Search results for: servqual scale and marketing services

Authors: Esabella Yuan

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This study explored the recollections of young carers who lived with and cared for their mentally ill parent and how they managed life difficulties in Taiwan. 19 former young carers took part in the study, conducted from July to October 2021. The findings provided the unique view that all the participants acknowledged being taught by the mainstream culture to honour family value and prioritize the needs of parents over their own ones, they stepped in to care for the ill parent out of love and out of necessity through there having no-one to turn to, they were willing to assume long-term caring responsibilities, strikingly, a much more common experience was that the participants hided parental illness and young carer identity in the community through the fear of social discrimination attached to mental illness. As a result, these former young carers stayed in hidden circumstances and coped alone with caring challenges. The findings suggest that there needs multi-disciplinary services working together to recognize the needs of young carers and provide appropriate intervention to young carers based on a family-focus approach and ensure to serve the best interests of young carers and their families. It is to be hope that young carers can grow up safely and healthily within the community.

Keywords: young carers, family well-being, mental health, parental mental illness

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Authors: Audie Daniel Wood

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In the spring of 2020, the country and the economy came to a halt due to an outbreak of the novel coronavirus, SARS-2, virus known as COVID-19. One of the hardest hit sectors of the economy was the gig-sector, which includes Lyft, Uber, Door-Dash, and other services. In this study, we examined the effects of the independent contractor status of laborers in this field to see how a near-complete economic shut-down affected the lives of laborers who are denied access to health-care and unemployment benefits due to their status as independent contractors. What the study found was there was no 'life-altering' change to the lives of the workers who used gig-work as supplementary income during the economic shut-down, but those who relied on Lyft and Uber, etc. as their sole source of income were more heavily impacted by the economic shut-down than part-time workers. The second significant finding of the study was that across all genders and races, the idea of having to seek unemployment or help was something that none of the workers wanted. They all felt as if unemployment and social-insurance were for those who could not work. While the findings are not generalizable due to this being a small qualitative study consisting of 27 participants, the findings suggest that the economic and social impact of COVID-19 on those that work in the gig-industry warrants further discussion and research.

Keywords: gig-work, Covid-19, independent contractor, Uber

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Authors: Nur Ashida Salim, Muhammad Murtadha Othman, Ismail Musirin, Mohd Salleh Serwan

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Uncertainty of system operating conditions is one of the causative reasons which may render to the instability of a transmission system. This will encumber the performance of transmission system to efficiently transmit the electrical power between areas. For that reason, accurate assessment of Transmission Reliability Margin (TRM) is essential in order to ensure effective power transfer between areas during the occurrence of system uncertainties. The power transfer is also called as the Available Transfer Capability (ATC) in which it is the information required by the utilities and marketers to instigate selling and buying the electric energy. This paper proposes a computationally effective approach to estimate TRM and ATC by considering the uncertainties of system cascading collapse and transmission line outages which is identified as the main reasons in power system instability. In accordance to the results that have been obtained, the proposed method is essential for the transmission providers which could help the power marketers and planning sectors in the operation and reserving transmission services based on the ATC calculated.

Keywords: system cascading collapse, transmission line outages, transmission reliability margin, available transfer capability

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Authors: Awatef Hicheur Cairns, Billel Gueni, Hind Hafdi, Christian Joubert, Nasser Khelifa

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Given the ever changing needs of the job markets, education and training centers are increasingly held accountable for student success. Therefore, education and training centers have to focus on ways to streamline their offers and educational processes in order to achieve the highest level of quality in curriculum contents and managerial decisions. Educational process mining is an emerging field in the educational data mining (EDM) discipline, concerned with developing methods to discover, analyze and provide a visual representation of complete educational processes. In this paper, we present our distributed computation platform which allows different education centers and institutions to load their data and access to advanced data mining and process mining services. To achieve this, we present also a comparative study of the different clustering techniques developed in the context of process mining to partition efficiently educational traces. Our goal is to find the best strategy for distributing heavy analysis computations on many processing nodes of our platform.

Keywords: educational process mining, distributed process mining, clustering, distributed platform, educational data mining, ProM

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Authors: Eunsup Daniel Shim, Jooh Lee

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The US financial crisis of 2008 and subsequent Global Financial Crisis were considered by many economists the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s. As a results, Dodd-Frank Act has passed and aims '(1) to promote the financial stability of the United States by improving accountability and transparency in the financial system, to end "too big to fail", (2) to protect the American taxpayer by ending bailouts, (3) to protect consumers from abusive financial services practices, and for other purposes.' The enactment of Dodd-Frank Act, in part, intended to significantly influence accountability on executive compensation especially for the financial institutions. This paper empirically investigates the changes in Financial CEOs’ compensation since the Financial Crisis of 2008. Our findings show that in the post- Financial Crisis period financial leverage is significant factor influencing the CEOs’ total compensation. In addition market based performance such as stock price and market-to-book ratio shows significant positive relationship with CEO compensation. This change can be interpreted an attempt to reduce opportunistic behavior of top executives after the financial crisis and the enactment of the Dodd-Frank Act.

