Search results for: attention measurement

Authors: Manaf Bashir

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Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has become a tool for corporations to meet the expectations of different stakeholders about economic, social and environmental issues. It has become indispensable for an organization’s success, positive image and reputation. Equally important is how corporations communicate and report their CSR. Employing the stakeholder theory, the purpose of this research is to analyse CSR content of leading Kuwaiti corporations. No research analysis of CSR reporting has been conducted in Kuwait and this study is an attempt to redress in part this empirical deficit in the country and the region. It attempts to identify the issues and stakeholders of the CSR and if corporations are following CSR reporting standards. By analysing websites, annual and CSR reports of the top 100 Kuwaiti corporations, this study found low mentions of the CSR issues and even lower mentions of CSR stakeholders. Environmental issues were among the least mentioned despite an increasing global concern toward the environment. ‘Society’ was mentioned the most as a stakeholder and ‘The Environment’ was among the least mentioned. Cross-tabulations found few significant relationships between type of industry and the CSR issues and stakeholders. Independent sample t-tests found no significant difference between the issues and stakeholders that are mentioned on the websites and the reports. Only two companies from the sample followed reporting standards and both followed the Global Reporting Initiative. Successful corporations would be keen to identify the issues that meet the expectations of different stakeholders and address them through their corporate communication. Kuwaiti corporations did not show this keenness. As the stakeholder theory suggests, extending the spectrum of stakeholders beyond investors can open mutual dialogue and understanding between corporations and various stakeholders. However, Kuwaiti corporations focus on few CSR issues and even fewer CSR stakeholders. Kuwaiti corporations need to pay more attention to CSR and particularly toward environmental issues. They should adopt a strategic approach and allocate specialized personnel such as marketers and public relations practitioners to manage it. The government and non-profit organizations should encourage the private sector in Kuwait to do more CSR and meet the needs and expectations of different stakeholders and not only shareholders. This is in addition to reporting the CSR information professionally because of its benefits to corporate image, reputation, and transparency.

Keywords: corporate social responsibility, environmental responsibility, Kuwait, stakeholder theory

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Authors: Negin Bayat, Nahid HasanZadeh

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Effluents of different industries such as metalworking, battery industry, mining, including heavy metal are considered problematic issues for both humans and the environment. These heavy metals include cadmium, copper, zinc, nickel, chromium, cyanide, lead, etc. Different physicochemical and biological methods are used to remove heavy metals, such as sedimentation, coagulation, flotation, chemical precipitation, filtration, membrane processes (reverse osmosis and nanofiltration), ion exchange, biological methods, adsorption with activated carbon, etc. These methods are generally either expensive or ineffective. In recent years, considerable attention has been given to the removal of heavy metal ions from solution by absorption using discarded and low-cost materials. In this study, nickel removal using an adsorption process by eucalyptus powdered leaves and poplar ash was investigated. This is an applied study. The effect of various parameters on metal removal, such as pH, amount of adsorbent, contact time, and stirring speed, was studied using a discontinuous method. This research was conducted in aqueous solutions on the laboratory scale. Then, optimum absorption conditions were obtained. Then, the study was conducted on real wastewater samples. In addition, the nickel concentration in the wastewater before and after the absorption process was measured. In all experiments, the remaining nickel was measured using an atomic absorption spectrometry device at 382 nm wavelength after an appropriate time and filtration. The results showed that increasing both adsorbent and pH parameters increase the metal removal rate. Nickel removal increased at the first 60 minutes. Then, the absorption rate remained constant and reached equilibrium. A desired removal rate with 40 mg in 100 ml adsorbent solution at pH = 9.5 was observed. According to the obtained results, the best absorption rate was observed at 40 mg dose using a combination of eucalyptus leaves and poplar ash in this study, which was equal to 99.76%. Thus, this combined method can be used as an inexpensive and effective absorbent for the removal of nickel from aqueous solutions.

Keywords: absorption, wastewater, nickel, poplar ash, eucalyptus leaf, treatment

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Authors: Saraswati Suna

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The outbreak of the COVID-19 epidemic and the subsequent lockdown have significantly impacted India's political, structural, and economic systems and a rising gap between the rich and the disadvantaged, upper and lower caste. For Dalit women, such forms of subjugation were followed by socioeconomic uncertainty due to the pandemic's economic shutdown and labour oppressions. Dalit women have been the victims of the most oppression among the nation's underprivileged groups. Dalit women undergo systemic oppression at the hands of the state, caste, class, gender, and religious hegemons historically. Dalit women hold a subordinate position within the gender to their male counterparts and caste to their upper-caste counterparts. This paper examines how Brahminical patriarchy and state power severely affected Dalit/Adivasi women during COVID-19 in Odisha, India. In order to understand caste-based sexual violence, a total of five cases have been analysed from newspapers. Findings revealed that Covid-19 appears to have a significant physical, psychological, and economic impact on Dalit women. The intention of sexual harassment and rape perpetrated by upper caste men is to maintain power and patriarchal culture in society. Dalit women are economically, socially, and culturally marginalised, which effectively exacerbates the sense of impunity by perpetrators of violence against Dalit women. This issue requires special attention to end atrocities against Dalit women. Dalit women become the target of rape, sexual assault, and murder. Sexual violence against Dalit women cannot be fully explained without linkage to caste, gender, and power. Dominant caste comes through caste privilege-socio-economic and politically; these factors contribute to sexual violence against Dalit women. The findings revealed that state police manipulate sexual violence, and in so doing, they create and deny access to both services to get justice. This article has argued that understanding Brahminical culture and the legal impacts of state police on Dalit women's identity requires a nuanced analysis.

Keywords: COVID-19, dalit women, sexual violence, brahminical patriarchy, power

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Authors: Maarja Karbus, Elsbet Lippmaa, Kadri Kööp, Mare Tupits

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Aim: The aim is to describe the experiences and needs of mothers of children with cancer in coping with the child's illness. Background: Cancer affects different life areas. Especially if it is a child, in this case the whole family is involved. Loved ones are mentally affected, there are limitations, and life changes need to be made to make the whole treatment regimen and recovery as comfortable as possible. Also, the whole process is expensive and time consuming. The research is part of a larger project that covers the experiences and needs of parents of children with chronic illness and coping strategies related to the child's illness. Design: Qualitative, empirical, descriptive research. Method: Semi-structured interviews were used to collect data and inductive content analysis was used to analyze the data. The interviews were conducted in the autumn of 2020, 5 respondents participated in the research. Results and Conclusions: The research revealed that the mothers' experiences of coping with a child's disease included health-related experiences, material aspects, changes in lifestyle, support systems and contact with professionals. Regarding the organizational and material aspects of life, the subjects presented experiences with economic problems, adaptation of changes in lifestyle, access to information and changes in the treatment process. With regard to health, the respondents identified experiences with the mother's physical and mental health and experiences with the health of an ill child. The experience of different support systems was related to the support of family, friends, acquaintances, various organizations and specialists. Experiences with specialist support included experiences with family relationships and positive and negatiive experiences with staff. The mothers' needs in dealing with the child's disease included the mother's emotional needs, the support of other family members, and the need for various support systems and services. The needs of coping with the child were the need for understanding, support, confidence, the need to be strong and courageous, the need to ignore one's own needs, and the need for personal time and rest. The needs of other family members included the needs of an ill child and the need to pay attention to other children in the family. The needs of different supporters and services were related to different helpers and different services.

