Search results for: current and future HR practices

Authors: Abdoullah Fath-Allah, Laila Cheikhi, Rafa E. Al-Qutaish, Ali Idri

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The e-government emerging concept transforms the way in which the citizens are dealing with their governments. Thus, the citizens can execute the intended services online anytime and anywhere. This results in great benefits for both the governments (reduces the number of officers) and the citizens (more flexibility and time saving). Therefore, building a maturity model to assess the e-government portals becomes desired to help in the improvement process of such portals. This paper aims at proposing an e-government maturity model based on the measurement of the best practices’ presence. The main benefit of such maturity model is to provide a way to rank an e-government portal based on the used best practices, and also giving a set of recommendations to go to the higher stage in the maturity model.

Keywords: best practices, e-government portal, maturity model, quality model

Procedia PDF Downloads 315

Authors: Sepideh Nikounejad, Mostafa Ghaderi, Nematollah Azizi, Per-Olof Thang, Mohamad Reza Neyestani

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From an educational perspective, an effective and efficient relationship between university and industry can be considered as an important means by which not only both sides are improved but also it brings many advantages and benefits for both parties. It means more specifically, mutual collaboration between universities and industry can not only reduce youth unemployment, but it can improve the quality of teaching and learning in higher education settings while providing more qualified people to industrial enterprises. Indeed the lack of effective interaction between Iranian universities and industry has confronted the country and created many challenges include in increasing number of unskillful and unemployed graduates. However, in order to suggest appropriate practical strategies, it is very important to see how this issue has been tackled by Swedish universities, which have had a good background in this collaboration and how they are connected to the industry in particular and labour market in general. The research aims to study and compare the mechanisms, processes, and policies of the current model in the relationships between university and industry in Iran and Sweden. As a qualitative study, grounded theory was applied. Data were collected via semi-structured interviews. Participants were selected purposefully and by the snowball sampling method. The findings indicate that despite reported needs from both sides for close collaborations between universities and industries in Iran, current policies and practices, including internship, laboratory, and financial support, need to be revised critically. However, in light of our findings on the Swedish policies and practices for linking universities and industries, some practical strategies will be suggested for the Iranian higher education context. In conclusion, cooperation models between universities and industries in Iran and Sweden will be described.

Keywords: cooperation, higher education, industry, comparative

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Authors: Myrto Dagkouli-Kyriakoglou

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Southern European countries tend to have a lot of connections in their culture, customs, ideals and attitude towards everyday aspects. On the contrary, all of them demonstrate a lot of differences in their history, political life and economic situation. Nevertheless, the state welfare and its insufficiency to deal with citizens’ needs, is common for the whole region. As the global financial crisis initiated, all of them gradually were affected and established austerity measures. Consequently, there were crucial budget cuts in state welfare and accordingly limited support to the citizens at a time that is most needed as the economic difficulties of the households are rising rapidly. Crisis in connection with austerity measures brought up a housing problem which was hidden for decades with the assistance of the institution of the Southern European family. New or old copying practices concerning housing are already developed and more will rise in order to survive this new era. Expressly, youth is one of the most vulnerable groups in this situation and therefore there is a special focus on the policies that affect their housing as well as their copying practices in connection with the family/kinship strategies.

Keywords: housing, coping practices, Greece, familism

Procedia PDF Downloads 328

Authors: Taner Izzet Acarer, Ece Ceylan Baba

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This paper examines green building certification systems and their current processes in comparison with anticipatory systems. Rapid growth of human population and depletion of natural resources are causing irreparable damage to urban and natural environment. In this context, the concept of ‘sustainable architecture’ has emerged in the 20th century so as to establish and maintain standards for livable urban spaces, to improve quality of urban life, and to preserve natural resources for future generations. The construction industry is responsible for a large part of the resource consumption and it is believed that the ‘green building’ designs that emerge in construction industry can reduce environmental problems and contribute to sustainable development around the world. A building must meet a specific set of criteria, set forth through various certification systems, in order to be eligible for designation as a green building. It is disputable whether methods used by green building certification systems today truly serve the purposes of creating a sustainable world. Accordingly, this study will investigate the sets of rating systems used by the most popular green building certification programs, including LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design), BREEAM (Building Research Establishment's Environmental Assessment Methods), DGNB (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Nachhaltiges Bauen System), in terms of ‘Anticipatory Systems’ in accordance with the certification processes and their goals, while discussing their contribution to architecture. The basic methodology of the study is as follows. Firstly analyzes of brief historical and literature review of green buildings and certificate systems will be stated. Secondly, processes of green building certificate systems will be disputed by the help of anticipatory systems. Anticipatory Systems is a set of systems designed to generate action-oriented projections and to forecast potential side effects using the most current data. Anticipatory Systems pull the future into the present and take action based on future predictions. Although they do not have a claim to see into the future, they can provide foresight data. When shaping the foresight data, Anticipatory Systems use feedforward instead of feedback, enabling them to forecast the system’s behavior and potential side effects by establishing a correlation between the system’s present/past behavior and projected results. This study indicates the goals and current status of LEED, BREEAM and DGNB rating systems that created by using the feedback technique will be examined and presented in a chart. In addition, by examining these rating systems with the anticipatory system that using the feedforward method, the negative influences of the potential side effects on the purpose and current status of the rating systems will be shown in another chart. By comparing the two obtained data, the findings will be shown that rating systems are used for different goals than the purposes they are aiming for. In conclusion, the side effects of green building certification systems will be stated by using anticipatory system models.