Keywords: financial CEO compensation, firm performance, financial crisis of 2008, dodd-frank act

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Authors: Marianna Iaroslavska

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ChatGPT is becoming commonplace. However, only a few people think about the legal risks of using Large Language Model in their daily work. The main dilemmas concern the following areas: who owns the copyright to what somebody creates through ChatGPT; what can OpenAI do with the prompt you enter; can you accidentally infringe on another creator's rights through ChatGPT; what about the protection of the data somebody enters into the chat. This paper will present these and other legal risks of using large language models at work using dogmatic methods and case studies. The paper will present a legal analysis of AI risks against the background of European Union law and Polish law. This analysis will answer questions about how to protect data, how to make sure you do not violate copyright, and what is at stake with the AI Act, which recently came into force in the EU. If your work is related to the EU area, and you use AI in your work, this paper will be a real goldmine for you. The copyright law in force in Poland does not protect your rights to a work that is created with the help of AI. So if you start selling such a work, you may face two main problems. First, someone may steal your work, and you will not be entitled to any protection because work created with AI does not have any legal protection. Second, the AI may have created the work by infringing on another person's copyright, so they will be able to claim damages from you. In addition, the EU's current AI Act imposes a number of additional obligations related to the use of large language models. The AI Act divides artificial intelligence into four risk levels and imposes different requirements depending on the level of risk. The EU regulation is aimed primarily at those developing and marketing artificial intelligence systems in the EU market. In addition to the above obstacles, personal data protection comes into play, which is very strictly regulated in the EU. If you violate personal data by entering information into ChatGPT, you will be liable for violations. When using AI within the EU or in cooperation with entities located in the EU, you have to take into account a lot of risks. This paper will highlight such risks and explain how they can be avoided.

Keywords: EU, AI act, copyright, polish law, LLM

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Authors: Fatimah Opebiyi

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Economic growth promotion, inflation reduction and consumer protection are among the core public interest aims of governments. Nevertheless, higher rates of default by consumers in relation to credit card loans and mortgages in recent times illustrate that government’s performance in balancing the protection of the economy and consumer is subpar. This thereby raises an important question on the role of government in protecting consumers during prolonged spells of inflation, particularly when such inflationary trends may be traceable to the acts of the government. Adopting a doctrinal research methodology, this article investigates the evolution of the concept of consumer protection in the United Kingdom and also brings to the fore the tensions and conflicts of interests in the aims and practices of the main regulators within the financial services industry. Relying on public interest theories of regulation and responsive regulatory theory, the article explores the limitations in the state’s ability to strike the right balance in meeting regulatory aims of the regulatory agencies at the opposite ends of the spectrum.

Keywords: financial regulation, consumer protection, prudential regulation, public interest theories of regulation, central bank

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Authors: Cheila Cristina Leonardo Oliveira Gaioli, Fernanda Ludmilla Rossi Rocha, Sandra Cristina Pillon

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Resilience is a psychological process that facilitates the maintenance of health, developed in response to numerous existing stressors in daily life. Furthermore, resilience can be described as the ability which allows an individual or group to hold up well before unfavorable situations. This study aimed to identify nursing workers’ resilience at a psychiatric hospital in Brazil. This is an exploratory research with quantitative data approach. The sample consisted of 56 workers, using the Resilience Scale. Of the 56 subjects, 45 (80.4%) were women; 22 (39.2%) were 20- to 40-years-old and 30 (53.6%) were 41- to 60-years-old; 11 (19.6%) were nurses and 45 (80.4%) were technicians or nursing assistants. The results also showed that 50% of subjects showed a high resilience degree and 42.9% an average resilience degree. Thus, it was found that workers seek to develop protective factors in coping with a work environment that does not value the individual subjectivity and does not allow professional development, discouraging workers.

Keywords: health promotion, nursing, occupational health, resilience

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Authors: Antonella Falanga, Armando Cartenì