Keywords: cancer, mother, coping, child, need, experience, illness

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Authors: Yimeng Zhang

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Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a prevalent mental health condition with a substantial economic impact and limited treatment options. Acupuncture has gained attention as a promising non-pharmacological intervention for alleviating depressive symptoms. However, its mechanisms and clinical effectiveness remain incompletely understood. This meta-analysis aims to (1) synthesize existing evidence on the mechanisms and clinical effectiveness of acupuncture for depression and (2) compare these findings with pharmacological interventions, providing insights for future research. Evidence from animal models and clinical studies indicates that acupuncture may enhance hippocampal and network neuroplasticity and reduce brain inflammation, potentially alleviating depressive disorders. Clinical studies suggest that acupuncture can effectively relieve primary depression, particularly in milder cases, and is beneficial in managing post-stroke depression, pain-related depression, and postpartum depression, both as a standalone and adjunctive treatment. Notably, combining acupuncture with antidepressant pharmacotherapy appears to enhance treatment outcomes and reduce medication side effects, addressing a critical issue in conventional drug therapy's high dropout rates. This meta-analysis, encompassing 12 studies and 710 participants, draws data from eight digital databases (PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, EBSCOhost, CNKI, CBM, Wangfang, and CQVIP) covering the period from 2012 to 2022. Utilizing Stata software 15.0, the meta-analysis employed random-effects and fixed-effects models to assess the distribution of depression in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). The results underscore the substantial evidence supporting acupuncture's beneficial effects on depression. However, the small sample sizes of many clinical trials raise concerns about the generalizability of the findings, indicating a need for further research to validate these outcomes and optimize acupuncture's role in treating depression.

Keywords: Chinese medicine, acupuncture, depression, meta-analysis

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Authors: Jolanta Jonak

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Emotional wellbeing is crucial for healthy development of children, youth, and adolescence. Lack of healthy emotional development and functioning can lead to many challenges in academic, social, and physical domains. Unfortunately, mental health problems are steadily increasing over the past several years and significantly intensified during and after the Covid 19 pandemic. Some experts warn that globally, we are entering a mental health crisis pandemic. Prior to the Covid 19 pandemic in 2020, a considerable number of youth aged 6-17 experienced a mental health disorder each year, with half of all mental health conditions beginning by age 14. The most common mental health disorders in children are Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), behavior problems, anxiety, and depression. In U.S. schools, youth with these diagnoses tend to be classified under the umbrella of Emotional Disability. Several concerning trends have been emerging about the mental health of U.S. high school students. These trends have been steadily increasing for the past decade, particularly having increasing numbers of high school students who experienced persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness, seriously considered attempting suicide, made a suicide plan, and attempted suicide. The number of students who felt persistently sad or hopeless increased across every racial and ethnic group. Parents, educators, and mental health providers are key stakeholders that are responsible for actively and effectively supporting struggling youth. A commonly faced challenge is that mental wellbeing is not supported as effectively as it should be. When effective prevention is paired with enhanced treatment developed on a multidisciplinary approach, mental health and emotional wellbeing in young people can be positively enhanced. Major health organizations including the Center for Disease Control and the National Institutes of Health encourage health professionals and other stakeholders to focus on addressing emotional wellbeing and mental health of young people.

Keywords: social emotional wellbeing, disability, learning, prevention

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Authors: Navven Desai, Veena Soraganvi

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Heavy metals such as lead, cadmium and mercury do not have biological significance hence they are known to be extremely toxic heavy metals. Water contains various heavy metals like Cadmium (Cd), Chromium (Cr), Copper (Cu), Nickel (Ni), Arsenic (As), Lead (Pb), and Zinc (Zn) etc., when it gets polluted with industrial waste water. These heavy metals cause various health effects even at low concentration when consumed by humans. Most of the heavy metals are poisonous to living organisms. Heavy metals are non-degradable and are preserved in the environment through bioaccumulation. Therefore removal of heavy metals from water is necessary. In recent years, a great deal of attentions has been focused on to the application of nanosized metal oxides to treat heavy metals, especially titanium oxides, ferric oxides, manganese oxides, aluminium oxides and magnesium oxides as adsorbent and photocatalyst. TiO2 based photocatalysts have attracted continuously increasing attention because of the excellent properties such as high light -conversion efficiency, chemical stability, nontoxic nature, low cost. The catalyst displays high photocatalytic activity because of its large surface area. In this study, the photocatalytic degradation of Lead (Pb) from aqueous solution was investigated in natural sunlight by using TiO2 as Nanomaterial. This study was performed at laboratory scale. All the experiments were carried out in the batch process. The concentration of lead was constant (25mg/lit) in the experiment and effect of titanium dioxide dose and pH were varied to study the removal efficiency of the lead by adsorption. Further study was performed on the dependence of photocatalytic reaction on the reaction temperature. The aqueous solution was prepared by Lead metal powder. TiO2 photo catalyst nanopowder used was Sisco-74629 grade. The heavy metal is analyzed with VARIAN AA 240 atomic adsorption spectrophotometer. The study shows, with increasing TiO2 dose and pH the lead removal increases. According to study, it can be concluded that the utilization of titanium dioxide accounted for higher efficiency in the removal of lead from aqueous solution.

Keywords: adsorption, heavy metals, nanomaterial, photocatalysis

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Authors: A. Md. Bayejid Hosen, B. M Zakir Hossain Howlader, C. Yearul Kabir