Keywords: anticipatory systems, BREEAM, certificate systems, DGNB, green buildings, LEED

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Authors: Matthias Haenisch, Katharina Hermann, Marc Godau, Verena Weidner

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Over the past two decades, international music education has been characterized by a growing interest in informal learning for formal contexts and a "compositional turn" that has moved from closed to open forms of composing. This change occurs under social and technological conditions that permeate 21st-century musical practices. This forms the background of Musical Communities in the (Post)Digital Age (MusCoDA), a four-year joint research project of the University of Erfurt (UE) and the University of Education Karlsruhe (PHK), funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). Both explore songwriting processes as an example of collective creativity in (post)digital communities, one in formal and the other in informal learning contexts. Collective songwriting will be studied from a network perspective, that will allow us to view boundaries between both online and offline as well as formal and informal or hybrid contexts as permeable and to reconstruct musical learning practices. By comparing these songwriting processes, possibilities for a pedagogical-didactic interweaving of different educational worlds are highlighted. Therefore, the subproject of the University of Erfurt investigates school music lessons with the help of interviews, videography, and network maps by analyzing new digital pedagogical and didactic possibilities. In the first step, the international literature on songwriting in the music classroom was examined for design development. The analysis focused on the question of which methods and practices are circulating in the current literature. Results from this stage of the project form the basis for the first instructional design that will help teachers in planning regular music classes and subsequently reconstruct musical learning practices under these conditions. In analyzing the literature, we noticed certain structural methods and concepts that recur, such as the Building Blocks method and the pre-structuring of the songwriting process. From these findings, we developed a deck of cards that both captures the current state of research and serves as a method for design development. With this deck of cards, both teachers and students themselves can plan their individual songwriting lessons by independently selecting and arranging topic, structure, and action cards. In terms of science communication, music educators' interactions with the card game provide us with essential insights for developing the first design. The overall goal of MusCoDA is to develop an empirical model of collective musical creativity and learning and an instructional design for teaching music in the postdigital age.

Keywords: card game, collective songwriting, community of practice, network, postdigital

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Authors: Anthony Okechukwu Ifediniru, Austin Ikechukwu Gbasouzor, Isidore Uche Uju

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This article is centered on the design, analysis, construction, and test of a locally made arc welding machine that operates on 250vac with 8 amp output taps ranging from 60vac to 250vac at a fixed frequency, which is of benefit to urban areas; while considering its cost-effectiveness, strength, portability, and mobility. The welding machine uses a power supply to create an electric arc between an electrode and the metal at the welding point. A current selector coil needed for current selection is connected to the primary winding. Electric power is supplied to the primary winding of its transformer and is transferred to the secondary winding by induction. The voltage and current output of the secondary winding are connected to the output terminal, which is used to carry out welding work. The output current of the machine ranges from 110amps for low current welding to 250amps for high current welding. The machine uses a step-down transformer configuration for stepping down the voltage in order to obtain a high current level for effective welding. The welder can adjust the output current within a certain range. This allows the welder to properly set the output current for the type of welding that is being performed. The constructed arc welding machine was tested by connecting the work piece to it. Since there was no shock or spark from the transformer’s laminated core and was successfully used to join metals, it confirmed and validated the design.

Keywords: AC current, arc welding machine, DC current, transformer, welds

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Authors: Samira Haghbin, Behnam Daryayelaal, Zeinab Amiri

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As a result of rapid progress of technology in various industries, the only way to survive in a competitive market of business is to update one's situation along with the said developments. During recent decades, Robotics and automation of the construction operation has emerged as one of the important technologies grabbing the attention of various industries and specially the construction industry. Because of the coming labor shortage of the aging society in the near future, robots will be used in construction fields more than ever. By predicting the condition of Robotics in world's future construction industry, we can make necessary preparations to face with needs imposed by the time and stay ahead. This article takes a library study approach and presents a literature review of existing studies with an aim to investigate the use of robotics in past, present and future of construction industry and make predictions on its' growth and change process. Therefore, to make familiar with this kind of technology and its' requirements in the construction industry, the status of Robotics in construction industry of different countries of the world has been studied and necessary context for its' future progress is expressed. It is hoped that identifying needs and required contexts will facilitate further development of advanced technologies such as robotics industry and lead to more preparation for future.