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"Big data" refers to extremely vast and complex sets of data, encompassing extraordinarily large and intricate datasets that require specific tools for meaningful analysis and processing. These datasets can stem from diverse origins like sensors, mobile devices, online transactions, social media platforms, and more. The utilization of big data is pivotal, offering the chance to leverage vast information for substantial advantages across diverse fields, thereby enhancing comprehension, decision-making, efficiency, and fostering innovation in various domains. Big data, distinguished by its remarkable attributes of enormous volume, high velocity, diverse variety, and significant value, represent a transformative force reshaping the industry worldwide. Their pervasive impact continues to unlock new possibilities, driving innovation and advancements in technology, decision-making processes, and societal progress in an increasingly data-centric world. The use of these technologies is becoming more widespread, facilitating and accelerating operations that were once much more complicated. In particular, big data impacts across multiple sectors such as business and commerce, healthcare and science, finance, education, geography, agriculture, media and entertainment and also mobility and logistics. Within the transportation sector, which is the focus of this study, big data applications encompass a wide variety, spanning across optimization in vehicle routing, real-time traffic management and monitoring, logistics efficiency, reduction of travel times and congestion, enhancement of the overall transportation systems, but also mitigation of pollutant emissions contributing to environmental sustainability. Meanwhile, in public administration and the development of smart cities, big data aids in improving public services, urban planning, and decision-making processes, leading to more efficient and sustainable urban environments. Access to vast data reservoirs enables deeper insights, revealing hidden patterns and facilitating more precise and timely decision-making. Additionally, advancements in cloud computing and artificial intelligence (AI) have further amplified the potential of big data, enabling more sophisticated and comprehensive analyses. Certainly, utilizing big data presents various advantages but also entails several challenges regarding data privacy and security, ensuring data quality, managing and storing large volumes of data effectively, integrating data from diverse sources, the need for specialized skills to interpret analysis results, ethical considerations in data use, and evaluating costs against benefits. Addressing these difficulties requires well-structured strategies and policies to balance the benefits of big data with privacy, security, and efficient data management concerns. Building upon these premises, the current research investigates the efficacy and influence of big data by conducting an overview of the primary and recent implementations of big data in transportation systems. Overall, this research allows us to conclude that big data better provide to enhance rational decision-making for mobility choices and is imperative for adeptly planning and allocating investments in transportation infrastructures and services.

Keywords: big data, public transport, sustainable mobility, transport demand, transportation planning

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Authors: A. Bogdanovic, M. Vitanova, J. Bojadjieva, Z. Rakicevic, V. Sesov, K. Edip, N. Naumovski, F. Manojlovski, A.Popovska, A. Shoklarovski, T. Kitanovski, D. Ivanovski, I. Markovski, D. Filipovski

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The conditions of existing structures change in the course of time and can hardly be characterized particularly if a bridge has long been in function and there is no design documentation related to it. To define the real conditions of a structure, detailed static and dynamic analysis of the structure has to be carried out and its modal parameters have to be defined accurately. Modal analysis enables a quite accurate identification of the natural frequencies and mode shapes. Presented in this paper are the results from the performed detailed analyses of a steel truss bridge that has been in use for more than 7 decades by the military services of R.N. Macedonia and for which there is no documentation at all. Static and dynamic investigations and ambient vibration measurements were performed. The acquired data were used to identify the mode shapes that were used for comparison with the numerical model. Dynamic tests were performed to define the bridge behaviour and the damping index. Finally, based on all the conducted detailed analyses and investigations, conclusions on the conditions of the bridge structure were drawn.

Keywords: ambient vibrations, dynamic identification, in-situ measurement, steel truss bridge

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Authors: Sara Mota Carmo

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Nowadays, there is an increasing demand for buildings to be energetically autonomous through energy generation systems from renewable sources, according to the concept of a net zero energy building (NZEB). In this sense, the present study aims to study the integration of wind energy through piezoelectricity applied to the building skin. As a methodology, a reduced-scale prototype of a building was developed and tested in a wind tunnel, with the four façades monitored by recording the energy produced by each. The applied wind intensities varied between 2m/s and 8m/s and the four façades were compared with each other regarding the energy produced according to the intensity of wind and position in the wind. The results obtained concluded that it was not a sufficient system to generate sources to cover family residential buildings' energy needs. However, piezoelectricity is expanding and can be a promising path for a wind energy system in architecture as a complement to other renewable energy sources.

Keywords: adaptative building skin, kinetic façade, wind energy in architecture, NZEB

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Authors: Fahad Suleiman

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Agriculture has been the mainstay of the nation’s economy in Nigeria. It provides food for the ever rapidly increasing population and raw materials for the industries. People especially the rural dwellers are gainfully employed on their crop farms and small-scale livestock farms for income earning. In farming, availability of funds and time management are one of the major factors that influence the system of farming in Nigeria in which mathematical science knowledge was highly required in order for farms to be managed effectively. Farmers often applied mathematics, almost every day for a variety of tasks, ranging from measuring and weighing, to land marking. This paper, therefore, explores some of the ways math is used in farming. For instance, farmers use arithmetic variety of farm activities such as seed planting, harvesting crop, cultivation and mulching. It is also important in helping farmers to know how much their livestock weighs, how much milk their cows produce and crop yield per acres, among others.

Keywords: agriculture, application, economic, farming, mathematics

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Authors: Arpita Sabath, Jytoika Samuel

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Emotional Intelligence is conceptualized as a confluence of learned abilities resulting in wise behavior, high achievement and mental health. This case study is done on IT Sector employees of CAREERNET consultancy at Bangalore. Thus the present study intends to find out the difference in different dimensions of El and Js Scales among male and female employees and the existing relationship between emotional intelligence and job satisfaction for the beginner age group of employees (25 yrs - 40 yrs) in order to enhance the employees productivity level in the present scenario of recession in employment. It is observed that all promotions and increment are achieved at these 25 yrs - 40 yrs age group employees. Therefore, the sample is selected randomly and grouped. Survey method with the administration of Emotional Intelligence Scale and opinionScedule is used. The findings of the study has revealed that there is a positive relationship between emotional intelligence and performance excellence. The study is concluded with a remark that the relevance of this study should be followed by the administrative body of IT sectors to motivate them and to get more productive work from their employees