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Contamination of soil and agricultural products by heavy metals resulting from rapid industrial development has caused major concern. Dietary exposure to heavy metals has been associated with toxic and adverse health effects. The main threats to human health from heavy metals are associated with exposure to Pb, Cd and Hg. The aim of this study was to monitor the presence of heavy metals in cereals collected from different wholesale markets of Dhaka City. One hundred and sixty cereal samples were collected and analyzed for determination of heavy metals. Heavy metals were analyzed by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). A total of six heavy metals– lead, chromium, cadmium, mercury, arsenic and antimony were estimated. The average concentrations of heavy metals in cereals fall within the safe limit established by regulatory organizations except for Pb (152.4 μg/100g) and Hg (15.13 μg/100g) which exceeded the safe limits. BARI gom-26 was the highest source of Pb (304.1 μg/100g) whereas Haski-29 rice variety contained the highest amount of Hg (60.85 μg/100g). Though all the cereal varieties contained approximately same amount of Cr the naizer sail varieties contained huge amount of Cr (171.8 μg/100g). Among all the cereal samples miniket rice varieties contained the least amount of heavy metals. The concentration of Cr (63.24 μg/100g), Cd (5.54 μg/100g) and As (3.26 μg/100g) in all cereals were below the safe limits. The daily intake of heavy metals was determined using the total weight of cereals consumed each day multiplied by the concentrations of heavy metals in cereals. The daily intake was compared with provisional maximum tolerable daily intake set by different regulatory organizations. The daily intake of Cd (23.0 μg), Hg (63.0 μg) and as (13.6 μg) through cereals were below the risk level except for Pb (634.0 μg) and Cr (263.1 μg). As the main meal of average Bangladeshi people is boiled rice served with some sorts of vegetables, our findings indicate that the residents of Dhaka City are at risk from Pb and Cr contamination. Potential health risks from exposure to heavy metals in self-planted cereals need more attention.

Keywords: contamination, dietary exposure, heavy metals, human health, ICP-MS

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Authors: Aida Safiera, Andika Dwi Rubyantoro, Muhammad Bagus Prakasa

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Indonesia’s needs of diesel oil each year are increasing and getting urge. However, that problems are not supported by the amount of oil production that still low and also influenced by the fact of oil reserve is reduced. Because of that, the government prefers to import from other countries than fulfill the needs of diesel. To anticipate that problem, development of fuel based on renewable diesel is started. Renewable diesel is renewable alternative fuel that is hydrocarbon derivative from decarbonylation of non-edible oil. Indonesia is rich with natural resources, including nyamplung oil (Calophyllum inophyllum oil) and zeolite. Nyamplung oil (Calophyllum inophyllum oil) has many stearic acids which are useful on renewable diesel synthesis meanwhile zeolite is cheap. Zeolite is many used on high temperature reaction and cracking process on oil industry. Zeolite also has advantages which are a high crystallization, surface area and pores. In this research, the main focus that becomes our attention is on preparation and characterization of metal nanocrystal. Active site that used in this research is Nickel Molybdenum (NiMo). The advantage of nanocrystal with nano scale is having larger surface area. The synthesis of metal nanocrystal will be done with conventional preparation modification method that is called simple heating. Simple heating method is a metal nanocrystal synthesis method using continuous media which is polymer liquid. This method is a simple method and produces a small particles size in a short time. Influence of metal nanocrystal growth on this method is the heating profile. On the synthesis of nanocrystal, the manipulated variables are temperature and calcination time. Results to achieve from this research are diameter size on nano scale (< 100 nm) and uniform size without any agglomeration. Besides that, the conversion of synthesis of renewable diesel is high and has an equal specification with petroleum diesel. Catalyst activities are tested by FT-IR and GC-TCD on decarbonylation process with a pressure 15 bar and temperature 375 °C. The highest conversion from this reaction is 35% with selectivity around 43%.

Keywords: renewable diesel, simple heating, metal nanocrystal, NiMo, zeolite

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Authors: Matthew P. Mancini, Vincent Ribiere

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Today’s workers face more numerous and complex challenges and are required to be increasingly interdependent and faster learners. Knowledge sharing activities between people have been understood as a significant element affecting organizational innovation performance. While they do have the potential to spark cognitive conflict, disagreement is important from an organizational perspective because it can stimulate the development of new ideas and perhaps pave the way for creativity, innovation, and competitive advantage. How teams cope with the cognitive conflict dimension of knowledge sharing and the associated interpersonal risk is what captures our attention. Specifically, assertive conflict management strategies have a positive influence on knowledge sharing behaviors, and team psychological safety has a positive influence on knowledge sharing intention. This paper focuses on explaining the impact that these factors have on the shaping of an individual’s decision to engage or not in knowledge sharing activities. To accomplish this, we performed an empirical analysis on the results of our questionnaire about knowledge-sharing related conflict management and team psychological safety in pharmaceutical enterprises located in North America, Europe, and Asia. First, univariate analysis is used to characterize behavior regarding conflict management strategy into two groups. Group 1 presents assertive conflict management strategies and group 2 shows unassertive ones. Then, by using SEM methodology, we evaluated the relationships between them and the team psychological safety construct with the knowledge sharing process. The results of the SEM analysis show that assertive conflict management strategies affect the knowledge sharing process the most with a small, but significant effect from team psychological safety. The findings suggest that assertive conflict management strategies are just as important as knowledge sharing intentions for encouraging knowledge sharing behavior. This paper provides clear insights into how employees manage the sharing of their knowledge in the face of conflict and interpersonal risk and the relative importance of these factors in sustaining productive knowledge sharing activities.

Keywords: cognitive dissonance, conflict management, knowledge sharing, organizational behavior, psychological safety

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

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

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

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Authors: Anu Shrestha, Krassi Rumchev, Ben Mullins, Yun Zhao, Linda Selvey

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Cycling is often promoted as a means of reducing vehicular congestion, noise and greenhouse gas and air pollutant emissions in urban areas. It is also indorsed as a healthy means of transportation in terms of reducing the risk of developing a range of physical and psychological conditions. However, people who cycle regularly may not be aware that they can become exposed to high levels of Vehicular Air Pollutants (VAP) emitted by nearby traffics and therefore experience adverse health effects as a result. The study will highlight the present scenario of ambient air pollution level in different cycling routes in Perth and also highlight significant contribution to the understanding of health risks that cyclist may face from exposure to particulate air pollution. Methodology: This research was conducted in Perth, Western Austral and consisted of two groups of cyclists cycling near high (2 routes) and low (two routes) vehicular traffic roads, at high and low levels of exertion, during the cold and warm seasons. A sample size of 123 regular cyclists who cycled at least 80 km/week, aged 20-55, and non-smoker were selected for this study. There were altogether 100 male and 23 female who were asked to choose one or more routes among four different routes, and each participant cycled the route for warm or cold or both seasons. Cyclist who reported cardiovascular and other chronic health conditions (excluding asthma) were not invited into the study. Exposures to selected air pollutants were assessed by undertaking background and personal measurements alone with the measurement of heart and breathe rate of each participant. Finding: According to the preliminary study findings, the cyclists who used cycling route close to high traffic route were exposed to higher levels of measured air pollutants Nitrogen Oxide (NO₂) =0.12 ppm, sulfur dioxide (SO₂)=0.06 ppm and carbon monoxide (CO)=0.25 PPM compared to those who cycled away from busy roads. However, we measured high concentrations of particulate air pollution near one of the low traffic route which we associate with the close proximity to ferry station. Concluding Statement: As a conclusion, we recommend that cycling routes should be selected away from high traffic routes. If possible, we should also consider that if the cycling route is surrounded by the dense populated infrastructures, it can trap the pollutants and always facilitate in increasing inhalation of particle count among the cyclists.