Keywords: future of robotics, construction industry, construction automation, trends of automation

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Authors: Lorena Antonovici, Maria Nicoleta Turliuc

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The process of becoming a vegetarian involves changes in several life aspects, including health. Despite its relevance, however, little research has been carried out to analyze vegetarians' self-perceived health, and even less empirical attention has received in the Romanian population. This study aimed to assess health-related beliefs and practices among vegetarian adults in a Romanian sample. We have undertaken 20 semi-structured interviews (10 males, 10 females) based on a snowball sample with a mean age of 31 years. The interview guide was divided into three sections: causes of adopting the diet, general aspects (beliefs, practices, tensions, and conflicts) and consequences of adopting the diet (significant changes, positive aspects, and difficulties, physical and mental health). Additional anamnestic data were reported by means of a questionnaire. Data analyses were performed using Tropes text analysis software (v. 8.2) and SPSS software (v. 24.0.) Findings showed that most of the participants considered a vegetarian diet as a natural and healthy choice as opposed to meat-eating, which is not healthy, and its consumption should be moderated among omnivores. A higher proportion of participants (65%) had an average body mass index (BMI), and several women even assumed having certain affections that no longer occur after following a vegetarian diet. Moreover, participants admitted having better moods and mental health status, given their self-contentment with the dietary choice. Relatives were perceived as more skeptical about their practices than others, and especially women had this view. This study provides a valuable insight into health-related beliefs and practices and how a vegetarian diet might interact.

Keywords: beliefs, health, practices, vegetarians

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Authors: Ceylan Sozer, Ece Ceylan Baba

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The reforms and changes that began with industrialization in cities and continued with globalization in 1980’s, created many changes in urban environments. City centers which are desolated due to industrialization, began to get crowded with globalization and became the heart of technology, commerce and social activities. While the immediate and intense alterations are planned around rigorous visions in developed countries, several urban areas where the processes were underestimated and not taken precaution faced with irrevocable situations. When the effects of the globalization in the cities are examined, it is seen that there are some anticipatory system plans in the cities about the future problems. Several cities such as New York, London and Tokyo have planned to resolve probable future problems in a systematic scheme to decrease possible side effects during globalization. The decisions in urban planning and their applications are the main points in terms of sustainability and livability in such mega-cities. This article examines the effects of globalization on urban planning through 3 mega cities and the applications. When the applications of urban plannings of the three mega-cities are investigated, it is seen that the city plans are generated under light of past experiences and predictions of a certain future. In urban planning, past and present experiences of a city should have been examined and then future projections could be predicted together with current world dynamics by a systematic way. In this study, methods used in urban planning will be discussed and ‘Anticipatory System’ model will be explained and relations with global-urban planning will be discussed. The concept of ‘anticipation’ is a phenomenon that means creating foresights and predictions about the future by combining past, present and future within an action plan. The main distinctive feature that separates anticipatory systems from other systems is the combination of past, present and future and concluding with an act. Urban plans that consist of various parameters and interactions together are identified as ‘live’ and they have systematic integrities. Urban planning with an anticipatory system might be alive and can foresight some ‘side effects’ in design processes. After globalization, cities became more complex and should be designed within an anticipatory system model. These cities can be more livable and can have sustainable urban conditions for today and future.In this study, urban planning of Istanbul city is going to be analyzed with comparisons of New York, Tokyo and London city plans in terms of anticipatory system models. The lack of a system in İstanbul and its side effects will be discussed. When past and present actions in urban planning are approached through an anticipatory system, it can give more accurate and sustainable results in the future.

Keywords: globalization, urban planning, anticipatory system, New York, London, Tokyo, Istanbul

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Authors: Abdulwakeel B. Raji

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This paper introduces a concept of an intelligent virtual learning environment that involves communication between learners and an artificially intelligent teaching agent in an attempt to replicate classroom learning interactions. The benefits of this technology over current e-learning practices is that it creates a virtual classroom where real time adaptive learning interactions are made possible. This is a move away from the static learning practices currently being adopted by e-learning systems. Over the years, artificial intelligence has been applied to various fields, including and not limited to medicine, military applications, psychology, marketing etc. The purpose of e-learning applications is to ensure users are able to learn outside of the classroom, but a major limitation has been the inability to fully replicate classroom interactions between teacher and students. This study used comparative surveys to gain information and understanding of the current learning practices in Nigerian universities and how they compare to these practices compare to the use of a developed e-learning system. The study was conducted by attending several lectures and noting the interactions between lecturers and tutors and as an aftermath, a software has been developed that deploys the use of an artificial intelligent teaching-agent alongside an e-learning system to enhance user learning experience and attempt to create the similar learning interactions to those found in classroom and lecture hall settings. Dialogflow has been used to implement a teaching-agent, which has been developed using JSON, which serves as a virtual teacher. Course content has been created using HTML, CSS, PHP and JAVASCRIPT as a web-based application. This technology can run on handheld devices and Google based home technologies to give learners an access to the teaching agent at any time. This technology also implements the use of definite clause grammars and natural language processing to match user inputs and requests with defined rules to replicate learning interactions. This technology developed covers familiar classroom scenarios such as answering users’ questions, asking ‘do you understand’ at regular intervals and answering subsequent requests, taking advanced user queries to give feedbacks at other periods. This software technology uses deep learning techniques to learn user interactions and patterns to subsequently enhance user learning experience. A system testing has been undergone by undergraduate students in the UK and Nigeria on the course ‘Introduction to Database Development’. Test results and feedback from users shows that this study and developed software is a significant improvement on existing e-learning systems. Further experiments are to be run using the software with different students and more course contents.

