Juok Park

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Background: Injuries caused by motorcycle crashes are one of the major public health burdens leading to high mortality, functional disability. The risk of death among motorcyclists is 30 times greater than that among car drivers, with head injuries the leading cause of death. The motorcycle helmet is crucial protective equipment for motorcyclists. Aims: This study aimed to measure the protective effect of motorcycle helmet use on intracranial injury and mortality and to compare the preventive effect in drivers and passengers. Methods: This is a cross-sessional study based on the Emergency Department (ED)–based Injury In-depth Surveillance (EDIIS) database from 23 EDs in Korea. All of the trauma patients injured in motorcycle crashes between January 1, 2013 and December 31, 2016 were eligible, excluding cases with unknown helmet use and outcomes. The primary and secondary outcomes were intracranial injury and in-hospital mortality. We calculated adjusted odds ratios (AORs) of helmet use for study outcomes after adjusting for potential confounders. Using interaction models, we compared the protective effect of helmet use on outcomes across driving status (driver and passenger). Results: Among 17,791 eligible patients, 10,668 (60.0%) patients were wearing helmets at the time of the crash, 2,128 (12.0%) patients had intracranial injuries and 331 (1.9%) patients had in-hospital death. 16,381 (92.1%) patients were drivers and 1410 (7.9%) patients were passengers. 62.6% of drivers and 29.1% of passengers were wearing helmets at the time of the crash. Compared to un-helmeted group, the helmeted group was less likely to have an intracranial injury(8.0% vs. 17.9%, AOR: 0.43 (0.39-0.48)) and in-hospital mortality (1.0% vs. 3.2%, AOR: 0.29 (0.22-0.37)).In the interaction model, AORs (95% CIs) of helmet use for intracranial injury were 0.42 (0.38-0.47) in drivers and 0.61(0.41-0.90) in passengers, respectively. There was a significant preventive effect of helmet use on in-hospital mortality in drivers (AOR: 0.26(0.21–0.34)). Discussion and conclusions: Wearing helmets in motorcycle crashes reduced intracranial injuries and in-hospital mortality. The preventive effect of motorcycle helmet use on intracranial injury was stronger in drivers than in passengers. There was a significant preventive effect of helmet use on in-hospital mortality in driver but not in passengers. Public health efforts to increase motorcycle helmet use are needed to reduce health burden from injuries caused by motorcycle crashes.

Keywords: intracranial injury, helmet, mortality, motorcycle crashes

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Authors: Nonso Ochinanwata, Patrick Oseloka Ezepue

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This paper explores the process of creating and capturing born-global firm opportunities. It reviews the key constructs that underpin the establishment of born-global firms in sub-Saharan Africa. These include entrepreneurial orientation, resources and capabilities, collaboration, and contextual influences. The paper discusses how individuals and entrepreneurs in sub-Saharan Africa can establish home-based born-global firms that seek early international markets from inception. The paper suggests that sub-Saharan African governments should make a favourable microeconomics policy that will enable entrepreneurs and firms to acquire some certain minimal resources and capabilities, in order to develop global products and services.

Keywords: born global-firms, collaboration, internationalisation, dynamic capabilities, entrepreneurship, sub-Saharan Africa

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Authors: Raquel Vianna Duarte Cardoso, Eduarda Lobato Faria, José Jorge Boueri

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Rapid urbanization has transformed the global landscape, presenting significant challenges to public health. This article delves into the impact of urbanization on the spread of infectious diseases in cities and identifies crucial strategies to enhance urban community resilience. Massive urbanization over recent decades has created conducive environments for the rapid spread of diseases due to population density, mobility, and unequal living conditions. Urbanization has been observed to increase exposure to pathogens and foster conditions conducive to disease outbreaks, including seasonal flu, vector-borne diseases, and respiratory infections. In order to tackle these issues, a range of cross-disciplinary approaches are suggested. These encompass the enhancement of urban healthcare infrastructure, emphasizing the need for robust investments in hospitals, clinics, and healthcare systems to keep pace with the burgeoning healthcare requirements in urban environments. Moreover, the establishment of disease monitoring and surveillance mechanisms is indispensable, as it allows for the timely detection of outbreaks, enabling swift responses. Additionally, community engagement and education play a pivotal role in advocating for personal hygiene, vaccination, and preventive measures, thus playing a pivotal role in diminishing disease transmission. Lastly, the promotion of sustainable urban planning, which includes the creation of cities with green spaces, access to clean water, and proper sanitation, can significantly mitigate the risks associated with waterborne and vector-borne diseases. The article is based on a review of scientific literature, and it offers a comprehensive insight into the complexities of the relationship between urbanization and health. It places a strong emphasis on the urgent need for integrated approaches to improve urban resilience in the face of health challenges.