Keywords: air pollution, carbon monoxide, cyclists' health, nitrogen dioxide, nitrogen oxide, respirable particulate matters

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Authors: Tamseela Habib, Muhammad Amjad, Muhammad Edokali, Masome Moeni, Olivia Pickup, Ali Hassanpour

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Nanofluid-assisted steam generation is rapidly attracting attention amongst the scientific community since it can be applied in a wide range of industrial processes. Because of its high absorption rate of solar energy, nanoparticle-based solar steam generation could be a major contributor to many applications, including water desalination, sterilization and power generation. Lithium bromide-based iron oxide nanofluids have been previously studied in steam generation, which showed promising results. However, the efficiency of the system could be improved if a more heat-conductive nanofluid system could be utilised. In the current paper, we report on an experimental investigation of the photothermal conversion properties of functionalised Copper oxide (CuO) nanoparticles used in Lithium Bromide salt solutions. CuO binary nanofluid was prepared by chemical functionalization with polyethyleneimine (PEI). Long-term stability evaluation of prepared binary nanofluid was done by a high-speed centrifuge analyser which showed a 0.06 Instability index suggesting low agglomeration and sedimentation tendencies. This stability is also supported by the measurements from dynamic light scattering (DLS), transmission electron microscope (TEM), and ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) spectrophotometer. The fluid rheology is also characterised, which suggests the system exhibits a Newtonian fluid behavior. The photothermal conversion efficiency of different concentrations of CuO was experimentally investigated under a solar simulator. Experimental results reveal that the binary nanofluid in this study can remarkably increase the solar energy trapping efficiency and evaporation rate as compared to conventional fluids due to localized solar energy harvesting by the surface of the nanofluid. It was found that 0.1wt% CuO NP is the optimum nanofluid concentration for enhanced sensible and latent heat efficiencies.

Keywords: nanofluids, vapor absorption refrigeration system, steam generation, high salinity

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Authors: Dalia Bhattacharjee

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Motherhood as an institution is considered as sacred. Reproduction and motherhood have always been a concern of the private space of home. However, with the emergence of technologies like the Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ARTs), this intimate area has moved into the public. A woman can now become a mother with artificial insemination done by expert medical professionals in a hospital. With this development, the meanings of motherhood and childrearing have altered. Mothers have been divided into ‘ovarian mothers’ (those who provide the eggs), ‘uterine mothers’ (those who carry out the pregnancy and give birth), and ‘social mothers’ (those who raise the child). Thus, the ART business deconstructs motherhood by defining who the biological mother is and who the social mother is and who – despite contributing parts or processes of her body to the life of the child is not a mother, but merely the donor of a product, be it the egg or the womb, which is owned by those who are favoured by the contract. The industry of commercial surrogacy in India has been estimated to be of $2.3 billion as of 2012. There are many women who work as surrogate mothers in this industry for the exchange of money. It runs like a full-fledged business guided by a highly profit oriented capitalist market. The reproductive labourers are identified as mere womb renters or victims and not as active agents in such arrangements. Such a discourse undercuts the agency exercised by the women. The present study is an ethnography into the commercial surrogacy industry in India. This journey furthers the understanding of the dilemmas faced by the reproductive labourers. The paper emphasizes on the experiences of reproduction and motherhood outside the private space of the home in the commercial surrogacy industry in India, and, argues that this multiplicity of experiences need much focus and attention, where, the consumer becomes ‘the’ citizen and the women workers continue to be victims. The study draws on the narratives of the reproductive labourers, who remain at the center, and yet, at the periphery of such arrangements. This feminist ethnography is informed by the feminist standpoint theory to account for and analyse these varied experiences which further the understanding of the dilemmas faced by the reproductive labourers.

Keywords: commercial surrogacy, ethnography, motherhood, standpoint theory

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Authors: Corinne Kowalski, Lea de Jong, Rainer Sauerborn, Niamh Herlihy, Anneliese Depoux, Jale Tosun

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Climate change is considered one of the biggest threats to human health of the 21st century. The link between climate change and health has received relatively little attention in the media, in research and in policy-making. A long term and broad overview of how health is represented in the legislation on climate change is missing in the legislative literature. It is unknown if or how the argument for health is referred in legal clauses addressing climate change, in national and European legislation. Integrating scientific based evidence into policies regarding the impacts of climate change on health could be a key step to inciting the political and societal changes necessary to decelerate global warming. This may also drive the implementation of new strategies to mitigate the consequences on health systems. To provide an overview of this issue, we are analyzing the Global Climate Legislation Database provided by the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment. This institution was established in 2008 at the London School of Economics and Political Science. The database consists of (updated as of 1st January 2015) legislations on climate change in 99 countries around the world. This tool offers relevant information about the state of climate related policies. We will use the database to systematically analyze the 829 identified legislations to identify how health is represented as a relevant aspect of climate change legislation. We are conducting explorative research of national and supranational legislations and anticipate health to be addressed in various forms. The goal is to highlight how often, in what specific terms, which aspects of health or health risks of climate change are mentioned in various legislations. The position and recurrence of the mention of health is also of importance. Data will be extracted with complete quotation of the sentence which mentions health, which will allow for second qualitative stage to analyze which aspects of health are represented and in what context. This study is part of an interdisciplinary project called 4CHealth that confronts results of the research done on scientific, political and press literature to better understand how the knowledge on climate change and health circulates within those different fields and whether and how it is translated to real world change.

Keywords: climate change, explorative research, health, policies

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Authors: Said Benaissa, David Plets, Emmeric Tanghe, Jens Trogh, Luc Martens, Leen Vandaele, Annelies Van Nuffel, Frank A. M. Tuyttens, Bart Sonck, Wout Joseph

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The herd monitoring and managing - in particular the detection of ‘attention animals’ that require care, treatment or assistance is crucial for effective reproduction status, health, and overall well-being of dairy cows. In large sized farms, traditional methods based on direct observation or analysis of video recordings become labour-intensive and time-consuming. Thus, automatic monitoring systems using sensors have become increasingly important to continuously and accurately track the health status of dairy cows. Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) and internet-of-things (IoT) can be effectively used in health tracking of dairy cows to facilitate herd management and enhance the cow welfare. Since on-cow measuring devices are energy-constrained, a proper characterization of the off-body wireless channel between the on-cow sensor nodes and the back-end base station is required for a power-optimized deployment of these networks in barns. The aim of this study was to characterize the off-body wireless channel in indoor (barns) environment at 868 MHz using LoRa nodes. LoRa is an emerging wireless technology mainly targeted at WSNs and IoT networks. Both large scale fading (i.e., path loss) and temporal fading were investigated. The obtained path loss values as a function of the transmitter-receiver separation were well fitted by a lognormal path loss model. The path loss showed an additional increase of 4 dB when the wireless node was actually worn by the cow. The temporal fading due to movement of other cows was well described by Rician distributions with a K-factor of 8.5 dB. Based on this characterization, network planning and energy consumption optimization of the on-body wireless nodes could be performed, which enables the deployment of reliable dairy cow monitoring systems.