Keywords: virtual learning, natural language processing, definite clause grammars, deep learning, artificial intelligence

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Authors: Morné Roman, Robert van Zyl, Nishanth Parus, Nishal Mahatho

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Leakage current monitoring for high voltage transmission line insulators is of interest as a performance indicator. Presently, to the best of our knowledge, there is no commercially available, clamp-on type, non-intrusive device for measuring leakage current on energised high voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission line insulators. The South African power utility, Eskom, is investigating the development of such a hand-held sensor for two important applications; first, for continuous real-time condition monitoring of HVDC line insulators and, second, for use by live line workers to determine if it is safe to work on energised insulators. In this paper, a DC leakage current sensor based on magnetic field sensing techniques is developed. The magnetic field sensor used in the prototype can also detect alternating current up to 5 MHz. The DC leakage current prototype detects the magnetic field associated with the current flowing on the surface of the insulator. Preliminary HVDC leakage current measurements are performed on glass insulators. The results show that the prototype can accurately measure leakage current in the specified current range of 1-200 mA. The influence of external fields from the HVDC line itself on the leakage current measurements is mitigated through a differential magnetometer sensing technique. Thus, the developed sensor can perform measurements on in-service HVDC insulators. The research contributes to the body of knowledge by providing a sensor to measure leakage current on energised HVDC insulators non-intrusively. This sensor can also be used by live line workers to inform them whether or not it is safe to perform maintenance on energized insulators.

Keywords: direct current, insulator, leakage current, live line, magnetic field, sensor, transmission lines

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Authors: Saha Naseri

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Introduction/Objective: Son preference, a preference for sons over daughters, is a practice deeply-rooted in gender inequality that is widespread in many societies and across different religions and cultures. In this study, we are aiming to study the effects of son preference on fertility outcomes (birth interval and current contraceptive use) in Afghanistan, where have been perceived with high rates of son preference. The objectives of the study are to examine the association between the sex of the previous child and the duration of the subsequent birth interval and to evaluate the effect of son preference on current contraceptive use. Methodology: Afghanistan Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) (2015) was used to study the impact of son preference on fertility outcomes among married women. The data collected from 28,661 on currently-married women, aged between 15 and 49 years who have at least one child, have used to conduct this quantitative study. Outcomes of interest are birth interval and current contraceptive use. Simple and multiple regression analysis have been conducted to assess the effect of son preference on these fertility outcomes. Results: The present study has highlighted that son preference somehow exists among married women in Afghanistan. It is indicated that the sex of the first birth is significantly associated with the succeeding birth interval. Having a female child as the first baby was associated with a shorter average succeeding birth interval by 1.8 months compared to a baby boy (p-value = 0.000). For the second model, the results identified that women who desire for more sons have 7% higher odds to be current contraceptive user compared to those who have no preference (p-value = 0.03). The latter results do not indicate the son preference. However, one limitation for this result was the timeliness of the questions asked since contraceptive use in the current time was asked along with a question on ‘future’ desired sex composition. Moreover, women may have just given birth and want to reach a certain time span of birth interval before planning for another child, even if it was a boy, which might have affected the results. Conclusion: Overall, this study has demonstrated that there is a positive relationship between son preference and one main fertility behaviors, birth interval. The second fertility outcome, current contraceptive use, was not a good indicator to measure son preference. Based on the finding, recommendations will be made for appropriate interventions addressing gender norms and related fertility decisions.

Keywords: Afghanistan, birth interval, contraceptive, son preference

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Authors: Tony Wilson

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This paper sets out a practices perspective or practices theory, which has become pervasive from business to sociological studies. In doing so, it locates the perspective historically (in the work of the philosopher Heidegger) and provides a contemporary illustration of its application to communication, consumer and cultural studies as central to this conference theme. The structured account of practices (as articulated in eight ‘axioms’) presented towards the conclusion of this paper is an initial statement - planned to encourage further detailed qualitative and systematic research in areas of interest to the conference. Practice theories of equipped and situated construction of participatory meaning (as in media and marketing consuming) are frequently characterized as lacking common ground, or core principles. This paper explores whether by retracing a journey to earlier philosophical underwriting, a shared territory promoting new research can be located as current philosophical hermeneutics. Moreover, through returning to hermeneutic first principles, the paper shows that a series of spatio-temporal metaphors become available - appropriate to analyzing communication as a process across disciplines in which it is considered. Thus one can argue, for instance, that media users engage (enter) digital text from their diverse ‘horizons of expectation’, in a productive enlarging ‘fusion’ of horizons of understanding, thereby ‘projecting’ a new narrative, integrated in a ‘hermeneutic circle’ of meaning. A politics of communication studies may contest a horizon of understanding - so engaging in critical ‘distancing’. Marketing’s consumers can occupy particular places on a horizon of understanding. Media users pass over borders of changing, revised perspectives. Practices research can now not only be discerned in multiple disciplines but equally crosses disciplines. The ubiquitous practice of media use by managers and visitors in a shopping mall - the mediatization of malls - responds to investigating not just with media study expertise, but from an interpretive marketing perspective. How have mediated identities of person or place been changed? Emphasizing understanding of entities in a material environment as ‘equipment’, practices theory enables the quantitative correlation of use and demographic variable as ‘Zeug Score’. Human behavior is fundamentally habitual - shaped by its tacit assumptions - occasionally interrupted by reflection. Practices theory acknowledges such action to be minimally monitored yet nonetheless considers it as constructing narrative. Thus presented in research, ‘storied’ behavior can then be seen to be (in)formed and shaped from a shifting hierarchy of ‘horizons’ or of perspectives - from habituated to reflective - rather than a single seamless narrative. Taking a communication practices perspective here avoids conflating tacit, transformative and theoretical understanding in research. In short, a historically grounded and unifying statement of contemporary practices theory will enhance its potential as a tool in communication, consumer and cultural research, landscaping interpretative horizons of human behaviour through exploring widely the culturally (in)formed narratives equipping and incorporated (reflectively, unreflectively) in people’s everyday lives.

