Search results for: institutional settings

Authors: Mehrdad Rezaei, Reza Haghmaram, Nima Amjadi

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This paper proposes an operating and cost optimization model for micro-grid (MG). This model takes into account emission costs of NOx, SO2, and CO2, together with the operation and maintenance costs. Wind turbines (WT), photovoltaic (PV) arrays, micro turbines (MT), fuel cells (FC), diesel engine generators (DEG) with different capacities are considered in this model. The aim of the optimization is minimizing operation cost according to constraints, supply demand and safety of the system. The proposed genetic algorithm (GA), with the ability to fine-tune its own settings, is used to optimize the micro-grid operation.

Keywords: micro-grid, optimization, genetic algorithm, MG

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Authors: Vaibhavi Birle

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Posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome is a rare clinic-radiological syndrome associated with acute changes in blood pressure during pregnancy. It is characterized symptomatically by headache, seizures, altered mental status, and visual blurring with radiological changes of white matter (vasogenic oedema) affecting the posterior occipital and parietal lobes of the brain. It is being increasingly recognized due to increased institutional deliveries and advances in imaging particularly magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). In spite of the increasing diagnosis the prediction of PRES and patient factors affecting susceptibility is still not clear. Hence, we conducted the retrospective study to analyse the factors associated with PRES at our tertiary centre.

Keywords: pres syndrome, eclampsia, maternal outcome, fetal outcome

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Authors: Ransford Kwaku Afeadie

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Purpose – The health challenges that characterises most of the migrants’ urban slums raise a lot of concern for their well-being. Health-seeking behaviour becomes an important step towards maintaining a healthy life. The importance of contextual issues is necessary to help meet specific community health needs and programmes. Therefore, this study aims to bridge the knowledge gap by investigating health-seeking behaviour disparity among rural-urban labour migrant slum dwellers before and after migration to the urban slums of Madina in the Greater Accra Region, Ghana. Design/methodology/approach – The author used explanatory sequential approach of research investigation. Questionnaire and interview guides were used to collect data from the respondents; however, in the absence of an existing reliable sampling frame, the various communities were selected by the use of cluster sampling proportional to size. At the second stage, a simple random sampling was used to select the various household heads. A total of 241 questionnaires were retrieved from the respondents representing a response rate of 100%. The author used the purposive sampling technique to conduct eight in-depth interviews and six key informants’ interviews. Findings – The author found various discrepancies in many of the activities that could fulfill substantial health-seeking behaviour in the slum as compared to migrant’s places of origin. The reason for coming to the slum amidst many settlements needs and low education background are the factors that accounted for this. This study, therefore, contradicts the proposition held by the health belief model. It is, therefore, important to note that contextual issues are key, in this case, rural-urban migrant slums present a different dynamic that must be taken into account when designing health programmes for such settings. Originality/value – Many, if not all the, studies on health-seeking behaviour have focused on urban slums without taking into account urban migrants’ slums. Such a failure to take into account the variations of the health needs of migrants’ urban slum settings can eventually lead to a mismatch of health programmes meant to address their challenges. Therefore, this study brings to the fore such variations that must be taken into account when designing health programmes. The study also indicates that even with the same people, there were disparities in terms of health-seeking behaviour in the slum and at places of origin.

Keywords: health-seeking behaviour, rural–urban migration, urban slums, health belief model

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Authors: John M. Ikome

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In the process of manufacturing, a machine breakdown usually forces a modified flow shop out of the prescribed state, this strategy reschedules part of the initial schedule to match up with the pre-schedule at some point with the objective to create a schedule that is reliable with the other production planning decisions like material flow, production and suppliers by utilizing a critical decision-making concept. We propose a rescheduling strategy and a match-up point that will have a determination procedure through an advanced feedback control mechanism to increase both the schedule quality and stability. These approaches are compared with alternative re-scheduling methods under different experimental settings.

Keywords: scheduling, heuristics, branch, integrated

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Authors: Kellina Craig-Henderson

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Today, there is increased attention to the role of social perceptions in the selection, hiring, and management of employees and the evaluation and promotion of students. In some contexts, where women or members of certain social groups have been historically underrepresented there is evidence that these perceptions reflect the implicit biases people harbor. Research in the social and psychological sciences reveals that implicit biases against women unfairly disadvantage them in academic and work settings. This presentation will provide an overview of the current state of knowledge on an implicit bias as well as the problems associated with it. How employers, educators and other evaluators can inoculate themselves from the pernicious effects of these biases will be considered.

Keywords: gender equity, implicit bias, social psychology, unconscious bias

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Authors: Claes Gunnarsson, Karin Fröding, Nina Hasche

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Innovation is a necessity for the evolution of societies and it is also a driving force in human life that leverages value creation among cross-sector participants in various network arrangements. Social innovations can be characterized as the creation and implementation of a new solution to a social problem, which is more effective and sustainable than existing solutions in terms of improvement of society’s conditions and in particular social inclusion processes. However, barriers exist which may restrict the potential of social innovations to live up to its promise as a societal welfare promoting driving force. The literature points at difficulties in tackling social problems primarily related to problem complexity, access to networks, and lack of financial muscles. Further research is warranted at detailed at detail clarification of these barriers, also connected to recognition of the interplay between institutional logics on the development of cross-sector collaborations in networks and the organizing processes to achieve innovation barrier break-through. There is also a need to further elaborate how obstacles that spur a difference between the actual and desired state of innovative value creating service systems can be overcome. The purpose of this paper is to illustrate barriers to social innovations, based on qualitative content analysis of 36 dialogue-based seminars (i.e. research circles) with nine Swedish focus groups including more than 90 individuals representing civil society organizations, private business, municipal offices, and politicians; and analyze patterns that reveal constituents of barriers to social innovations. The paper draws on central aspects of innovation barriers as discussed in the literature and analyze barriers basically related to internal/external and tangible/intangible characteristics. The findings of this study are that existing institutional structures highly influence the transformative potential of social innovations, as well as networking conditions in terms of building a competence-propelled strategy, which serves as an offspring for overcoming barriers of competence extension. Both theoretical and practical knowledge will contribute to how policy-makers and SI-practitioners can facilitate and support social innovation processes to be contextually adapted and implemented across areas and sectors.