Keywords: channel, channel modelling, cow monitoring, dairy cows, health monitoring, IoT, LoRa, off-body propagation, PLF, propagation

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Authors: Anna Pick Kiong Ling, Jia May Chin, Rhun Yian Koh, Ying Pei Wong

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Background: Uncontrolled inflammation may cause serious inflammatory diseases if left untreated. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAIDs) is commonly used to inhibit pro-inflammatory enzymes, thus, reduce inflammation. However, long term administration of NSAIDs leads to various complications. Medicinal plants are getting more attention as it is believed to be more compatible with human body. One of them is a flavonoid-containing medicinal plants, Strobilanthes crispus which has been traditionally claimed to possess anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activities. Nevertheless, its anti-inflammatory activities are yet to be scientifically documented. Objectives: This study aimed to examine the anti-inflammatory activity of S. crispus by investigating its effects on intracellular oxidative stress and prostaglandin E₂ (PGE₂) levels. Materials and Methods: In this study, the Maximum Non-toxic Dose (MNTD) of methanol extract of both leaves and stems of S. crispus was first determined using 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazolyl-2)-2,5-diphenytetrazolium Bromide (MTT) assay. The effects of S. crispus extracts at MNTD and half MNTD (½MNTD) on intracellular ROS as well as PGE₂ levels in 1.0 µg/mL LPS-stimulated RAW 264.7 macrophages were then be measured using DCFH-DA and a competitive enzyme immunoassay kit, respectively. Results: The MNTD of leaf extract was determined as 700µg/mL while for stem was as low as 1.4µg/mL. When LPS-stimulated RAW 264.7 macrophages were subjected to the MNTD of S. crispus leaf extract, both intracellular ROS and PGE₂ levels were significantly reduced. In contrast, stem extract at both MNTD and ½MNTD did not significantly reduce the PGE₂ level, but significantly increased the intracellular ROS level. Conclusion: The methanol leaf extract of S. crispus may possess anti-inflammatory properties as it is able to significantly reduce the intracellular ROS and PGE₂ levels of LPS-stimulated cells. Nevertheless, further studies such as investigating the interleukin, nitric oxide and cytokine tumor necrosis factor-α (TNFα) levels has to be conducted to further confirm the anti-inflammatory properties of S. crispus.

Keywords: anti-inflammatory, natural products, prostaglandin E2, reactive oxygen species

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Authors: Kailas L. Wasewar

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Biobutanol has been considered as a potential and alternative biofuel relative to the most popular biodiesel and bioethanol. End product toxicity is the major problems in commercialization of fermentation based process which can be reduce to some possible extent by removing biobutanol simultaneously. Several techniques have been investigated for removing butanol from fermentation broth such as stripping, adsorption, liquid–liquid extraction, pervaporation, and membrane solvent extraction. Liquid–liquid extraction can be performed with high selectivity and is possible to carry out inside the fermenter. Conventional solvents have few drawbacks including toxicity, loss of solvent, high cost etc. Hence alternative solvents must be explored for the same. Room temperature ionic liquids (RTILs) composed entirely of ions are liquid at room temperature having negligible vapor pressure, non-flammability, and tunable physiochemical properties for a particular application which term them as “designer solvents”. Ionic liquids (ILs) have recently gained much attention as alternatives for organic solvents in many processes. In particular, ILs have been used as alternative solvents for liquid–liquid extraction. Their negligible vapor pressure allows the extracted products to be separated from ILs by conventional low pressure distillation with the potential for saving energy. Morpholinium, imidazolium, ammonium, phosphonium etc. based ionic liquids have been employed for the separation biobutanol. In present chapter, basic concepts of ionic liquids and application in separation have been presented. Further, type of ionic liquids including, conventional, functionalized, polymeric, supported membrane, and other ionic liquids have been explored. Also the effect of various performance parameters on separation of biobutanol by ionic liquids have been discussed and compared for different cation and anion based ionic liquids. The typical methodology for investigation have been adopted such as contacting the equal amount of biobutanol and ionic liquids for a specific time say, 30 minutes to confirm the equilibrium. Further, biobutanol phase were analyzed using GC to know the concentration of biobutanol and material balance were used to find the concentration in ionic liquid.

Keywords: biobutanol, separation, ionic liquids, sustainability, biorefinery, waste biomass

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Authors: Tong Mei Yan

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Introduction: The experience of infertility could be excruciating but has not received much attention in Hong Kong. The strong Confucian culture pressures couples to continue their family lineage resulting in women facing more stress than men in the social-cultural milieu. In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) treatment is one of the common ways to deal with the problem. Abundant literature exists the psychological trajectories of people receiving IVF treatment in Europe, the USA and other east Asian societies but not in Hong Kong. Aim: This study aims to highlight the circumstances and needs of the women before, during and after IVF treatment through examining their lived experiences. It is hoped that the public, once informed of regarding their tribulations and needs , would support the adequate provision of the required psychological support . Methods: Qualitative analysis was adopted in this study. In-depth interviews were conducted with six women who have undergone at least one complete cycle of IVF treatment within the past five years. Data was analyzed through thematic analysis and narrative analysis. Results: 4 broad themes were found, including (i) emotional responses; (ii) experiences in medical consultation; (iii) impacts of the treatment; and (iv) their coping strategies. Additionally, specific events in three cases were chosen for narrative analysis to further examine their unresolved emotional distress and the ethical issues. Conclusion: IVF treatment distressed the interviewees immensely, both physically and psychologically, with the negative emotions outweighing their physical strains, a result unexpected by all of the interviewees. The pressure for lineage continuation, the demanding treatment process and the dearth of support from health professionals all contribute to their emotional pain which could linger for both successful and unsuccessful cases. Although a number of coping strategies were attempted, most of them completely failed to ease their psychological tension. The findings of this study therefore evidence the need for psychological support for this population. A service model to cater their needs of IVF treatment before, during and after treatment is therefore proposed.