Keywords: infectious diseases dissemination, public health, urbanization impacts, urban resilience

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Authors: Ahmad Dahlan, Aries Indrianto

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Conceptually, mudarabah is the practice of fiqh (jurisprudence) in the bank institutions business that became the basis of the economic development model of modern Islamic financial system. In mudarabah, profit and loss sharing mechanism are integrated between mudarabah on liability side (funding) with mudarabah on the asset side (financing). Islamic (Sharia) Bank is positioned as an intermediary institution like investment manager, although the bank is also involved in direct investment based on bank equity. In practice, mudarabah cannot be done as much as effective at financing because the dominance of debt-financing products. This is a major criticism among experts and Islamic banks practitioners. Ironically, the criticism gets less attention by practitioners of Islamic banks due to many factors. The epistemologies of Islamic banks prioritize shareholder values than stakeholder values, and social culture that has not been ready with the mudarabah totally.

Keywords: two tier mudarabah, intermediary institution, shareholder value, stakeholder value

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Authors: Elijah Cavan

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In Major League Sports (MLB, NBA, NHL, NFL), it is the Front Office Staff (FOS) who make decisions about who plays for their respective team. The FOS bear the brunt of the responsibility for acquiring players through drafting, trading and signing players in free agency while typically contesting with maximum roster salary constraints. The players themselves are volatile assets of these teams- their value fluctuates with age and performance. A simple comparison can be made when viewing players as assets. The problem here is similar to that of optimizing your investment portfolio. The The goal is ultimately to maximize your periodic returns while tolerating a fixed risk (degree of uncertainty/ potential loss). Each franchise may value assets differently, and some may only tolerate lower risk levels- these are examples of factors that introduce additional constraints into the model. In this talk, we will detail the mathematical formulation of this problem as a constrained optimization problem- which can be solved with classical machine learning methods but is also well posed as a problem to be solved on quantum computers

Keywords: optimization, financial mathematics, sports analytics, simulated annealing

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Authors: Spencer Rutherford, Shadi Saleh

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War and conflict negatively impact all facets of a health system; services cease to function, resources become depleted, and any semblance of governance is lost. Following cessation of conflict, the rebuilding process includes a wide array of international and local actors. During this period, stakeholders must contend with various trade-offs, including balancing sustainable outcomes with immediate health needs, introducing health reform measures while also increasing local capacity, and reconciling external assistance with local legitimacy. Compounding these factors are additional challenges, including coordination amongst stakeholders, the re-occurrence of conflict, and ulterior motives from donors and governments, to name a few. Therefore, the present paper evaluated health system development in three post-conflict countries over a 12-year timeline. Specifically, health policies, health inputs (such infrastructure and human resources), and measures of governance, from the post-conflict periods of Afghanistan, Cambodia, and Mozambique, were assessed against health outputs and other measures. All post-conflict countries experienced similar challenges when rebuilding the health sector, including; division and competition between donors, NGOs, and local institutions; urban and rural health inequalities; and the re-occurrence of conflict. However, countries also employed unique and effective mechanisms for reconstructing their health systems, including; government engagement of the NGO and private sector; integration of competing factions into the same workforce; and collaborative planning for health policy. Based on these findings, best-practice development strategies were determined and compiled into a 12-year framework. Briefly, during the initial stage of the post-conflict period, primary stakeholders should work quickly to draft a national health strategy in collaboration with the government, and focus on managing and coordinating NGOs through performance-based partnership agreements. With this scaffolding in place, the development community can then prioritize the reconstruction of primary health care centers, increasing and retaining health workers, and horizontal integration of immunization services. The final stages should then concentrate on transferring ownership of the health system national institutions, implementing sustainable financing mechanisms, and phasing-out NGO services. Overall, these findings contribute post-conflict health system development by evaluating the process holistically and along a timeline and can be of further use by healthcare managers, policy-makers, and other health professionals.