Keywords: communication, consumer, cultural practices, hermeneutics

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Authors: Kimberli Breen

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Background Check-In, Check-Out is noted as the most widely implemented evidence-based intervention for youth at-promise within schools. Over twenty years of peer-reviewed research demonstrates the powerful effects of this Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) practice when implemented with fidelity. However, literature to date has not explicitly connected this intervention with Positive Psychology. Aims This session will illustrate the powerful role Positive Psychology and core elements of PERMA play in the worldwide success of this intervention and how more explicitly aligning Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) practices with Positive Psychology might remove common barriers to current implementation. Method Students receiving the Check-In, Check-Out intervention experience a warm, positive greeting from a caring adult (CICO Coach) before entering their first class of the day. Teachers then provide high frequency positive feedback to the students at the end of each time block, or segment, of the day. An “optimistic close” to the day is then provided by the same CICO Coach at the end of the school day via the “check-out” process, where students assess the day’s accomplishments and goal-set for the next day. Results CICO clearly aligns with the Positive Psychology core elements of PERMA (Positive Emotion, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning and Accomplishments) and could be further strengthened through explicit integration. Conclusion The already powerful impact and reach of the Check-In, Check-Out intervention can be further enhanced and expanded through greater alignment with Positive Psychology elements and practices. Initiating this important alignment with CICO also offers promise for further integration of Positive Psychology and Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports.

Keywords: positive pscyhology, check-In check-out, schools, alignment

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Authors: Daniela F. Maluf, Fernanda Roters, Luma C. F. Silva

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The goal of this work is to report the main dermatological alterations occurring during pregnancy and actual cosmetic protocols available and recommended for safe use. Throughout pregnancy, woman's body undergoes many transformations such as hormonal changes and weight gain. These alterations can result in undesirable skin aspects that end up affecting the future mother's life. The main complaints of pregnant women involve melasma advent, varicose veins, edema, and natural skin aging. Even if most of the time is recommended to wait for the birth to use cosmetics, there are some alternatives to prevent and to treat these alterations during pregnancy. For all these cases, there is a need to update information about safety and efficacy of new actives and technologies in cosmetic products. The purpose of this study was to conduct a literature review about the main skin alterations during pregnancy and actual recommended treatments, according to the current legislation.

Keywords: pregnancy, cosmetic, treatment, physiological changes

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Authors: Andrea Trimarchi

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This paper is designed to provide a comprehensive overview on the EU Regulation No. 868/2004 concerning protection against subsidisation and unfair pricing practices regarding non-EU carriers and causing injury to Community air carriers. The analysis will focus, at first, on the exegetical scrutiny of the legal categories encompassed by the Regulation. In addition to that, while considering the peculiarities of such legal instrument, the attention will be addressed on the assessment on its effectiveness. The Regulation, indeed, having received lots of criticism, is in need of a profound revision. In this context, the present work will try to take into account the policy alternatives. In light of the failure of Regulation 868, which is to be seen as the expression of a unilateral and regional approach, there would seem to be the necessity for the aviation sector to reconsider the topic of subsidisation and unfair pricing practices in a more international oriented manner.

Keywords: non-EU airlines, aviation, subisidisation, unfair

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Authors: Ivan Sosa Gomez

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Digitalization has impacted the entire insurance value chain, and the growing movement towards P2P platforms and the collaborative economy is also beginning to have a significant impact. P2P insurance is defined as innovation, enabling policyholders to pool their capital, self-organize, and self-manage their own insurance. In this context, new InsurTech start-ups are emerging as peer-to-peer (P2P) providers, based on a model that differs from traditional insurance. As a result, although P2P platforms do not change the fundamental basis of insurance, they do enable potentially more efficient business models to be established in terms of ensuring the coverage of risk. It is therefore relevant to determine whether p2p innovation can have substantial effects on the future of the insurance sector. For this purpose, it is considered necessary to develop P2P innovation from a business perspective, as well as to build a comparison between a traditional model and a P2P model from an actuarial perspective. Objectives: The objectives are (1) to represent P2P innovation in the business model compared to the traditional insurance model and (2) to establish a comparison between a traditional model and a P2P model from an actuarial perspective. Methodology: The research design is defined as action research in terms of understanding and solving the problems of a collectivity linked to an environment, applying theory and best practices according to the approach. For this purpose, the study is carried out through the participatory variant, which involves the collaboration of the participants, given that in this design, participants are considered experts. For this purpose, prolonged immersion in the field is carried out as the main instrument for data collection. Finally, an actuarial model is developed relating to the calculation of premiums that allows for the establishment of projections of future scenarios and the generation of conclusions between the two models. Main Contributions: From an actuarial and business perspective, we aim to contribute by developing a comparison of the two models in the coverage of risk in order to determine whether P2P innovation can have substantial effects on the future of the insurance sector.