Keywords: coping strategies, emotional experiences, impacts of IVF, infertility, IVF treatment, medical experiences

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Authors: B. Dehghan, T. Toppi, M. Aprile, M. Motta

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The environmental concerns related to global warming and ozone layer depletion along with the growing worldwide demand for heating and cooling have brought an increasing attention toward ecological and efficient Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) systems. Furthermore, since space heating accounts for a considerable part of the European primary/final energy use, it has been identified as one of the sectors with the most challenging targets in energy use reduction. Heat pumps are commonly considered as a technology able to contribute to the achievement of the targets. Current research focuses on the full load operation and seasonal performance assessment of three gas-driven absorption heat pump cycles. To do this, investigations of the gas-driven air-source ammonia-water absorption heat pump systems for small-scale space heating applications are presented. For each of the presented cycles, both full-load under various temperature conditions and seasonal performances are predicted by means of numerical simulations. It has been considered that small capacity appliances are usually equipped with fixed geometry restrictors, meaning that the solution mass flow rate is driven by the pressure difference across the associated restrictor valve. Results show that gas utilization efficiency (GUE) of the cycles varies between 1.2 and 1.7 for both full and partial loads and vapor exchange (VX) cycle is found to achieve the highest efficiency. It is noticed that, for typical space heating applications, heat pumps operate over a wide range of capacities and thermal lifts. Thus, partially, the novelty introduced in the paper is the investigation based on a seasonal performance approach, following the method prescribed in a recent European standard (EN 12309). The overall result is a modest variation in the seasonal performance for analyzed cycles, from 1.427 (single-effect) to 1.493 (vapor-exchange).

Keywords: absorption cycles, gas utilization efficiency, heat pump, seasonal performance, vapor exchange cycle

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Authors: Raluca Ana Maria Viziteu, Anna Prudnikova

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Industrial control systems (ICS) have received much attention in recent years due to the convergence of information technology (IT) and operational technology (OT) that has increased the interdependence of safety and security issues to be considered. These issues require ICS-tailored solutions. That led to the need to creation of a methodology for supporting ICS device manufacturers and system integrators in carrying out threat modeling of embedded ICS devices in a way that guarantees the quality of the identified threats and minimizes subjectivity in the threat identification process. To research, the possibility of creating such a methodology, a set of existing standards, regulations, papers, and publications related to threat modeling in the ICS sector and other sectors was reviewed to identify various existing methodologies and methods used in threat modeling. Furthermore, the most popular ones were tested in an exploratory phase on a specific PLC device. The outcome of this exploratory phase has been used as a basis for defining specific characteristics of ICS embedded devices and their deployment scenarios, identifying the factors that introduce subjectivity in the threat modeling process of such devices, and defining metrics for evaluating the minimum quality requirements of identified threats associated to the deployment of the devices in existing infrastructures. Furthermore, the threat modeling methodology was created based on the previous steps' results. The usability of the methodology was evaluated through a set of standardized threat modeling requirements and a standardized comparison method for threat modeling methodologies. The outcomes of these verification methods confirm that the methodology is effective. The full paper includes the outcome of research on different threat modeling methodologies that can be used in OT, their comparison, and the results of implementing each of them in practice on a PLC device. This research is further used to build a threat modeling methodology tailored to OT environments; a detailed description is included. Moreover, the paper includes results of the evaluation of created methodology based on a set of parameters specifically created to rate threat modeling methodologies.

Keywords: device manufacturers, embedded devices, industrial control systems, threat modeling

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Authors: Berk Ecer, Ebru Akcapinar Sezer

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Traditional management models of intersections, such as no-light intersections or signalized intersection, are not the most effective way of passing the intersections if the vehicles are intelligent. To this end, Dresner and Stone proposed a new intersection control model called Autonomous Intersection Management (AIM). In the AIM simulation, they were examining the problem from a multi-agent perspective, demonstrating that intelligent intersection control can be made more efficient than existing control mechanisms. In this study, autonomous intersection management has been investigated. We extended their works and added a potential-based lane organization layer. In order to distribute vehicles evenly to each lane, this layer triggers vehicles to analyze near lanes, and they change their lane if other lanes have an advantage. We can observe this behavior in real life, such as drivers, change their lane by considering their intuitions. Basic intuition on selecting the correct lane for traffic is selecting a less crowded lane in order to reduce delay. We model that behavior without any change in the AIM workflow. Experiment results show us that intersection performance is directly connected with the vehicle distribution in lanes of roads of intersections. We see the advantage of handling lane management with a potential approach in performance metrics such as average delay of intersection and average travel time. Therefore, lane management and intersection management are problems that need to be handled together. This study shows us that the lane through which vehicles enter the intersection is an effective parameter for intersection management. Our study draws attention to this parameter and suggested a solution for it. We observed that the regulation of AIM inputs, which are vehicles in lanes, was as effective as contributing to aim intersection management. PLO-AIM model outperforms AIM in evaluation metrics such as average delay of intersection and average travel time for reasonable traffic rates, which is in between 600 vehicle/hour per lane to 1300 vehicle/hour per lane. The proposed model reduced the average travel time reduced in between %0.2 - %17.3 and reduced the average delay of intersection in between %1.6 - %17.1 for 4-lane and 6-lane scenarios.

Keywords: AIM project, autonomous intersection management, lane organization, potential-based approach

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Authors: P. Saha, R. Ganguly, N. K .Singha, A. Pich

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Microgel, a smart class of material, has drawn attention in the past few years due to its response to external stimuli like temperature, pH, and ionic strength of the solution. Among them, one type of polymer becomes soluble, and the other becomes insoluble in water upon heating displaying upper critical solution temperature (UCST) (e.g., polysulfobetaine, PSB) and lower critical solution temperature (LCST) (e.g., poly(N-vinylcaprolactam, PVCL)) respectively. Polyzwitterions, electrically neutral polymers are biocompatible, biodegradable, and non-cytotoxic in nature, and presence of zwitterionic pendant group in the main backbone makes them stable against temperature and pH variations and strong hydration capability in salt solution promotes them to be used as interfacial bio-adhesion resistance material. Majority of zwitterionic microgels have been synthesized in mini- emulsion technique using free radical polymerization approach. Here, a new route to synthesize dual thermo-responsive PVCL microgels decorated with appreciable amount of zwitterionic PSB chains was developed by a purely water-based surfactant-free reversible addition–fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) precipitation polymerization. PSB macro-RAFTs having different molecular weights were synthesized and utilized for surface-grafting with PVCL microgels varying the macro-RAFT concentration using N,N′-methylenebis(acrylamide) (BIS) as cross-linker. Increasing the PSB concentration in the PVCL microgels resulted in a linear increase in UCST but decrease in hydrodynamic radius due to strong intrachain coulombic attraction forces acting between the opposite charges present in the zwitterionic groups. Anti- fouling effect was observed on addition of BSA protein solution on the microgel-coated membrane surfaces as studied by fluorescence spectrophotoscopy.