Keywords: Afghanistan, Cambodia, health system development, health system reconstruction, Mozambique, post-conflict, state-building

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Authors: Emanuela Zilli, Antonio Madia, Milvia Marchiori, Paola Anello, Chiara Cabbia, Emanuela Velo, Delia Campagnolo, Michele Scomazzon, Emanuela Salvatico, S. Tikvina, Antonio Miotti

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Hepatitis C is an inflammation of the liver caused by the hepatitis C virus (HCV). Antiviral medicines can cure more than 95% of cases of hepatitis C infection, but access to diagnosis and treatment remains low. The ULSS 6 Euganea – Health Trust has implemented a campaign to eradicate hepatitis C in the province of Padua (North-East of Italy), which can be subdivided into three areas: North (300.000 inhabitants), Centre (400.000) and South (300.000). In September 2021, the project was launched in the Northern area; a set of brochures was distributed in outpatient services, general practitioners’ clinics and offices, community pharmacy services, social health districts, and through social networks. The Hepatology Service contacted 460 patients selected by the Clinical Laboratory (positivity for HCV antibodies): 83 patients (18.0%) had been already cured of HCV infection, missing or deceased; 377 patients (82.0%) met the criteria to be eligible for HCV eradication therapy and were therefore included in a Day Service specific agenda and followed by a multidisciplinary team of healthcare professionals, with a dedicated telephone line. Haemato-chemical tests, general medical check-ups and ultrasound tests with fibroscan were performed. Patients were tested for Sars-CoV-2 positivity; those not yet vaccinated against Covid-19 were encouraged to complete the vaccination scheme. All 377 patients (100%) received HCV eradication therapy at the community pharmacy service; a detailed explanation of how to take their medication was provided. At the end of the first phase, Covid-19 vaccination rate was 100% (377/377), including patients already vaccinated and new-vaccinated. Check-up appointments were arranged after 2 or 3 months, according to the treatment plan. The awareness campaign and the organization of HCV eradication therapy service by ULSS 6 Euganea are proving to be effective; the project is now going to be applied to Central and Southern areas of the province (1.132 patients).

Keywords: public health, HCV-eradication, Covid-19 emergency, health communication strategies

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Authors: Chux Gervase Iwu, Simon Nsengimane

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Entrepreneurship stimulates socio-economic development in many countries, if not all. It creates jobs and decreases unemployment and inequality. There are other benefits that are accruable from entrepreneurship, namely the empowerment of women and the promotion of better livelihoods. Innovation has become a weapon for business competition, growth, and sustainability. Paradoxically, it is a threat to businesses because products can be duplicated; new products may decrease the market share of existing ones or delete them from the market. This creates a constant competitive environment that calls for updates, innovation, and the invention of new products and services. Thus, the importance of higher education in instilling a good entrepreneurial mindset in students has become even more critical. It can be argued that the business environment is under enormous pressure from several factors, including the fourth industrial revolution, which calls for the adoption and use of information and communication technology, which is the catalyst for many innovations and organisational changes. Therefore, it is crucial that higher education students are equipped with relevant knowledge and skills to respond effectively to the needs of the business environment and create a vibrant entrepreneurship ecosystem. In South Africa, entrepreneurship education or some form of it has been a privilege for economic and management fields of study, leaving behind other fields. Entrepreneurship should not be limited to business faculties but rather extended to other fields of study. This is perhaps the reason for low levels of entrepreneurship uptake among South African graduates if they are compared with the graduates in other countries. There may be other reasons for the low entrepreneurship uptake. Some of these have been documented in extant literature to include (1) not enough time was spent teaching entrepreneurship in the business faculties, (2) the skills components in the curricula are insufficient, and (3) the overall attitudes/mindsets necessary to establish and run sustainable enterprises seem absent. Therefore, four important areas are recognised as crucial for the effective implementation of entrepreneurship education: policy, private sector engagement, curriculum development, and teacher development. The purpose of this research is to better comprehend the views, aspirations, and expectations of students and faculty members to design an entrepreneurial teaching model for higher education institutions. A qualitative method will be used to conduct a purposive interview with undergraduate and graduate students in select higher institutions. Members of faculty will also be included in the sample as well as, where possible, two or more government personnel responsible for higher education policy development. At present, interpretative analysis is proposed for the analysis of the interviews with the support of Atlas Ti. It is hoped that an entrepreneurship education model in the South African context is realised through this study.