Keywords: Insurtech, innovation, business model, P2P, insurance

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Authors: Lucie Litvack, Malaz Elsaddig, Kevin Jones

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There is strong evidence to support the efficacy of the World Health Organization (WHO) Surgical Safety Checklist in improving patient safety; however, its use can be associated with difficulties. This study uses qualitative data collected in Kitovu Healthcare Complex, a rural Ugandan hospital, to identify factors that may influence the use of the checklist in a low-income setting. Potential barriers to and motivators for the hospital’s use of this checklist are identified and explored through observations of current patient safety practices; semi-structured interviews with theatre staff; a focus group with doctors; and trial implementation of the checklist. Barriers identified include the institutional context; knowledge and understanding; patient safety culture; resources and checklist contents. Motivators for correct use include prior knowledge; team attitudes; and a hospital advocate. Challenges are complex and unique to this socioeconomic context. Stepwise change to improve patient safety practices, local champions, whole team training, and checklist modification may assist the implementation and sustainable use of the checklist in an effective way.

Keywords: anaesthesia, patient safety, Uganda, WHO surgical safety checklist

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Authors: Rodrique Watong Tchounkeu

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This paper investigated the implementation and impact of inclusive education practices in early childhood settings (ages 3-6) with the overarching aim of fostering a diverse learning environment. The primary objectives were to assess the then-current state of inclusive practices, identify effective methodologies for accommodating diverse learning needs, and evaluate the outcomes of implementing inclusive education in early childhood settings. To achieve these objectives, a mixed-methods approach was employed, combining qualitative interviews with early childhood educators and parents, along with quantitative surveys distributed to a diverse sample of participants. The qualitative phase involved semi-structured interviews with 30 educators and 50 parents, selected through purposive sampling. The interviews aimed to gather insights into the challenges faced in implementing inclusive education, the strategies employed, and the perceived benefits and drawbacks. The quantitative phase included surveys administered to 300 early childhood educators across various settings, measuring their familiarity with inclusive practices, their perceived efficacy, and their willingness to adapt teaching methods. The results revealed a significant gap between the theoretical understanding and practical implementation of inclusive education in early childhood settings. While educators demonstrated a high level of theoretical knowledge, they faced challenges in effectively translating these concepts into practice. Parental perspectives highlighted the importance of collaboration between educators and parents in supporting inclusive education. The surveys indicated a positive correlation between educators' familiarity with inclusive practices and their willingness to adapt teaching methods, emphasizing the need for targeted professional development. The implications of this study suggested the necessity for comprehensive training programs for early childhood educators focused on the practical implementation of inclusive education strategies. Additionally, fostering stronger partnerships between educators and parents was crucial for creating a supportive learning environment for all children. By addressing these findings, this research contributed to the advancement of inclusive education practices in early childhood settings, ultimately leading to more inclusive and effective learning environments for diverse groups of young learners.

Keywords: inclusive education, early childhood settings, diverse learning, young learners, practical implementation, parental collaboration

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Authors: Jun Yu, Yat-Hei Lam, Boris Grinberg, Kevin Chai Tshun Chuan

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This paper presents a 5-V to 30-V current-mode boost converter for powering the drive circuit of a micro-electro-mechanical sensor. The design of a transconductance amplifier and an integrated current sensing circuit are presented. In addition, essential building blocks for power-on protection such as a soft-start and clamp block and supply and clock ready block are discussed in details. The chip is fabricated in a 0.18-μm CMOS process. Measurement results show that the soft-start and clamp block can effectively limit the inrush current during startup and protect the boost converter from startup failure.

Keywords: boost converter, current sensing, power-on protection, step-up converter, soft-start

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Authors: Saif Ullah, Guan Zailin, Xu Xianhao, He Zongdong, Wang Baoxi

Abstract:

Assembly line balancing problem is aimed to divide the tasks among the stations in assembly lines and optimize some objectives. In assembly lines the workload on stations is different from each other due to different tasks times and the difference in workloads between stations can cause blockage or starvation in some stations in assembly lines. Buffers are used to store the semi-finished parts between the stations and can help to smooth the assembly production. The assembly line balancing and buffer sizing problem can affect the throughput of the assembly lines. Assembly line balancing and buffer sizing problems have been studied separately in literature and due to their collective contribution in throughput rate of assembly lines, balancing and buffer sizing problem are desired to study simultaneously and therefore they are considered concurrently in current research. Current research is aimed to maximize throughput, minimize total size of buffers in assembly line and minimize workload variations in assembly line simultaneously. A multi objective optimization objective is designed which can give better Pareto solutions from the Pareto front and a simple example problem is solved for assembly line balancing and buffer sizing simultaneously. Current research is significant for assembly line balancing research and it can be significant to introduce optimization approaches which can optimize current multi objective problem in future.