Keywords: emotional intelligence, job satisfaction, organisational behavior, IT sector

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Authors: Mohamed Saad Ahmed Hussien

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This paper discusses the risk management in Islamic banks and aims to determine the difference in the practices and methods of risk management in those banks compared to the conventional banks, and to make a case study of the biggest Islamic bank in Egypt (Faisal Islamic Bank of Egypt) to identify the most important financial risks faced and how to manage those risks. It was found that Islamic banks face two types of risks. The first type is similar to the risks in conventional banks; the second type is the additional risks which facing the Islamic banks only as a result of some Islamic modes of financing. With regard to the risk management, Islamic banks such as conventional banks applied the regulatory rules issued by the Central Banks and the Basel Committee; Islamic banks also applied the instructions and procedures issued by the Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB). Also, Islamic banks are similar to the conventional banks in the practices and methods which they use to manage the risks. And there are some factors that may affect the risk management in Islamic banks, such as the size of the bank and the efficiency of the administration and the staff of the bank.

Keywords: conventional banks, Faisal Islamic Bank of Egypt, Islamic banks, risk management

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Authors: Chung-Yuan Wang, Min Hsu, Bo-Ya Juan, Hsiv Ching Lin, Hsveh Min Lin, Hsiu-Fang Yeh

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The success of Taiwan's National Health Insurance (NHI) system attracts widespread praise from the international society. However, the availability of medical care in a emote area is limited. Without the convenient public transportation system and mature social welfare policy, these people are difficult to regain their health and prevent disability. Preterm children have more risk to get development delay. Preterm children in a remote area have the human right to get rehabilitation resources as those in the city area. Therefore, the aim of this study was to show the importance of development screening to preterm children in a remote area and a tract the government to notice the issue. In Pingtung, children who are suspected development delay would be suggested to take a skillful screening evaluation in our hospital. Those preterm children (within 1-year-old) visited our pediatric clinic would also be referred to take the development evaluation. After the physiatrist’s systemic evaluation, the subjects would be scheduled to take the development evaluation. Gross motor, fine motor, speech comprehension/expression and mental study were included. The evaluation was in-charged by a physical therapist, occupational therapy, speech therapist and pediatric psychologist. The tools were Peabody developmental scale, Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development (Bayley-III) and Wechsler Preschool & Primary Scale of Intelligence-Revised (WPPSI-R). In 2013, 459 children received the service in our hospital. Among these children, fifty-seven were noted with preterm baby history (gestation within 37 weeks). Thirty-six of these preterm children, who had never receive development evaluation, were included in this study. Thirty-six subjects (twenty-six male and ten female) were included. Nineteen subjects were found development delay. Six subjects were found suspected development delay. In gross motor, six subjects were development delay and eight were suspected development delay. In fine motor, five subjects were development delay and three were suspected development delay. In speech, sixteen subjects were development delay and six were suspected development delay. In our study, through the provision of development evaluation service, 72.2% preterm baby were found their development delay or suspected delay. They need further early intervention rehabilitation service. We made their parents realize that when development delay was recognized at the early stage, they are often reversible. No only the patients but also their families were improved their health status. The number of the subjects was limited in our study. Further study might be needed. Compared with 770 physical therapist (PT) and 370 occupational therapy (OT) in Taipei, there are only 108 PT and 54 OT in Pingtung. Further, there are much fewer therapists working on the field of pediatric rehabilitation. Living healthy is a human's right, no matter where does he live. For those development delay children in remote area, particularly preterm children, early detection, and early intervention rehabilitation service could play an important role in decreasing their disability and improving their quality of life. Through this study, we suggest the government to add more national resources on the development evaluation to preterm children in a remote area.

Keywords: development, early intervention, preterm children, rehabilitation

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Authors: Emma Dwi Ariyani, Dini Hadiani

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This article reports the descriptive analysis of self-compassion in polytechnic students. It has been long believed that self-compassion can improve students’ motivation in completing their studies. This research was conducted with the aim to see the degree of self-compassion in polytechnic students in Indonesia by using Neff's Self-Compassion Scale (short form) measurement tool consisting of 12 items. The research method used was descriptive study with survey technique on 255 students. The results showed that 78% of students had low self-compassion and 22% had high self-compassion. This revealed that polytechnic students still criticize themselves harshly, make a poor judgment and bad self-appraisal, and they also cannot accept their imperfection and consider it as a self-judgment. The students also tend to think that they are the only ones that experience failure and suffering. This can lead to a sense of isolation (self-isolation). Furthermore, the students are often too concerned with aspects that are not liked both in themselves and in life (over-identification). Improving the students’ level of self-compassion can be done by building an educational climate that not only criticizes the students but provides feedback as well. This should focus on the students’ real behavior rather than the students’ general character.