Keywords: microgels, polyzwitterions, upper critical solution temperature-lower critical solution temperature, UCST-LCST, ionic crosslinking

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Authors: Smriti Rastogi, Narsingh Verma

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Background: A vast body of research exists on the use of oral hypoglycaemic drugs, insulin injections and the like in managing diabetes but no such research exists that has taken into consideration the parameter of time restricted meal intake and its positive effects in managing diabetes. The utility of this project is immense as it offers a solution to the woes of diabetics based on circadian rhythm and normal physiology of the human body. Method: 80 Diabetics, enrolled from the Out Patient Department of Endocrinology, KGMU (King George's Medical University) were randomly divided based on consent to early dinner TRM(time restricted meal) group or not (control group). Follow up was done at six months and 12 months for anthropometric measurement, height, weight, waist-hip ratio, neck size, fasting, postprandial blood sugar, HbA1c, serum urea, serum creatinine, and lipid profile. The patient was given a clear understanding of chronomedicine and how it affects their health. A single intervention was done - the timing of dinner was at or around 7 pm for TRM group. Result: 65% of TRM group and 40 %(non- TRM) had normal HbA1c after 12 months. HbA1c in TRM Group (first visit to second follow up) had a significant p value=0.017. A p value of <0.0001 was observed on comparing the values of blood sugar (fasting) in TRM Group from the first visit and second follow up. The values of blood sugar (postprandial) in TRM Group (first visit and second follow up) showed a p-value <0.0001 (highly significant). Values of the three parameters were non- significant in the control group. Hip size(First Visit to Second Follow Up) TRM Group showed a p-value = 0.0344 (Significant) (Difference between means=2.762 ± 1.261)Detailed results of the above parameters and a few newer ones will be presented at the conference. Conclusion: Time restricted meal intake in diabetics shows promise and is worth exploring further. Time Restricted Meal intake in Type 2 diabetics has a significant effect in controlling and maintaining HbA1c as the reduction in HbA1c value was very significant in the TRM group vs. the control group. Similar highly significant results were obtained in the case of fasting and postprandial values of blood sugar in the TRM group when compared to the control group. The effects of time restricted meal intake in diabetics show promise and are worth exploring further. It is one of the first studies which have been undertaken in Indian diabetics, although the initial data obtained is encouraging yet further research and study are required to corroborate results.

Keywords: chronomedicine, diabetes, endocrinology, time restricted meal intake

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Authors: Rawia M. Khalil, Ahmed A. Abd El Rahman, Mahfouz A. Kassem, Mohamed S. El Ridi, Mona M. Abou Samra, Ghada E. A. Awad, Soheir S. Mansy

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Solid lipid nanoparticles (SLNs) have gained great attention for the topical treatment of skin associated fungal infection as they facilitate the skin penetration of loaded drugs. Our work deals with the preparation of nystatin loaded solid lipid nanoparticles (NystSLNs) using the hot homogenization and ultrasonication method. The prepared NystSLNs were characterized in terms of entrapment efficiency, particle size, zeta potential, transmission electron microscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, rheological behavior and in vitro drug release. A stability study for 6 months was performed. A microbiological study was conducted in male rats infected with Candida albicans, by counting the colonies and examining the histopathological changes induced on the skin of infected rats. The results showed that SLNs dispersions are spherical in shape with particle size ranging from 83.26±11.33 to 955.04±1.09 nm. The entrapment efficiencies are ranging from 19.73±1.21 to 72.46±0.66% with zeta potential ranging from -18.9 to -38.8 mV and shear-thinning rheological Behavior. The stability studies done for 6 months showed that nystatin (Nyst) is a good candidate for topical SLN formulations. A least number of colony forming unit/ ml (cfu/ml) was recorded for the selected NystSLN compared to the drug solution and the commercial Nystatin® cream present in the market. It can be fulfilled from this work that SLNs provide a good skin targeting effect and may represent promising carrier for topical delivery of Nyst offering the sustained release and maintaining the localized effect, resulting in an effective treatment of cutaneous fungal infection.

Keywords: candida infections, hot homogenization, nystatin, solid lipid nanoparticles, stability, topical delivery

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Authors: Belal Bakheet, John Beardall, Xiwang Zhang, David McCarthy

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The potential risks associated with toxic cyanobacteria have raised growing environmental and public health concerns leading to an increasing effort into researching ways to bring about their removal from water, together with destruction of their associated cyanotoxins. A variety of toxins are synthesized by cyanobacteria and include hepatotoxins, neurotoxins, and cytotoxins which can cause a range of symptoms in humans from skin irritation to serious liver and nerve damage. Therefore drinking water treatment processes should ensure the consumers’ safety by removing both cyanobacterial cells, and cyanotoxins from the water. Cyanobacterial cells and cyanotoxins presented challenges to the conventional water treatment systems; their accumulation within drinking water treatment plants has been reported leading to plants shut down. Thus, innovative and effective water purification systems to tackle cyanobacterial pollution are required. In recent years there has been increasing attention to the electrochemical oxidation process as a feasible alternative disinfection method which is able to generate in situ a variety of oxidants that would achieve synergistic effects in the water disinfection process and toxin degradation. By utilizing only electric current, the electrochemical process through electrolysis can produce reactive oxygen species such as hydroxyl radicals from the water, or other oxidants such as chlorine from chloride ions present in the water. From extensive physiological and morphological investigation of cyanobacterial cells during electrolysis, our results show that these oxidants have significant impact on cell inactivation, simultaneously with cyanotoxins removal without the need for chemicals addition. Our research aimed to optimize existing electrochemical oxidation systems and develop new systems to treat water containing toxic cyanobacteria and cyanotoxins. The research covers detailed mechanism study on oxidants production and cell inactivation in the treatment under environmental conditions. Overall, our study suggests that the electrochemical treatment process e is an effective method for removal of toxic cyanobacteria and cyanotoxins.

Keywords: toxic cyanobacteria, cyanotoxins, electrochemical process, oxidants

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Authors: Wing Mui Winnie So, Tian Luo, Zeyu Han

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To fully explore and develop the potentials of gifted students systematically and strategically by providing them with opportunities to receive education at appropriate levels, schools in Hong Kong are encouraged to adopt the "Three-Tier Implementation Model" to plan and implement the school-based gifted education, with Level Three refers to the provision of learning opportunities for the exceptionally gifted students in the form of specialist training outside the school setting by post-secondary institutions, non-government organisations, professional bodies and technology enterprises. Due to the growing concern worldwide about low interest among students in pursuing STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) careers, cultivating and boosting STEM career interest has been an emerging research focus worldwide. Although numerous studies have explored its critical contributors, little research has examined the effectiveness of comprehensive interventions such as “Studying with STEM professional”. This study aims to examine the effect on gifted students’ career interest during their participation in an off-school support programme designed and supervised by a team of STEM educators and STEM professionals from a university. Gifted students were provided opportunities and tasks to experience STEM career topics that are not included in the school syllabus, and to experience how to think and work like a STEM professional in their learning. Participants involved 40 primary school students joining the intervention programme outside the normal school setting. Research methods included adopting the STEM career interest survey and drawing tasks supplemented with writing before and after the programme, as well as interviews before the end of the programme. The semi-structured interviews focused on students’ views regarding STEM professionals; what’s it like to learn with a STEM professional; what’s it like to work and think like a STEM professional; and students’ STEM identity and career interest. The changes in gifted students’ STEM career interest and its well-recognised significant contributors, for example, STEM stereotypes, self-efficacy for STEM activities, and STEM outcome expectation, were collectively examined from the pre- and post-survey using T-test. Thematic analysis was conducted for the interview records to explore how studying with STEM professional intervention can help students understand STEM careers; build STEM identity; as well as how to think and work like a STEM professional. Results indicated a significant difference in STEM career interest before and after the intervention. The influencing mechanism was also identified from the measurement of the related contributors and the analysis of drawings and interviews. The potential of off-school support programme supervised by STEM educators and professionals to develop gifted students’ STEM career interest is argued to be further unleashed in future research and practice.