Keywords: barriers, research circles, social innovation, service systems

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Authors: Arzu K. Harmanci Seren, Burcu Alacam, Serap Altuntas, Ulku Baykal

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Organizational justice has been evaluated as a concept related to rules developed with regards to distributing gains and making decisions of distribution such as duty, goods, service, reward, punishment, fee, organizational position, opportunity or role among those working in that organization, and to social norms on which these rules are based. Studies of organizational justice are crucial for analyzing the organizational life. It is considered that organization justice will be positively influential upon organizational behaviours such as employees’ level of work satisfaction, their performance, and behaviours of organization citizenship, management by values perception, tendency towards cooperation, and towards quitting their jobs. However, when the literature related to health and nurse management is examined, authors could not reach enough findings related to the influence of nurses’ perception of organizational justice upon the perception of management and the intention of quitting in accordance with the values. For that reason, this study has been carried out with the purpose of determining the influence of nurses’ perception of organizational justice upon the perception of management and the intention of quitting in accordance with the values. The study has been carried out with 176 nurses working in a university hospital in Istanbul and a private hospital who accepted to take part in the study, and it is definitive and relation-seeking. Before the data has been collected, ethics committee approval and institutional permissions have been taken, Organizational Justice Scale, Management by Values, Intention to Leave Scale with a questionnaire including 8 questions that aims at defining the personal and professional characteristics of the nurses have been used as a means of data collection. The data collected between 1 May and 20 June 2016 have been evaluated by the researchers in a computer via definitive, relation-seeking and psychometric statistic. As a result of the study, it has been determined that most of the nurses are working in a university hospital (70.5%), that they are 30 and over (49.4%), women (91.5%), single (52.8%) and have a Bachelor’s Degree (48.3%), working in a surgery unit (17.6), have 5 year or less institutional experience (44.9%), 11 year or more professional experience. Cronbach alpha values of the scales used in this study are .94, .95 and .56. Nurses’ average scores of Organizational Justice Scale is M= 3.35±.96, Management by Values Scale is M=3.30±.74, Intention to Leave Scale is M=8.36±3.14. As a result of the analysis carried out in order to determine the influence of nurses’ perception of organizational justice upon the perception of management and the intention of quitting in accordance with the values, it has been pointed out that the Perception of Organizational Justice influenced the perception of Management by Values positively, Intention to Leave negatively.

Keywords: intention to leave, management by values, nursing, organizational justice

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Authors: Alabi Olufemi, Adeyanju Taiwo, Oloruntoba Oluwasegun, Adeleye Bobola, Alabi Oyekemi

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The pastoral system is a predominant form of cattle production in Nigeria, characterized by extensive grazing on communal lands. However, this system is challenged by various factors, including tick infestation, which significantly affects cattle health and welfare hence this investigation which aims to provide an in-depth understanding of tick infestation in the context of Nigerian pastoral systems, emphasizing its impact on cattle health and welfare. The country harbors a diverse array of tick species that affect cattle. These ticks belong to different genera, including Rhipicephalus, Amblyomma, and Hyalomma, among others. Each species has unique characteristics, life cycles, and host preferences, contributing to the complexity of tick infestation dynamics in pastoral settings. Tick infestation has numerous detrimental effects on cattle health. The direct effects include blood loss, anemia, skin damage due to feeding, and the transmission of pathogens that cause diseases such as anaplasmosis, babesiosis, and theileriosis. Indirectly, tick infestation can lead to reduced productivity, weight loss, and increased susceptibility to other diseases.The welfare of cattle in Nigerian pastoral systems is significantly impacted by tick infestation. Infested cattle often exhibit signs of distress, including restlessness, reduced grazing activity, and altered behavior. Furthermore, the discomfort caused by tick bites can lead to chronic stress, compromising the overall welfare of the animals. Effective tick control is crucial for mitigating the impact of infestation on cattle health and welfare. Strategies such as acaricide application, pasture management, genetic selection for tick resistance cattle, and vaccination against tick-borne diseases are commonly used. Tick infestation presents a significant challenge to cattle production under the pastoral system in Nigeria. It not only impacts cattle health but also compromises their welfare. Addressing the issue of tick infestation requires a multifaceted approach that integrates effective control strategies with sustainable management practices. Further research is needed to develop tailored interventions that account for the unique characteristics of Nigerian pastoral systems, ultimately ensuring the well-being and productivity of cattle in these settings.