Keywords: descriptive study, polytechnic students, Indonesia, self-compassion

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Authors: Cafer Görkem Pınar, İlker Coşar, Serkan Uzun, Atahan Çelebi, Mehmet Ali Ersoy, Ali Pınarbaşı

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In this study, it was numerically investigated that a 1:1 scale model of the Renault Clio MK4 SW brand vehicle aerodynamic analysis was performed in the commercial computational fluid dynamics (CFD) package program of ANSYS CFX 2021 R1 under steady, subsonic, and 3-D conditions. The model of vehicle used for the analysis was made independent of the number of mesh elements, and the k-epsilon turbulence model was applied during the analysis. Results were interpreted as streamlines, pressure gradient, and turbulent kinetic energy contours around the vehicle at 50 km/h and 100 km/h speeds. In addition, the validity of the analysis was decided by comparing the drag coefficient of the vehicle with the values in the literature. As a result, the pressure gradient contours of the taillight of the Renault Clio MK4 SW vehicle were examined, and the behavior of the total force at speeds of 50 km/h and 100 km/h was interpreted.

Keywords: CFD, k-epsilon, aerodynamics, drag coefficient, taillight

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Authors: Laxuman Thakuri

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Despite the large number of in-depth case studies focused on policy analysis, institutional arrangement, and collective action of common property resource management; how the local institutions take the pricing decision of forest products in community forest management and what kinds of effects produce it, the answers of these questions are largely silent among the policy-makers and researchers alike. The study examined how the local institutions take the pricing decision of forest products in the lowland community forestry of Nepal and how the decisions affect to equitable distribution of benefits and livelihood improvement which are also objectives of Nepalese community forestry. The study assumes that forest products pricing decisions have multiple effects on equitable distribution and livelihood improvement in the areas having heterogeneous socio-economic conditions. The dissertation was carried out at four community forests of lowland, Nepal that has characteristics of high value species, matured-experience of community forest management and better record-keeping system of forest products production, pricing and distribution. The questionnaire survey, individual to group discussions and direct field observation were applied for data collection from the field, and Lorenz curve, gini-coefficient, χ²-text, and SWOT (Strong, Weak, Opportunity, and Threat) analysis were performed for data analysis and results interpretation. The dissertation demonstrates that the low pricing strategy of high-value forest products was supposed crucial to increase the access of socio-economically weak households, and to and control over the important forest products such as timber, but found counter productive as the strategy increased the access of socio-economically better-off households at higher rate. In addition, the strategy contradicts to collect a large-scale community fund and carry out livelihood improvement activities as per the community forestry objectives. The crucial part of the study is despite the fact of low pricing strategy; the timber alone contributed large part of community fund collection. The results revealed close relation between pricing decisions and livelihood objectives. The action research result shows that positive price discrimination can slightly reduce the prevailing inequality and increase the fund. However, it lacks to harness the full price of forest products and collects a large-scale community fund. For broader outcomes of common property resource management in terms of resource sustainability, equity, and livelihood opportunity, the study suggests local institutions to harness the full price of resource products with respect to the local market.

Keywords: community, equitable, forest, livelihood, socioeconomic, Nepal

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Authors: Ivana Knezevic, Kenneth D. Candido, N. Nick Knezevic

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Background: While pain intensity scales remain generally accepted assessment tool, and the numeric pain rating score is highly subjective, we nevertheless rely on them to make a judgment about treatment effects. Misinterpretation of pain can lead practitioners to underestimate or overestimate the patient’s medical condition. The purpose of this study was to analyze how the numeric rating pain scores given by patients with low back pain correlate with their functional activity levels. Methods: We included 100 consecutive patients with radicular low back pain (LBP) after the Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval. Pain scores, numeric rating scale (NRS) responses at rest and in the movement,Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) questionnaire answers were collected 10 times through 12 months. The ODI questionnaire is targeting a patient’s activities and physical limitations as well as a patient’s ability to manage stationary everyday duties. Statistical analysis was performed by using SPSS Software version 20. Results: The average duration of LBP was 14±22 months at the beginning of the study. All patients included in the study were between 24 and 78 years old (average 48.85±14); 56% women and 44% men. Differences between ODI and pain scores in the range from -10% to +10% were considered “normal”. Discrepancies in pain scores were graded as mild between -30% and -11% or +11% and +30%; moderate between -50% and -31% and +31% and +50% and severe if differences were more than -50% or +50%. Our data showed that pain scores at rest correlate well with ODI in 65% of patients. In 30% of patients mild discrepancies were present (negative in 21% and positive in 9%), 4% of patients had moderate and 1% severe discrepancies. “Negative discrepancy” means that patients graded their pain scores much higher than their functional ability, and most likely exaggerated their pain. “Positive discrepancy” means that patients graded their pain scores much lower than their functional ability, and most likely underrated their pain. Comparisons between ODI and pain scores during movement showed normal correlation in only 39% of patients. Mild discrepancies were present in 42% (negative in 39% and positive in 3%); moderate in 14% (all negative), and severe in 5% (all negative) of patients. A 58% unknowingly exaggerated their pain during movement. Inconsistencies were equal in male and female patients (p=0.606 and p=0.928).Our results showed that there was a negative correlation between patients’ satisfaction and the degree of reporting pain inconsistency. Furthermore, patients talking opioids showed more discrepancies in reporting pain intensity scores than did patients taking non-opioid analgesics or not taking medications for LBP (p=0.038). There was a highly statistically significant correlation between morphine equivalents doses and the level of discrepancy (p<0.0001). Conclusion: We have put emphasis on the patient education in pain evaluation as a vital step in accurate pain level reporting. We have showed a direct correlation with patients’ satisfaction. Furthermore, we must identify other parameters in defining our patients’ chronic pain conditions, such as functionality scales, quality of life questionnaires, etc., and should move away from an overly simplistic subjective rating scale.