Keywords: gifted students, STEM career, STEM education, STEM professionals

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Authors: Silvia Alaimo

Abstract:

This lecture brings to our attention the theme of spirituality within Gestalt therapy’s theoretical and clinical perspectives and which is closely connected to the fertile emptiness and creative indifference’ experiences. First of all, the premise that must be done is the overcoming traditional western culture’s philosophical and religious misunderstandings, such as the dicotomy between spirituality and pratical/material daily life, as well as the widespread secular perspective of classic psychology. Even fullness and emptiness have traditionally been associated with the concepts of being and not being. "There is only one way through which we can contact the deepest layers of our existence, rejuvenate our thinking and reach intuition (the harmony of thought and being): inner silence" (Perls) *. Therefore, "fertile void" doesn't mean empty in itself, but rather an useful condition of every creative and responsible act, making room for a deeper dimension close to spirituality. Spirituality concerns questions about the meaning of existence, which lays beyond the concrete and literal dimension, looking for the essence of things, and looking at the value of personal experience. Looking at fundamentals of Gestalt epistemology, phenomenology, aesthetics, and the relationship, we can reach the heart of a therapeutic work that takes spiritual contours and which are based on an embodied (incarnate size), through the relational aesthetic knowledge (Spagnuolo Lobb ), the deep contact with each other, the role of compassion and responsibility, as the patient's recognition criteria (Orange, 2013) rooted in the body. The aesthetic dimension, like the spiritual dimension to which it is often associated, is a subtle dimension: it is the dimension of the essence of things, of their "soul." In clinical practice, it implies that the relationship between therapist and patient is "in the absence of judgment," also called "zero point of creative indifference," expressed by ‘therapeutic mentality’. It consists in following with interest and authentic curiosity where the patient wants to go and support him in his intentionality of contact. It’s a condition of pure and simple awareness, of the full acceptance of "what is," a moment of detachment from one's own life in which one does not take oneself too seriously, a starting point for finding a center of balance and integration that brings to the creative act, to growth, and, as Perls would say, to the excitement and adventure of living.

Keywords: spirituality, bodily, embodied aesthetics, phenomenology, relationship

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Authors: T. Poppendieker

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A new innovative tool for self-myofascial release is widely and increasingly used among athletes of various sports. The application of the foam roll is suggested to improve muscle performance and flexibility. Attempts to examine acute and somewhat long term effects of either have been conducted over the past ten years. However, the results of muscle performance have been inconsistent. It is suggested that regular use over a long period of time results in a different, muscle performance improving outcome. This study examines long-term effects of regular foam rolling combined with a short plyometric routine vs. solely the same plyometric routine on muscle performance and flexibility over a period of six weeks. Results of counter movement jump (CMJ), squat jump (SJ), and isometric maximal force (IMF) of a 90° horizontal squat in a leg-press will serve as parameters for muscle performance. Data on the range of motion (ROM) of the sit and reach test will be used as a parameter for the flexibility assessment. Muscle activation will be measured throughout all tests. Twenty male and twenty female members of a Frankfurt area fitness center chain (7.11) with an average age of 25 years will be recruited. Women and men will be randomly assigned to a foam roll (FR) and a control group. All participants will practice their assigned routine three times a week over the period of six weeks. Tests on CMJ, SJ, IMF, and ROM will be taken before and after the intervention period. The statistic software program SPSS 22 will be used to analyze the data of CMJ, SJ, IMF, and ROM under consideration of muscle activation by a 2 x 2 x 2 (time of measurement x gender x group) analysis of variance with repeated measures and dependent t-test analysis of pre- and post-test. The alpha level for statistic significance will be set at p ≤ 0.05. It is hypothesized that a significant difference in outcome based on gender differences in all four tests will be observed. It is further hypothesized that both groups may show significant improvements in their performance in the CMJ and SJ after the six-week period. However, the FR group is hypothesized to achieve a higher improvement in the two jump tests. Moreover, the FR group may increase IMF as well as flexibility, whereas the control group may not show likewise progress. The results of this study are crucial for the understanding of long-term effects of regular foam roll application. The collected information on the matter may help to motivate the incorporation of foam rolling into training routines, in order to improve athletic performances.

Keywords: counter movement jump, foam rolling, isometric maximal force, long term effects, self-myofascial release, squat jump

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Authors: Sousan Arafeh

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Educational systems and schools worldwide are increasingly reliant on information and communication technology (ICT). Unfortunately, most educational leadership development programs do not offer formal curricular and/or field experiences that prepare students for managing ICT resources, personnel, and processes. The result is a steep learning curve for the leader and his/her staff and dissipated organizational energy that compromises desired outcomes. To address this gap in education leaders’ development, Arafeh’s Integrated Technology Leadership Model (AITLM) was created. It is a conceptual model and tool that educational leadership students can use to better understand the ICT ecology that exists within their schools. The AITL Model consists of six 'infrastructure types' where ICT activity takes place: technical infrastructure, communications infrastructure, core business infrastructure, context infrastructure, resources infrastructure, and human infrastructure. These six infrastructures are further divided into 16 key areas that need management attention. The AITL Model was created by critically analyzing existing technology/ICT leadership models and working to make something more authentic and comprehensive regarding school leaders’ purview and experience. The AITL Model then served as a tool when it was distributed to over 150 educational leadership students who were asked to review it and qualitatively share their reactions. Students said the model presented crucial areas of consideration that they had not been exposed to before and that the exercise of reviewing and discussing the AITL Model as a group was useful for identifying areas of growth that they could pursue in the leadership development program and in their professional settings. While development in all infrastructures and key areas was important for students’ understanding of ICT, they noted that they were least aware of the importance of the intangible area of the resources infrastructure. The AITL Model will be presented and session participants will have an opportunity to review and reflect on its impact and utility. Ultimately, the AITL Model is one that could have significant policy and practice implications. At the very least, it might help shape ICT content in educational leadership development programs through curricular and pedagogical updates.

Keywords: education leadership, information and communications technology, ICT, leadership capacity building, leadership development

Procedia PDF Downloads 116