Keywords: tick infestation, pastoral system, welfare, cattle

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Authors: Seda Muftugil-Yalcin

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With the proliferation of the number of social enterprises worldwide, there is now a whole ecosystem full of different organisational actors revolving around social enterprises. Impact hubs, incubation centers, and organisations (profit or non-profit) that offer consultancy services to social enterprises can be said to constitute one such cluster in the eco-system. These organisations offer a variety of services to social enterprises which desire to maximize their positive social impact. Especially with regards to impact measurement, there are numerous systems/guides/approaches/tools developed that claim to benefit social enterprises. Many organisations choose one of the existing tools and craft programs that help social enterprises to measure and to manage their social impacts. However, empirical evidence with regards to how the services of these consultancy organisations are precisely utilized on the field is scarce. This inevitably casts doubt on the impact of these organisations themselves. This research dwells on four case studies from the Netherlands and Turkey. In each country, two university-affiliated impact centers and two independent consultancy agencies that work with social entrepreneurs in the area of social impact measurement are closely examined. The overarching research question has been 'With regards to impact measurement, how do the founders/managers of these organisations perceive and make sense of their contribution to social enterprises and to the social entrepreneurship eco-system at large?' As for methodology, in-depth interviews were carried out with the managers/founders of these organisations and discourse analysis method has been used for data analysis together with grounded theory. The comparison between Turkey and Netherlands elucidate common denominators of impact measurement hype and discourses that are currently existing worldwide. In addition, it also reveals differing priorities of social enterprises in these different settings, which shape the expectations of social enterprises of consultancy organisations. Comparison between university affiliated impact hubs and independent consultancy organisations also give away important data about how different forms of consultancy organisations (in this case university based and independent) position themselves in relation to alike organisations with similar aims. The overall aim of the research is to reveal the contribution of the consultancy organisations that work with social enterprises to the social entrepreneurship field as perceived by them through a cross cultural study. The findings indicate that in both settings, the organisations that were claiming to bring positive social impact on the social entrepreneurship eco-system through their impact measurement trainings were themselves having a hard time in concretizing their own contributions; which indicated that these organisations were in need of a different impact measurement discourse than the ones they were championing.

Keywords: consultancy organisations, social entrepreneurship, social impact measurement, social impact discourse

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Authors: Siddharth Jain, Abhenil Mittal, Surendra Kumar Sharma

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Background: With its recent emergence and re-emergence, dengue has become a major international public health concern, imposing significant financial burden especially in developing countries. Despite aggressive control measures in place, India experienced one of its largest outbreaks in 2015 with Delhi being most severely affected. There is a lack of reliable predictors of disease severity and mortality in dengue. The present study was carried out to identify these predictors during the 2015 outbreak. Methods: This prospective observational study conducted at an apex tertiary care center in Delhi, India included confirmed adult dengue patients admitted between August-November 2015. Patient demographics, clinical details, and laboratory findings were recorded in a predesigned proforma. Appropriate statistical tests were used to summarize and compare the clinical and laboratory characteristics and derive predictors of mortality and severe disease, while developing a clinical risk score for mortality. Serotype analysis was also done for 75 representative samples to identify the dominant serotypes. Results: Data of 369 patients were analyzed (mean age 30.9 years; 67% males). Of these, 198 (54%) patients had dengue fever, 125 (34%) had dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF Grade 1,2)and 46 (12%) developed dengue shock syndrome (DSS). Twenty two (6%) patients died. Late presentation to the hospital (≥5 days after onset) and dyspnoea at rest were identified as independent predictors of severe disease. Age ≥ 24 years, dyspnoea at rest and altered sensorium were identified as independent predictors of mortality. A clinical risk score was developed (12*age + 14*sensorium + 10*dyspnoea) which, if ≥ 22, predicted mortality with a high sensitivity (81.8%) and specificity (79.2%). The predominant serotypes in Delhi (2015) were DENV-2 and DENV-4. Conclusion: Age ≥ 24 years, dyspnoea at rest and altered sensorium were identified as independent predictors of mortality. Platelet counts did not determine the outcome in dengue patients. Timely referral/access to health care is important. Development and use of validated predictors of disease severity and simple clinical risk scores, which can be applied in all healthcare settings, can help minimize mortality and morbidity, especially in resource limited settings.

Keywords: dengue, mortality, predictors, severity

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Authors: Bryan Jenkins

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Introduction: The expansion of irrigation in the Canterbury region has led to the sustainability limits being reached for water availability and the cumulative effects of land use intensification. The institutional framework under New Zealand’s Resource Management Act was found to be an inadequate basis for managing water at sustainability limits. An alternative paradigm for water management was developed based on collaborative governance and nested adaptive systems. This led to the formulation and implementation of the Canterbury Water Management Strategy. Methods: The nested adaptive system approach was adopted. Sustainability issues were identified at multiple spatial and time scales and defined potential failure pathways for the water resource system. These included biophysical and socio-economic issues such as water availability, cumulative effects on water quality due to land use intensification, projected changes in climate, public health, institutional arrangements, economic outcomes and externalities, and, social effects of changing technology. This led to the derivation of sustainability strategies to address these failure pathways. The collaborative governance approach involved stakeholder participation and community engagement to decide on a regional strategy; regional and zone committees of community and rūnanga (Māori groups) members to develop implementation programmes for the strategy; and, farmer collectives for operational management. Findings: The strategy identified improvements in the efficiency of use of water already allocated was more effective in improving water availability than a reliance on increased storage alone. New forms of storage with less adverse impacts were introduced, such as managed aquifer recharge and off-river storage. Reductions of nutrients from land use intensification by improving management practices has been a priority. Solutions packages for addressing the degradation of vulnerable lakes and rivers have been prepared. Biodiversity enhancement projects have been initiated. Greater involvement of Māori has led to the incorporation of kaitiakitanga (resource stewardship) into implementation programmes. Emerging issues are the need for improved integration of surface water and groundwater interactions, increased use of modelling of water and financial outcomes to guide decision making, and, equity in allocation among existing users as well as between existing and future users. Conclusions: However, sustainability analysis indicates that the proposed levels of management interventions are not sufficient to achieve community targets for water management. There is a need for more proactive recovery and rehabilitation measures. Managing to environmental limits is not sufficient, rather managing adaptive cycles is needed. Better measurement and management of water use efficiency is required. Proposed implementation packages are not sufficient to deliver desired water quality outcomes. Greater attention to targets important to environmental and recreational interests is needed to maintain trust in the collaborative process. Implementation programmes don’t adequately address climate change adaptations and greenhouse gas mitigation. Affordability is a constraint on adaptive capacity of farmers and communities. More funding mechanisms are required to implement proactive measures. The legislative and institutional framework needs to be changed to incorporate water framework legislation, regional sustainability strategies and water infrastructure coordination.