Keywords: pain score, functionality scales, low back pain, lumbar

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Authors: Eleanor F. Willard

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The attrition rate on distance learning courses can be high. This research examines how online students often react when faced with poor results. Using q methodology, it was found that the emotional response level and the type of social support sought by students were key influences on their attitude to failure. As educational and psychological researchers, we are adept at measuring learning and achievement, but examining attitudes towards barriers to learning are not so well researched. The distance learning student has differing needs from onsite learners and, as the attrition rate is notoriously high in the online student population, examining learners’ attitude towards adversity and barriers is important. Self-report measures such as questionnaires are useful in terms of ascertaining levels of constructs such as resilience and academic confidence. Interviewing, too, can gain in depth detail of the opinions of such a population, but only in individuals. The aim of this research was to ascertain what the feelings and attitudes of online students were when faced with a setback. This was achieved using q methodology due to its use of both quantitative and qualitative methodology and its suitability for exploratory research. The emphasis with this methodology is the attitudes, not the individuals. The work was focused upon a population of distance learning students who attended a school on site for one week as part of their studies. They were engaged in a psychology masters conversion course and, as such, were graduate students. The Q sort had 30 items taken from the Academic Resilience Scale (ARS-30). The scale items represent three constructs; perseverance, reflecting (including adaptive help-seeking) and negative affect. These are widely acknowledged as being relevant concepts underpinning psychological resilience. The q sort was conducted with 19 students in total. This is done by participants arranging statement cards regarding how similar to themselves they believe each statement to be. This was done after reading a vignette describing an experience of academic failure. Commonalities and differences between the sorts from all participants are then analyzed in terms of correlations and response patterns. Following data collection, the participants' responses were initially analyzed and the key perspectives (factors) to emerge were labelled ‘persevering individuals’ and ‘emotional networkers’. The differences between the two perspectives centre around the level of emotion felt when faced with barriers and the extent that students enlist the help of others inside and outside of the university. The dominant factor to emerge from the sorts of ‘persevering individuals’ demonstrated that many distance learners are tenacious. However, for other students, the level of emotional and social support is pivotal in helping them complete their studies when facing adversity. This was demonstrated by the ‘emotional networkers’ perspective. This research forms a starting point for further work on engaging and retaining online students at university and can potentially provide insight into how universities can lower attrition rates on distance learning courses.

Keywords: academic resilience, distance learning, online learning, q methodology

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Authors: Youval Aberman, Jason E. Plaks

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This research provides initial evidence that self-efficacy of mitigation behavior – the belief that one’s action can make a difference on the environment – can be implicitly inferred from the way numerical information is presented in environmental messages. The scientific community sees climate change as a pressing issue, but the general public tends to construe climate change as an abstract phenomenon that is psychologically distant. As such, a main barrier to pro-environmental behavior is that individuals often believe that their own behavior makes little to no difference on the environment. When it comes to communicating how the behavior of billions of individuals affects global climate change, it might appear valuable to aggregate those billions and present the shocking enormity of the resources individuals consume. This research provides initial evidence that, in fact, this strategy is ineffective; presenting large-scale aggregate data dilutes the contribution of the individual and impedes individuals’ motivation to act pro-environmentally. The high-impact, underrepresented behavior of eating a sustainable diet was chosen for the present studies. US Participants (total N = 668) were recruited online for a study on ‘meat and the environment’ and received information about some of resources used in meat production – water, CO2e, and feed – with numerical information that varied in its frame of reference. A ‘Nation’ frame of reference discussed the resources used in the beef industry, such as the billions of CO2e released daily by the industry, while a ‘Meal’ frame of reference presented the resources used in the production of a single beef dish. Participants completed measures of pro-environmental attitudes and behavioral intentions, either immediately (Study 1) or two days (Study 2) after reading the information. In Study 2 (n = 520) participants also indicated whether they consumed less or more meat than usual. Study 2 included an additional control condition that contained no environmental data. In Study 1, participants who read about meat production at a national level, compared to at a meal level, reported lower motivation to make ecologically conscious dietary choices and reported lower behavioral intention to change their diet. In Study 2, a similar pattern emerged, with the added insight that the Nation condition, but not the Meal condition, deviated from the control condition. Participants across conditions, on average, reduced their meat consumption in the duration of Study 2, except those in the Nation condition who remained unchanged. Presenting nation-wide consequences of human behavior is a double-edged sword: Framing in a large scale might reveal the relationship between collective actions and environmental issues, but it hinders the belief that individual actions make a difference.