Keywords: entrepreneurship education, higher education institution, graduate unemployment, curriculum development

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Authors: Tianyu Wang, Nikita Karandikar

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The uncertainty around cost, safety, and feasibility of the decarbonized shipping fuels has made it increasingly complex for the shipping companies to set pricing strategies and forecast their freight revenues going forward. The increase in the green fuel surcharges will ultimately influence the automobile’s consumer prices. The auto shipping demand (ton-miles) has been gradually shifting from long-haul to short-sea trade over the past years following the relocation of the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) manufacturing to regions such as South America and Southeast Asia. The objective of this paper is twofold: 1) to investigate the car-carriers freight revenue development over the years when the trade pattern is gradually shifting towards short-sea exports 2) to empirically identify the quantitative impact of such trade pattern shifting to mainly freight rate, but also vessel size, fleet size as well as Green House Gas (GHG) emission in Roll on-Roll Off (Ro-Ro) shipping. In this paper, a model of analyzing and forecasting ton-miles and freight revenues for the trade routes of AS-NA (Asia to North America), EU-NA (Europe to North America), and SA-NA (South America to North America) is established by deploying Automatic Identification System (AIS) data and the financial results of a selected car carrier company. More specifically, Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics (WALWIL), the Norwegian Ro-Ro carrier listed on Oslo Stock Exchange, is selected as the case study company in this paper. AIS-based ton-mile datasets of WALWIL vessels that are sailing into North America region from three different origins (Asia, Europe, and South America), together with WALWIL’s quarterly freight revenues as reported in trade segments, will be investigated and compared for the past five years (2018-2022). Furthermore, ordinary‐least‐square (OLS) regression is utilized to construct the ton-mile demand and freight revenue forecasting. The determinants of trade pattern shifting, such as import tariffs following the China-US trade war and fuel prices following the 0.1% Emission Control Areas (ECA) zone requirement after IMO2020 will be set as key variable inputs to the machine learning model. The model will be tested on another newly listed Norwegian Car Carrier, Hoegh Autoliner, to forecast its 2022 financial results and to validate the accuracy based on its actual results. GHG emissions on the three routes will be compared and discussed based on a constant emission per mile assumption and voyage distances. Our findings will provide important insights about 1) the trade-off evaluation between revenue reduction and energy saving with the new ton-mile pattern and 2) how the trade flow shifting would influence the future need for the vessel and fleet size.

Keywords: AIS, automobile exports, maritime big data, trade flows

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Authors: Asma Ammar

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Being different in theory and practice from their conventional counterparts, this research aims to assess the performance of Islamic banks beyond the financial performance by emphasizing their ethical and social identity based on the higher purposes of Islamic law, namely Maqasid al-Shariah. Using Imam al-Ghazali’s theory of Maqasid al-Shariah and Sekaran’s (2000) method, we develop a Maqasid-based index including the five objectives of Shariah (preservation of life, religion, intellect, posterity, and wealth). Our sample covers 9 Islamic banks considered among the largest Islamic banks in the world. For the five years of study (2017-2021), our results reveal that the highest score is performed by Bank Muamalat while the least score is given to Dubai Islamic Bank. The overall Maqasid performance of the sample is unimpressive, indicating that there is a lack of achievement in Maqasid al-Shariah performance of Islamic banks. Consequently, serious measures should be taken by Islamic banks to improve their Maqasid performance and thus contribute effectively to the socio-economic development of the countries in which they operate.

Keywords: Maqasid al-Shariah, Maqasid al-Shariah index, Islamic banks, performance assessment

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Authors: Yuxuan Liu, Jianli Hao, Ruoyu Zhang, Lin Lin, Nelsen Andreco Muljadi, Yu Song, Guobin Gong

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With the increased municipal waste of China, household waste management (HWM) has become a key issue for sustainable development. In this study, an online survey questionnaire was conducted with the aim of assessing the current attitudes and behaviors of the households in China towards waste separationand recycling practices. Related influential factors are also determined within the context of the theory of planned behavior and PEST analysis. The survey received a total of 551 valid respondents. Results showed that the sample has an overall positive attitudes and behavior toward participating in HWM, but only 16.3% of themregularly segregate their waste. Society and policy are also found to be the two most impactful factors.

Keywords: householde waste management, theory of planned behavior, attitude, behavior

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Authors: Jinyoung Choi, Hyun-A Kim, Sunmook Lee

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The effects of environmental stress factors such as storage conditions on the deterioration phenomenon and the characteristic of the display glass were studied. In order to investigate the effect of chemical stress on the glass during the period of storage, the respective components of commercial glass were first identified by XRF (X-ray fluorescence). The glass was exposed in the acid, alkali, neutral environment for about one month. Thin film formed on the glass surface was analyzed by XRD (X-ray diffraction) and FT-IR (Fourier transform infrared). The degree of corrosion and the rate of deterioration of each sample were confirmed by measuring the concentrations of silicon, calcium and chromium with ICP-OES (Inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry). The optical properties of the glass surface were confirmed by SEM (Scanning electron microscope) before and after the treatment. Acknowledgement—The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (Grant Number: 10076817)

Keywords: corrosion, degradation test, display glass, environmental stress factor

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