Keywords: collaborative governance, irrigation management, nested adaptive systems, sustainable water management

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Authors: Anila Naz, Arusa Lakhani, Kiran Mubeen, Yasmeen Amarsi

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Pakistan's neonatal mortality rate has the highest proportion in the South Asian region and it is higher in the rural areas as compared to the urban areas. Poor resuscitation techniques and lack of basic newborn resuscitation skills in birth attendants, are contributing factors towards neonatal deaths. Based on the significant outcomes of the Helping Baby Breath (HBB) training, a similar training was implemented for Community Midwives (CMWs) in a low resource setting in Gujrat, Pakistan, to improve their knowledge and skills. The training evaluation was conducted and participant feedback was obtained through both qualitative and quantitative methods. The findings of the quantitative assessment of the training evaluation will be published elsewhere. This paper presents the qualitative evaluation of the training. Objective: The objective of the study was to determine the perceptions of HBB trained CMWs about the effectiveness of the HBB training, and the challenges faced in the implementation of HBB skills for newborn resuscitation, at their work settings. The qualitative descriptive design was used in this study. The purposive sampling technique was chosen to recruit midwives and key informants as participants of the training. Interviews were conducted by using a semi-structured interview guide. The study included a total of five interviews: two focus group interviews for CMWs (10 in each group), and three individual interviews of key informants. The content analysis of the qualitative data yielded three themes: the effectiveness of training, challenges, and suggestions. The findings revealed that the HBB training was effective for the CMWs in terms of its usability, regarding improvement in newborn resuscitation knowledge and skills. Moreover, it enhanced confidence and satisfaction in CMWs. However, less volume of patients was a challenge for a few CMWs with regards to practicing their skills. Due to the inadequate number of patients and less opportunities of practice for several CMWs, they required such trainings frequently, in order to maintain their competency. The CMWs also recommended that HBB training should be part of the Midwifery program curriculum. Moreover, similar trainings were also recommended for other healthcare providers working in low resource settings, including doctors and nurses.

Keywords: neonatal resuscitation technique, helping baby breathe, community midwives, training evaluation

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Authors: Ruchi Agarwal

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In today’s world, companies are operating in dynamic, uncertain and ambiguous business environments. Globally, more companies are failing due to Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) factors than ever. Corporate governance and risk management are intertwined in nature. For decades, corporate governance and risk management have been influenced by internal and external factors. Three schools of thought have influenced risk governance for decades: Agency theory, Contingency theory, and Institutional theory. Agency theory argues that agents have interests conflicting with principal interests and the information problem. Contingency theory suggests that risk management adoption is influenced by internal and external factors, while Institutional theory suggests that organizations legitimize risk management with regulators, competitors, and professional bodies. The conflicting objectives of theories have created problems for executives in organizations in the adoption of Risk Governance. So far, there are many studies that discussed risk culture and the role of actors in risk governance, but there are rare studies discussing the role of risk culture in the adoption of risk governance from a leadership style perspective. This study explores the adoption of risk governance in two contrasting industries, such as the Insurance and energy business, to understand whether risk governance is influenced by internal/external factors or whether risk culture is influenced by leaders. We draw empirical evidence by comparing the cases of an Indian insurance company and a renewable energy-based firm in India. We interviewed more than 20 senior executives of companies and collected annual reports, risk management policies, and more than 10 PPTs and other reports from 2017 to 2024. We visited the company for follow-up questions several times. The findings of my research revealed that both companies have used risk governance for strategic renewal of the company. Insurance companies use a transactional leadership style based on performance and reward for improving risk, while energy companies use rather symbolic management to make debt restructuring meaningful for stakeholders. Overall, both companies turned from loss-making to profitable ones in a few years. This comparative study highlights the role of different leadership styles in the adoption of risk governance. The study is also distinct as previous research rarely studied risk governance in two contrasting industries in reference to leadership styles.

Keywords: leadership style, corporate governance, risk management, risk culture, strategic renewal

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Authors: Priyanka V. Janbandhu, Santosh B. Phad, Dhananjay W. Bansod