Keywords: climate change communication, environmental concern, meat consumption, motivation

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Authors: Haiping Zhu

Abstract:

The purpose of this work-in-progress paper is to explore how the Chinese philosophic-religious tradition of Taoism impacts on the consumption behaviour of contemporary Chinese consumers. Although much cultural research has been conducted on Chinese consumption behaviours, most studies have approached the subject from Western perspectives. Examination of the limited literature indicates a gap in the knowledge of the relationship of traditional Chinese Taoism philosophy and Chinese consumption behaviour. To bridge this gap, this study examines Chinese consumption behaviour at a Taoist-related Chinese religious festival - the DuanWu festival - in order to seek some understanding of how the Taoism philosophic-religious tradition influences Chinese consumption behaviour from the point of view of the individuals involved. It focuses attention on their expression of Taoism cultural values, purchasing experience and subsequent consumption behaviours. This study undertook multiple methods for Taoist case study data collection: accompanied shopping with Taoists before DuanWu Festival; participant observations during DuanWu Festival; and in-depth interviews in order to explore Taoists consumption behaviours at the end of the Festival. Specifically, the finding from the Taoist case study corroborates and details the influence of the Taoism doctrine: man–nature orientation, Fenshui, ecological effect, and ecological knowledge, on their attitudes toward green purchasing behaviour. Findings from this Taoist case study - one of a series of three Chinese philosophic religious tradition case studies - contribute to the deeper understanding of contemporary Chinese consumers from a non-Western viewpoint and offer initial insights for global marketers to differentiate consumer needs and develop effective marketing strategies.

Keywords: consumer behaviour, culture values, green purchase behaviour, Taoism

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Authors: Nasser Marshad Alzeer

Abstract:

This study examines the spatial distribution of secondary schools in Riyadh. It considers both public girls and boys sector provision and assesses the efficiency of the spatial distribution of secondary schools. Since the establishment of the Ministry of Education (MOE) in 1953 and General Presidency for Female Education, (GPFE) in 1960, there has been a great expansion of education services in Saudi Arabia, particularly during the 1980s. However, recent years have seen much slower rates of increase in the public education sector but the population continues to grow rapidly. This study investigates the spatial distribution of schools through the use of questionnaire surveys and applied GIS. Overall, the results indicate a shortage of public secondary schools, especially in the north of the city. It is clear that there is overcrowding in the majority of secondary schools. The establishment of new schools has been suggested to solve the problem of overcrowding. A number of socio-economic and demographic factors are associated with differences in the utilization of the public secondary schools. A GIS was applied in this study in order to assess the spatial distribution of secondary schools including the modification of existing catchment area boundaries and locating new schools. This modification could also reduce the pupil pressure on certain schools and further benefits could probably be gained.

Keywords: analysis, distribution, Saudi, GIS, schools

Procedia PDF Downloads 554

Authors: Jennis Delina Giles, Nimesha Liyanage, Damindi Senadheera, Dilan Randima, Kushnara Suriyawansa

Abstract:

Mental health is essential during childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. Mental health issues can influence one's thoughts, disposition, and conduct. A record number of mental health problems are caused by a global pandemic. Prevention of mental disease is vital for both children and adults. We desired to develop a web application for those with mental health difficulties. This web application will provide group chat, discussion, a community feed, and counseling services. The community feed function provides information regarding scheduled conversation space meetings, and the counselor uploads uplifting thoughts and tales of patients who received proper care and overcame mental health issues. Community feed can filter content based on user preferences. The mental health system for adults and adolescents will be updated. The community feed delivers relevant and instructive postings, links, and images so that service recipients can benefit from other platform features and receive encouraging words to assist them in overcoming mental health difficulties.

Keywords: bio medical, mental helath care, empower youths & adults, counselling

Procedia PDF Downloads 155

Authors: Marija Vicic

Abstract:

The purpose of commercial credit regulation in an unified way under Law on Foreign Exchange Operations in Republic of Serbia allows an easier state monitoring of credit operations performed by non-professionals on foreign exchange market. By broadly defining the term “commercial credits“, the state (i.e. National Bank of Serbia) is given the authority to monitor the performance of all obligations under commercial contracts in which the obligations are not performed simultaneously. In the first part of the paper, the author analyses the economic gist of commercial credits with the purpose of giving an insight into their special treatment. The author examines the term „commercial credits“ given in Law on foreign exchange operations and the difference between financial credits and irregular commercial credits (exports and imports of goods and services deemed to be commercial credits) is particularly highlighted. In the second part, the author emphasizes the specifics of commercial credit contracts, especially the effects of special requests for the parties to these contracts to notify National Bank of Serbia and specific regulations regarding maturity of obligations under these commercial credits and the assignment and compensation of the said contracts.