Keywords: assembly line balancing, buffer sizing, Pareto solutions

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Authors: S. N. S. Thein, H. L. Yang, Z. B. Liu

Abstract:

There are many modes of transport. Among them, maritime transport is a major transportation mode of international trade. In the Republic of the Union of Myanmar (Burma), water transportation served as one of the most important modes of transport for country's exports and imports. Getting the accurate information and data-gathering activity are the most important aspects for any study field. Therefore, in this research, a historical review of the development of ports in Myanmar and how they have changed had been carried out. All the relevant literature and documents have also been reviewed, studied, and organized. The sources of collected data are from reports, journals, internet, as well as from the publications of authorized organizations and international associations. To get better understanding about real situation of maritime transport and logistics in Myanmar; current condition of existing ports, expansion and on-going projects, and future port development plans are described successively. Hence, the main purpose of this study is to build up a comprehensive picture of maritime transport and logistics, in addition to border trade within ASEAN and Myanmar. It will help for academic researchers, decision makers, and stakeholders for national planning as well as for the local and foreign investors to recognize current situation of maritime transport and logistics in Myanmar.

Keywords: ASEAN, border trade, logistics, maritime transport, ports of Myanmar

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Authors: Carlos Gonzalez

Abstract:

This paper describes a system to optimize the use of the internet by clients requiring downloading of videos at peak hours. The system consists of a web server belonging to a provider of video contents, a provider of internet communications and a software application running on a client’s computer. The client using the application software will communicate to the video provider a list of the client’s future video demands. The video provider calculates which videos are going to be more in demand for download in the immediate future, and proceeds to request the internet provider the most optimal hours to do the downloading. The times of the downloading will be sent to the application software, which will use the information of pre-established hours negotiated between the video provider and the internet provider to download those videos. The videos will be saved in a special protected section of the user’s hard disk, which will only be accessed by the application software in the client’s computer. When the client is ready to see a video, the application will search the list of current existent videos in the area of the hard disk; if it does exist, it will use this video directly without the need for internet access. We found that the best way to optimize the download traffic of videos is by negotiation between the internet communication provider and the video content provider.

Keywords: internet optimization, video download, future demands, secure storage

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Authors: Jailan Mohamed El Demerdash

Abstract:

In consideration of the challenges and the fierce global competition that have emerged in today’s hotel industry, it was important to shed light on the subject of strategic management. In addition, five-star hotels play a crucial role in supporting the tourism industry and investment in Egypt. Therefore, this study aims at exploring the scope of implementing strategic management practices in five-star hotels in Egypt and examining the differences between resorts and downtown hotels regarding the implementation of a strategic management process. The impact of the difference in hotel types on the implementation of the strategic management process will be examined. Simple random sampling technique will be employed to select the sample from the target population, including hotels from Sharm El- Sheikh, Cairo, and Hurghada cities. The data collection instrument employed in the current study is an interviewer-administered questionnaire. Eventually, combining the results of the study with the literature review helped to present a number of recommendations that have to be directed to hotel managers in the area of strategic management practices.

Keywords: strategic management, strategic tools, five-star hotels, resorts, downtown hotels, Egypt

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Authors: Nefeli Dimitriadi

Abstract:

This paper aims to present immersive cinema where real actors are filmed and integrated in Virtual Reality environments and 360 cinematic narrative, in comparison to 360 filming of real actors and sets and to fully computer graphics animation movies with 3D avatars. Objectives: This reseach aims to present immersive cinema where real actors are integrated in Virrual Reality environments and 360 cinematic narrative as the future of immersive cinema. Meghdology: A comparative analysis is conducted between real actors filming combined with Virtual Reality sets, to 360 filming of real actors and sets, and to fully computer graphics animation movies with 3D avatars, using as case study Virtual Reality movie Neurosynapses and others. Contribution: This reseach contributes in defining the best practices leading to impactful Immersive cinematic narratives.

Keywords: virtual reality, 360 movies, immersive cinema, directing for virtual reality

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Authors: Tania Sharmin

Abstract:

Energy use, overheating and thermal discomfort in low-income tropical housing remains an under-researched area. This research attempts to explore these aspects in the Loving Community, a housing colony created for former leprosy patients and their families in Ahmedabad in India. The living conditions in these households and working practices of the inhabitants in terms of how the building and its internal and external spaces are used, will be explored through interviews and monitoring which will be based on a household survey and a focus group discussion (FGD). The findings from the study will provide a unique and in-depth account of how the relocation of the affected households to the new, flood-resistant and architecturally-designed buildings may have affected the dwellers’ household routines (health and well-being, comfort, satisfaction and working practices) and overall living conditions compared to those living in poorly-designed, existing low-income housings. The new houses were built under an innovative building project supported by De Montfort University Leicester (DMU)’s Square Mile India project. A comparison of newly-built and existing building typologies will reveal how building design can affect people’s use of space and energy use. The findings will be helpful to design healthier, energy efficient and socially acceptable low-income housing in future, thus addressing United Nation’s sustainable development goals on three aspects: 3 (health and well-being), 7 (energy) and 11 (safe, resilient and sustainable human settlements). This will further facilitate knowledge exchange between policy makers, developers, designers and occupants focused on strategies to increase stakeholders’ participation in the design process.