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The current changing scenario of the family is a compelling aged group not only to be alone in a nuclear family but also to join the old age institutions. The consequences of it are feeling of neglected or left alone by the children, adding a touch of helpless in the absence of lack of expected care and support. The accretion of all these feelings and unpleasant events ignite a question in their mind that – who is there for me? The efforts have taken to highlight the issues of the elderly after joining the old age home and their perception about the current life as an institutional inmate. This attempt to cover up the condition, adjustment, changed lifestyle and perspective in the association with several issues of the elderly, which have an essential effect on their well-being. The present research piece has collected the information about institutionalized elderly with the help of a semi-structured questionnaire. This study interviewed 500 respondents from 22 old age homes of Pune city of Maharashtra State, India. This data collection methodology consists of Multi-stage random sampling. In which the stratified random sampling adopted for the selection of old age homes and sample size determination, sample selection probability proportional to the size and simple random sampling techniques implemented. The study provides that around five percent of the elderly shifted to old age home along with their spouse, whereas ten percent of the elderly are staying away from their spouse. More than 71 percent of the elderly have children, and they are an involuntary inmate of the old age institution, even less than one-third of the elderly consulted to the institution before the joining it. More than sixty percent of the elderly have children, but they joined institution due to the unpleasant response of their children only. Around half of the elderly responded that there are issues while adjusting to this environment, many of them are still persistent. At least one elderly out of ten is there who is suffering from the feeling of loneliness and left out by children and other family members. In contrast, around 97 percent of the elderly are very happy or satisfied with the institutional facilities. It illustrates that the issues are associated with their children and other family members, even though they left their home before a year or more. When enquired about this loneliness feeling few of them are suffering from it before leaving their homes, it was due to lack of interaction with children, as they are too busy to have time for the aged parents. Additionally, the conflicts or fights within the family due to the presence of old persons in the family contributed to establishing another feeling of insignificance among the elderly parents. According to these elderly, have more than 70 percent of the share, the children are ready to spend money indirectly for us through these institutions, but not prepared to provide some time and very few amounts of all this expenditure directly for us.

Keywords: elderly, old age homes, life style changes and adjustment, India

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Authors: H. Ahmad Raji, R. Ziaie Moayed, M. A. Nozari

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Xanthan gum (XG) an eco-friendly biopolymer has been recently explicitly investigated for ground improvement approaches. Rheological behavior of this additive strongly depends on electrochemical condition such as pH, ionic strength and also its content in aqueous solution. So, the effects of these factors have been studied in this paper considering various XG contents as 0.25, 0.5, 1, and 2% of water. Moreover, adjusting pH values such as 3, 5, 7 and 9 in addition to increasing ionic strength to 0.1 and 0.2 in the molar scale has covered a practical range of electrochemical condition. The viscosity of grouts shows an apparent upward trend with an increase in ionic strength and XG content. Also, pH affects the polymerization as much as other parameters. As a result, XG behavior is severely influenced by electrochemical settings

Keywords: electrochemical condition, ionic strength, viscosity, xhanthan gum

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Authors: M. Mueller, M. Kuehn, M. Voelker

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In small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), the challenge is to create a well-grounded and reliable basis for process analysis, optimization and planning due to a lack of data. SMEs have limited access to methods with which they can effectively and efficiently analyse processes and identify cause-and-effect relationships in order to generate the necessary database and derive optimization potential from it. The implementation of digitalization within the framework of Industry 4.0 thus becomes a particular necessity for SMEs. For these reasons, the abstract presents an analysis methodology that is subject to the objective of developing an SME-appropriate methodology for efficient, temporarily feasible data collection and evaluation in flexible production and logistics systems as a basis for process analysis and optimization. The overall methodology focuses on retrospective, event-based tracing and analysis of material flow objects. The technological basis consists of Bluetooth low energy (BLE)-based transmitters, so-called beacons, and smart mobile devices (SMD), e.g. smartphones as receivers, between which distance data can be measured and derived motion profiles. The distance is determined using the Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI), which is a measure of signal field strength between transmitter and receiver. The focus is the development of a software-based methodology for interpretation of relative movements of transmitters and receivers based on distance data. The main research is on selection and implementation of pattern recognition methods for automatic process recognition as well as methods for the visualization of relative distance data. Due to an existing categorization of the database regarding process types, classification methods (e.g. Support Vector Machine) from the field of supervised learning are used. The necessary data quality requires selection of suitable methods as well as filters for smoothing occurring signal variations of the RSSI, the integration of methods for determination of correction factors depending on possible signal interference sources (columns, pallets) as well as the configuration of the used technology. The parameter settings on which respective algorithms are based have a further significant influence on result quality of the classification methods, correction models and methods for visualizing the position profiles used. The accuracy of classification algorithms can be improved up to 30% by selected parameter variation; this has already been proven in studies. Similar potentials can be observed with parameter variation of methods and filters for signal smoothing. Thus, there is increased interest in obtaining detailed results on the influence of parameter and factor combinations on data quality in this area. The overall methodology is realized with a modular software architecture consisting of independently modules for data acquisition, data preparation and data storage. The demonstrator for initialization and data acquisition is available as mobile Java-based application. The data preparation, including methods for signal smoothing, are Python-based with the possibility to vary parameter settings and to store them in the database (SQLite). The evaluation is divided into two separate software modules with database connection: the achievement of an automated assignment of defined process classes to distance data using selected classification algorithms and the visualization as well as reporting in terms of a graphical user interface (GUI).

Keywords: event-based tracing, machine learning, process classification, parameter settings, RSSI, signal smoothing