Keywords: commercial credit, foreign exchange operations, commercial transactions, deferred payment, advance payment, (non) resident

Procedia PDF Downloads 421

Authors: Jatin Kumar Choudhary, Naren Rayala, Abbas Eslami Kiasari, Fahimeh Jafari

Abstract:

The Great Britain has one of the safest road networks in the world. However, the consequences of any death or serious injury are devastating for loved ones, as well as for those who help the severely injured. This paper aims to analyse the Great Britain's road safety situation and show the response measures for areas where the total damage caused by accidents can be significantly and quickly reduced. In this paper, we do an exploratory data analysis using STATS19 data. For the past 30 years, the UK has had a good record in reducing fatalities. The UK ranked third based on the number of road deaths per million inhabitants. There were around 165,000 accidents reported in the Great Britain in 2009 and it has been decreasing every year until 2019 which is under 120,000. The government continues to scale back road deaths empowering responsible road users by identifying and prosecuting the parameters that make the roads less safe.

Keywords: road safety, data analysis, openstreetmap, feature expanding.

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Authors: Ghaemi Reza, Abdollahi Hamid, Dashti Elham

Abstract:

Cloud computing poses a diversity of challenges in data mining operation arising out of the dynamic structure of data distribution as against the use of typical database scenarios in conventional architecture. Due to immense number of users seeking data on daily basis, there is a serious security concerns to cloud providers as well as data providers who put their data on the cloud computing environment. Big data analytics use compute intensive data mining algorithms (Hidden markov, MapReduce parallel programming, Mahot Project, Hadoop distributed file system, K-Means and KMediod, Apriori) that require efficient high performance processors to produce timely results. Data mining algorithms to solve or optimize the model parameters. The challenges that operation has to encounter is the successful transactions to be established with the existing virtual machine environment and the databases to be kept under the control. Several factors have led to the distributed data mining from normal or centralized mining. The approach is as a SaaS which uses multi-agent systems for implementing the different tasks of system. There are still some problems of data mining based on cloud computing, including design and selection of data mining algorithms.

Keywords: cloud computing, data mining, computing models, cloud services

Procedia PDF Downloads 479

Authors: Haci Mehmet Guzey, Levent Acar

Abstract:

In this paper, a novel decentralized controller is developed for linear systems with nonlinear unknown interconnections. A model linear decoupled system is assigned for each system. By using the difference actual and model state dynamics, the problem is formulated as inverse problem. Then, the interconnected dynamics are approximated by using Galerkin’s expansion method for inverse problems. Two different sets of orthogonal basis functions are utilized to approximate the interconnected dynamics. Approximated interconnections are utilized in the controller to cancel the interconnections and decouple the systems. Subsequently, the interconnected systems behave as a collection of decoupled systems.

Keywords: decentralized control, inverse problems, large scale systems, nonlinear interconnections, basis functions, system identification

Procedia PDF Downloads 532

Authors: B. Alajmi, L. Marouf, A. S. Chaudhry

Abstract:

In recent years, increasing emphasis has been placed upon issues concerning the evaluation of health care. In this regard, knowledge management has also been considered an important component of the evaluation process. KM facilitates the transfer of existing knowledge or the development of new knowledge among healthcare staff and patients. This research aimed to examine how hospitals in Kuwait employ knowledge management practices, including capturing, sharing, and generating, and the perceived impact of KM practices on performance of hospitals in Kuwait. Through adopting a quantitative survey method with 277 sample of doctors, the study found that in terms of the three major knowledge management practices – knowledge capturing, sharing, and generating – the adoption of KM practices were rated very low in the sampled hospitals in Kuwait. Hospitals paid little attention to the main activities that support the transfer of expertise among doctors in hospitals. However, as predicted by previous studies, knowledge management practices were perceived to have an impact on hospitals’ performance. Through knowledge capturing, sharing, and generating, hospitals could improve the services they provide through documenting best practices, transforming their hospitals into learning organizations in which lessons learned are captured, stored, and made available for others to learn from.

Keywords: knowledge management, hospitals, knowledge management practices, knowledge management tools, performance

Procedia PDF Downloads 503

Authors: Yousef S. Al-Othman

Abstract:

The growth and expansion of the industrial facilities comes proportional to the market increasing demand of products and services. Furthermore, raw material producers such as oil companies usually undergo massive revamping projects to maintain a synchronized supply. These revamping projects are usually delivered through challenging construction projects held and associated with daily site risks related to the construction process. Henceforth, a case study related to these risks and corresponding on-spot corrective measurements has been made on a certain number of construction project contractors at Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) to derive the benefits and overall effectiveness of the on-spot corrective measurements during the construction phase of a project, and how would the same help in avoiding major incidents, ensuring a smooth, cost effective and on time delivery of the project. Findings of this case study shall have an added value to the overall risk management process by minimizing the daily site risks that may affect the project lead time, resulting in an undisturbed on-site construction process.

Keywords: oil and gas, risk management, construction projects, project lead time

Procedia PDF Downloads 107