Keywords: thermal comfort, energy use, low-income housing, tropical climate

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Authors: A. Giani

Abstract:

The current pedagogical culture recognizes an educational scope within the sports practices. It is widely accepted, in the pedagogical culture, that thanks to the acquisition and development of motor skills, it is also possible to exercise abilities that concern the way of facing and managing the difficulties of everyday life. Sport is a peculiar educational environment: the children have the opportunity to discover the possibilities of their body, to correlate with their peers, and to learn how to manage the rules and the relationship with authorities, such as coaches. Educational aspects of the sport concern both non-formal and formal educational environments. Coaches play a critical role in an agonistic sphere: exactly like the competencies developed by the children, coaches have to work on their skills to properly set up the educational scene. Facing these new educational tasks - which are not new per se, but new because they are brought back to awareness - a few questions arise: does the coach have adequate preparation? Is the training of the coach in this specific area appropriate? This contribution aims to explore the issue in depth by focusing on the reality of the Football School. Starting from a possible sense of pedagogical inadequacy detected during a series of meetings with several football clubs in Piedmont (Italy), there have been highlighted some important educational needs within the professional training of sports coaches. It is indeed necessary for the coach to know the processes underlying the educational relationship in order to better understand the centrality of the assessment during the educational intervention and to be able to manage the asymmetry in the coach-athlete relationship. In order to provide a response to these pedagogical needs, a formative plan has been designed to allow both an in-depth study of educational issues and a correct self-evaluation of certain pedagogical skills’ control levels, led by the coach. This plan has been based on particular practices, the Educational Practices of Pre-test (EPP), a specific version of community practices designed for the extracurricular activities. The above-mentioned practices realized through the use of texts meant as pre-tests, promoted a reflection within the group of coaches: they set up real and plausible sports experiences - in particular football, triggering a reflection about the relationship’s object, spaces, and methods. The characteristic aspect of pre-tests is that it is impossible to anticipate the reflection as it is necessarily connected to the personal experience and sensitivity, requiring a strong interest and involvement by participants: situations must be considered by the coaches as possible settings in which they could be found on the field.

Keywords: relational needs, values, responsibility, self-evaluation

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Authors: Modesta E. Ezema, Chikwendu V. Alabekee, Victoria N. Ishiwu, Ifeyinwa NwosuArize, Chinedu I. Nwoye

Abstract:

The advent of wireless networking in computing technology cannot be overemphasized, it opened up easy accessibility to information resources, networking made easier and brought internet accessibility to our doorsteps, but despite all these, some mishap came in with it that is causing mayhem in today ‘s overall information security. The cyber criminals will always compromise the integrity of a message that is not encrypted or that is encrypted with a weak algorithm.In other to correct the mayhem, this study focuses on cryptosystem and cryptography. This ensures end to end crypt messaging. The study of various cryptographic algorithms, as well as the techniques and applications of the cryptography for efficiency, were all considered in the work., present and future applications of cryptography were dealt with as well as Quantum Cryptography was exposed as the current and the future area in the development of cryptography. An empirical study was conducted to collect data from network users.

Keywords: algorithm, cryptography, cryptosystem, network

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Authors: Jin Huang

Abstract:

Research shows that asset-building policies have positive financial and non-financial impacts on children and families. To promote the development of asset-building policies for children in China, it is important to understand the current status of family savings for children. We use the data from the 2016 China Family Panel Studies and show only 16% of families have savings designated for children’s future education. Families with advantaged socioeconomic backgrounds are more likely to save and also save more for their children than their counterparts with disadvantaged backgrounds. Without large-scale and progressive policy interventions, families with disadvantaged backgrounds are less likely to build assets for children. Policy and practice implications for family social workers are discussed.

Keywords: assets, asset building, child, china, education, family, savings

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Authors: Kashyap L. Mokariya, Varsha A. Shah, Makarand M. Lokhande

Abstract:

As the current status and growth of Indian automobile industry is remarkable, transportation sectors are the main concern in terms of Energy security and climate change. Rising demand of fuel and its dependency on other countries affects the GDP of nation. So in this context if the 10 percent of vehicle got operated in Electrical mode how much saving in terms of Rs and in terms of liters is achieved has been analyzed which is also a part of Nations Electric mobility mission plan. Analysis is also done for converting unit consumption of Electricity of Electric vehicle into equivalent fuel consumption in liters which shows that at present tariff rate Electrical operated vehicles are far more beneficial. It also gives benchmark to the authorities to set the tariff rate for Electrical vehicles. Current situation of Indian grid is shown and how the Gap between Generation and Demand can be reduced is analyzed in terms of increasing generation capacity and Energy Conservation measures. As the certain regions of country is facing serious deficit than how to take energy conservation measures in Industry and especially in rural areas where generally Energy Auditing is not carried out that is analyzed in context of Electric vehicle penetration in near future. Author was a part of Vishvakarma yojna where in 255 villages of Gujarat Energy losses were measured and solutions were given to mitigate them and corresponding report to the authorities of villages was delivered.

Keywords: vehiclepenetration, feasibility, Energyconservation, future grid, Energy security, pf controller

Procedia PDF Downloads 337