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Authors: Fuad Hamsyah

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Since last two decades, major disasters have happened in the Philippines and Indonesia as two countries that are located in the pacific ring of fire territory. While in Southeast Asian countries, the process of psychosocial support provision is facing various constraints such as limited number of mental health professionals and the limited knowledge about the provision of psychosocial support for disaster survivors. Yet after the tsunami disaster in 2004, many Asian countries begin to develop policies about the provision of psychosocial interventions as an effort for future disasters preparedness. In addition, mental health professionals have to consider the local cultural values and beliefs in order to provide people with effective psychosocial support since cultural values and beliefs play a significant role in the diversity of psychological distress that forms symptoms formation, and people’s way to seek for psychological assistance. This study is a critical literature review on 130 relevant selected documents and literatures. IASC MHPSS guideline is used as the research framework in doing critical analysis. The purpose of this study is to conduct a critical analysis on the mental health and psychosocial support provision in the Philippines and Indonesia with three main objectives: 1) To describe strengths, weaknesses, and challenges in the process of psychosocial supports given by public and private organizations in emergency settings of disaster in the Philippines and Indonesia, 2) To compare psychosocial support practices between the Philippines and Indonesia, and to identify the good practices among these countries, 3) To learn how cultural values influence the implementation of psychosocial supports in emergency settings of disaster. This research indicated that almost every function from IASC MHPSS guidelines has been implemented effectively in the Philippines and Indonesia, yet not in every detail of IASC MHPSS guidelines. Several similarities and differences are indicated in this study also based on the IASC MHPSS guidelines as the analysis framework. Further, both countries have some good practices that can be useful as an example of a comprehensive psychosocial support implementation. Apart from the IASC MHPSS guideline, cultural values and beliefs in the Philippines such as kanya-kanya syndrome, pakikipakapwa, utang na loob, bahala na, pagkaya are indicated as several cultural values that have strong influences towards people’s attitude and behavior in disaster situations. While in Indonesia, several cultural values such as sabar and nrimo become two important attitudes to cope disaster situations.

Keywords: disaster, Indonesia, psychosocial support, Philippines

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Authors: Thierry Ganomanana, Dominique Hervé, Solo Randriamahaleo

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Management of Malagasy renewable natural re-sources allows, in the case of forest, the mobilization of several actors with norms and/or territory. The interaction in this socio-ecosystem is represented by a graph of two different relationships in which most of action chains, from individual activities under the continuous of forest dynamic and discrete interventions by institutional, are also studied. The fuzzy set theory is adapted to graduate the elements of the set Illegal Activities in the space of sanction’s institution by his severity and in the space of degradation of forest by his extent.

Keywords: fuzzy set, graph, institution, renewable resource, system

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Authors: Asif Zaheer Shaikh, Zhaoyong Zhang, Jaime Yong, Ume Laila Shah

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Islamic finance is growing with remarkable pace, especially Islamic banking, a major segment of Islamic finance, is expanding rapidly. This paper discusses the position of Islamic finance and Islamic banking, around the world in general and particularly in Pakistan. History of Islamic banking in Pakistan is protested, presently a significant growth is observed. However Islamic banking is confronting with number of challenges, which are refraining from sustainable growth of this industry in Pakistan. Growth level of Islamic banks should be steeper to contribute substantial share in country’s economy. It is important to formulate effective policies, at institutional and operational level to address these challenges through close collaboration of key stakeholders.

Keywords: Islamic finance, challenges, Islamic banking, Pakistan

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Authors: Kingsley Agyapong

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Research conducted in recent years has delved into the concept of patient-perceived value within the context of co-creation, particularly in the realm of doctor-patient interactions within healthcare settings. However, existing scholarly discourse lacks exploration regarding the emergence of patient-derived value in the co-creation process, specifically within encounters involving patients and stakeholders such as doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and other healthcare professionals. This study aims to fill this gap by elucidating the perspectives of patients regarding the value they derive from their interactions with multiple stakeholders in the delivery of healthcare services. The fieldwork was conducted at a university clinic located in Ghana. Data collection procedures involved conducting 20 individual interviews with key informants on distinct value accrued from co-creation practices and interactions with stakeholders. The key informants consisted of patients receiving care at the university clinic during the Malaria Treatment Process. Three themes emerged from both the existing literature and the empirical data collected. The first theme, labeled as "patient value needs in co-creation," encapsulates elements such as communication effectiveness, interpersonal interaction quality, treatment efficacy, and enhancements to the overall quality of life experienced by patients during their interactions with healthcare professionals. The second theme, designated as "services that enhance patients' experience in value co-creation," pertains to patients' perceptions of services that contribute favourably to co-creation experiences, including initiatives related to health promotion and the provision of various in-house services that patients deem pertinent for augmenting their overall experiences. The third theme, titled "Challenges in the co-creation of patients' value," delineates obstacles encountered within the co-creation process, including health professionals' challenges in effectively following up with patients scheduled for review and prolonged waiting times for healthcare delivery. This study contributes to the patients' perceptions of value within the co-creation process during their interactions with service providers, particularly healthcare professionals. By gaining a deeper insight into this process, healthcare providers can enhance the delivery of patient-centered care, thereby leading to improved healthcare outcomes. The study further offers managerial implications derived from its findings, providing actionable insights for healthcare managers and policymakers aiming to optimize patient value creation in healthcare services. Furthermore, it suggests avenues for future research endeavors within healthcare settings.

Keywords: patient, healthcare, co-creation, malaria

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Authors: Mohammad Naseh Nasrollahi Shahri

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The article draws on Michael Bakhtin’s theory of language to examine peer interactions. It represents an analysis of other-repetition in student interactions. Several recent studies have explored various aspects of repetition in multiple contexts. However, other-repetition in peer interactions has not received enough attention. Building on previous studies, this study examines patterns of other-repetition or appropriation in the context of discussion activities performed by EFL learners. The analysis highlights the meaningfulness of other-repetition in a way that distinguishes them from rote-repetition. It is suggested that instances of repetition constitute third spaces between the self and other which provide ideal settings for language learning and demonstrate student agency and engagement.

Keywords: repetition, agency, Bakhtin, dialogue

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Authors: Geraldine Agbor Ojong

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This paper conveys some of the problems teachers of ESL face in classroom settings in Thailand. The results of this paper is achieved through close and open ended questionaires administered to a group of English language teachers of three prominent schools in Kaengkhoi, saraburi Province, Thailand.(Saengvithaya school, kaengkhoi school and Pytoon withaya school). Face to face interview of some foreign teachers and students selected randomly And general observation. The data was analysed by frequency distribution and percentage: The result of the study may be generalized so that the conference committee can suggest possible solutions or give contributing ideas on how to handle some of these problems.

Keywords: Asian, colonize, ESL, foreign country

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Authors: Dan Cristian Popescu

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The new territorial identities and global dynamics have determined a change of policies of economics, social and cultural development from a vertical to a horizontal approach, which is based on cooperation networks between institutional actors, economic operators or civil society representatives. The European integration has not only generated a different patterns of competitiveness, economic growth, concentration of attractive potential, but also disparities among regions of this country, or even in the countryside within a region. To a better understanding of the dynamics of regional development and the impact of this concept on Romania, I chose as a case study the region Bucharest-Ilfov which is analyzed on the basis of predetermined indicators and of the impact of European programs.

Keywords: regional competition, regional development, rural, urban

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Authors: Pallavi Mane, Nikita Mankar, Shraddha Mazire, Rasika Pashankar

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Content sharing sites are very useful in sharing information and images. However, with the increasing demand of content sharing sites privacy and security concern have also increased. There is need to develop a tool for controlling user access to their shared content. Therefore, we are developing an Adaptive Privacy Policy Prediction (A3P) system which is helpful for users to create privacy settings for their images. We propose the two-level framework which assigns the best available privacy policy for the users images according to users available histories on the site.

Keywords: online information services, prediction, security and protection, web based services

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Authors: Titir Bhattacharya, Tanika Chakraborty, Prabal K. De

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Maternal and child health continue to be a significant policy focus in developing countries, including India. An emerging model in health care is the creation of public and private partnerships. Since the construction of physical infrastructure is costly, governments at various levels have tried to implement social health insurance schemes where a trust calculates insurance premiums and medical payments. Typically, qualifying families get full subsidization of the premium and get access to private hospitals, in addition to low cost public hospitals, for their tertiary care needs. We analyze one such pioneering social insurance scheme in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh (AP). The Rajiv Aarogyasri program (RA) was introduced by the Government of AP on a pilot basis in 2007 and implemented in 2008. In this paper, we first examine the extent to which access to reproductive health care changed. For example, the RA scheme reimburses hospital deliveries leading us to expect an increase in institutional deliveries, particularly in private hospitals. Second, we expect an increase in institutional deliveries to also improve child health outcomes. Hence, we estimate if the program improved infant and child mortality. We use District Level Health Survey data to create annual birth cohorts from 2000-2015. Since AP was the only state in which such a state insurance program was implemented, the neighboring states constituted a plausible control group. Combined with the policy timing, and the year of birth, we employ a difference-indifference strategy to identify the effects of RA on the residents of AP. We perform several checks against threats to identification, including testing for pre-treatment trends between the treatment and control states. We find that the policy significantly lowered infant and child mortality in AP. We also find that deliveries in private hospitals increased, and government hospitals decreased, showing a substitution effect of the relative price change. Finally, as expected, out-of-pocket costs declined for the treatment group. However, we do not find any significant effects for usual preventive care such as vaccination, showing that benefits of insurance schemes targeted at the tertiary level may not trickle down to the primary care level.

Keywords: public health insurance, maternal and child health, public-private choice

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Authors: Michael Rudolph, Evans Muchesa, Katiya Yassim, Venkatesha Prasad

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Input-intensive production systems characterise industrial agriculture as an unsustainable means to address food and nutrition security and sustainable livelihoods. There is extensive empirical evidence that supports the diversification and reorientation of industrial agriculture and that incorporates ecological practices viewed as essential for achieving balanced and productive farming systems. An agroecological farming system is a viable alternative approach that can improve food production, especially for the most vulnerable communities and households. Furthermore, substantial proof and supporting evidence show that such a system holds the key to increasing dietary diversity at the local level and reducing the multiple health and environmental risks stemming from industrial agriculture. This paper, therefore, aims to demonstrate the benefits of the agroecology food system through an evidenced-based approach that shows how the broader agricultural network structures can play a meaningful role, particularly for impoverished households in today’s reality. The methodology is centered on a structured literature review that analyses urban agriculture, agroecology, and food insecurity. Notably, ground-truthing, practical experiences, and field observation of agroecological farming were deployed. This paper places particular emphasis on the practical application of the agroecological approach in urban and peri-urban settings. Several evaluation reports on local and provincial initiatives clearly show that very few households engage in food gardens and urban agriculture. These households do not make use of their backyards or nearby open spaces for a number of reasons, such as stringent city by-laws, restricted access to land, little or no knowledge of innovative or alternative farming practices, and a general lack of interest. Furthermore, limited resources such as water and energy and lack of capacity building and training implementation are additional constraints that are hampering small scale food gardens and farms in other settings. The Agroecology systems approach is viewed as one of the key solutions to tackling these problems.

Keywords: agroecology, water-energy-food nexus, sutainable development goals, social, environmental and economc impact

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Authors: Xilu Liu, Ameen Farooq

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Beijing has several compact residential housing settings in many of its urban districts. The study in this paper reveals that urban compactness, as predictor of density, may carry an altogether different meaning in the developing world when compared to the U.S for achieving objectives of urban sustainability. Recent urban design studies in the U.S are debating for compact and mixed-use higher density housing to achieve sustainable and energy efficient living environments. While the concept of urban compactness is widely accepted as an approach in modern architectural and urban design fields, this belief may not directly carry well into all areas within cities of developing countries. Beijing’s technology-driven economy, with its historic and rich cultural heritage and a highly speculated real-estate market, extends its urban boundaries into multiple compact urban settings of varying scales and densities. The accelerated pace of migration from the countryside for better opportunities has led to unsustainable and uncontrolled buildups in order to meet the growing population demand within and outside of the urban center. This unwarranted compactness in certain urban zones has produced an unhealthy physical density with serious environmental and ecological challenging basic living conditions. In addition, crowding, traffic congestion, pollution and limited housing surrounding this compactness is a threat to public health. Several residential blocks in close proximity to each other were found quite compacted, or ill-planned, with residential sites due to lack of proper planning in Beijing. Most of them at first sight appear to be compact and dense but further analytical studies revealed that what appear to be dense actually are not as dense as to make a good case that could serve as the corner stone of sustainability and energy efficiency. This study considered several factors including floor area ratio (FAR), ground coverage (GSI), open space ratio (OSR) as indicators in analyzing urban compactness as a predictor of density. The findings suggest that these measures, influencing the density of residential sites under study, were much smaller in density than expected given their compact adjacencies. Further analysis revealed that several residential housing appear to support the notion of density in its compact layout but are actually compacted due to unregulated planning marred by lack of proper urban design standards, policies and guidelines specific to their urban context and condition.

Keywords: Beijing, density, sustainability, urban compactness

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Authors: Reuben Mugisha, Stella Bakibinga

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The cervical cancer burden is a global threat, but more so in low income settings where more than 85% of mortality cases occur due to lack of sufficient screening programs. There is consequently a lack of early detection of cancer and precancerous cells among women. Studies show that 3% to 35% of deaths could have been avoided through early screening depending on prognosis, disease progression, environmental and lifestyle factors. In this study, a systematic literature review is undertaken to understand potential barriers and facilitators as documented in previous studies that focus on the application of telehealth in cervical cancer screening programs for early detection of cancer and precancerous cells. The study informs future studies especially those from low income settings about lessons learned from previous studies and how to be best prepared while planning to implement telehealth for cervical cancer screening. It further identifies the knowledge gaps in the research area and makes recommendations. Using a specified selection criterion, 15 different articles are analyzed based on the study’s aim, theory or conceptual framework used, method applied, study findings and conclusion. Results are then tabulated and presented thematically to better inform readers about emerging facts on barriers and facilitators to telehealth implementation as documented in the reviewed articles, and how they consequently lead to evidence informed conclusions that are relevant to telehealth implementation for cervical cancer screening. Preliminary findings of this study underscore that use of low cost mobile colposcope is an appealing option in cervical cancer screening, particularly when coupled with onsite treatment of suspicious lesions. These tools relay cervical images to the online databases for storage and retrieval, they permit integration of connected devices at the point of care to rapidly collect clinical data for further analysis of the prevalence of cervical dysplasia and cervical cancer. Results however reveal the need for population sensitization prior to use of mobile colposcopies among patients, standardization of mobile colposcopy programs across screening partners, sufficient logistics and good connectivity, experienced experts to review image cases at the point-of-care as important facilitators to the implementation of mobile colposcope as a telehealth cervical cancer screening mechanism.

Keywords: cervical cancer screening, digital technology, hand-held colposcopy, knowledge-sharing

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Authors: Jonathan M. Watt, Regina L. Sturiale

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The linguistic idiosyncrasies of prison populations have been studied with great interest by scholarly and popular writers alike, whose interests range from curiosity to a disciplined understanding of its function. This paper offers a formalized nomenclature for the four relevant terms (slang, jargon, argot, and cant) and brings together key sociolinguistic concepts such as domain and register with research on institutional dynamics as well as culture and identity. It presents a fresh body of data drawn from interviews with prison staff in the American NE and with awareness of selected publications. The paper then draws a correlation between a person’s competence in prison antilanguage and their status as part of the in-group. This is a distinctive marker of identification that is essential to inmate survival and staff effectiveness.

Keywords: slang, jargon, argot, sociolinguistics, antilanguage, identity

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Authors: Andre Sanches Siqueira Campos

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Central banks can play a significant role in promoting regional economic and monetary integration by strengthening the payment and settlement systems. However, close coordination and cooperation require facilitating the implementation of reforms at domestic and cross-border levels in order to benchmark with international standards and commitments to the liberal order. This situation reflects the normative power of the regulatory globalization dimension of strong states, which may drive or constrain regional integration. In the MERCOSUR and SAARC regions, central banks have set financial initiatives that could facilitate South America and South Asia regions to move towards convergence integration and facilitate trade and investments connectivities. This is qualitative method research based on a combination of the Process-Tracing method with Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA). This research approaches multiple forms of data based on central banks, regional organisations, national governments, and financial institutions supported by existing literature. The aim of this research is to analyze the decision-making process of the Central Bank of Brazil (BCB) and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) towards regional financial cooperation by identifying connectivity instruments that foster, gridlock, or redefine cooperation. The BCB and The RBI manage the monetary policy of the largest economies of those regions, which makes regional cooperation a relevant framework to understand how they provide an effective institutional arrangement for regional organisations to achieve some of their key policies and economic objectives. The preliminary conclusion is that both BCB and RBI demonstrate a reluctance to deepen regional cooperation because of the existing economic, political, and institutional asymmetries. Deepening regional cooperation is constrained by the interests of central banks in protecting their economies from risks of instability due to different degrees of development between countries in their regions and international financial crises that have impacted the international system in the 21st century. Reluctant regional integration also provides autonomy for national development and political ground for the contestation of Global Financial Governance by Brazil and India.

Keywords: Brazil, central banks, decision-making process, global financial governance, India, MERCOSUR, connectivity, payment system, regional cooperation, SAARC

Procedia PDF Downloads 114