Search results for: opinion essay

Authors: Ho Yeon Park, Kyoung-Jae Kim

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Recently, user’s interests for location-based social network service increases according to the advances of social web and location-based technologies. It may be easy to recommend preferred items if we can use user’s preference, context and social network information simultaneously. In this study, we propose context-aware POI (point-of-interests) recommender systems using location-based network analysis and sentiment analysis which consider context, social network information and implicit user’s preference score. We propose a context-aware POI recommendation system consisting of three sub-modules and an integrated recommendation system of them. First, we will develop a recommendation module based on network analysis. This module combines social network analysis and cluster-indexing collaboration filtering. Next, this study develops a recommendation module using social singular value decomposition (SVD) and implicit SVD. In this research, we will develop a recommendation module that can recommend preference scores based on the frequency of POI visits of user in POI recommendation process by using social and implicit SVD which can reflect implicit feedback in collaborative filtering. We also develop a recommendation module using them that can estimate preference scores based on the recommendation. Finally, this study will propose a recommendation module using opinion mining and emotional analysis using data such as reviews of POIs extracted from location-based social networks. Finally, we will develop an integration algorithm that combines the results of the three recommendation modules proposed in this research. Experimental results show the usefulness of the proposed model in relation to the recommended performance.

Keywords: sentiment analysis, network analysis, recommender systems, point-of-interests, business analytics

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Authors: Dinesh N. Kurup, Celine Perriera

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The economic development of any country is based on the policies adopted by the government from time to time. If these policies are framed by the opinion of the people of the country, there is need for having strong knowledge base, right from the school level. There should be emphasis to provide in education, an ability to take informed decisions regarding socio-scientific issues. It would be better to adopt this practice in high school classrooms to build capacity among future citizens. This study is an attempt to provide a different approach of teaching and learning in classrooms at the high school level in Indian schools for providing opportunity for informed decision making regarding nuclear power use. A unit of work based on the 5E instructional model about the use of nuclear energy is used to build knowledge base and find out the effectiveness in terms of its influence for taking decisions as a future citizen. A sample of 120 students from three high schools using different curricula and teaching and learning methods were chosen for this study. This research used a design based research method. A pre and post questionnaire based on the theory of reasoned action, structured observations, focus group interviews and opportunity for decision making were used during the intervention. The data analysed qualitatively and quantitatively, and the qualitative data were coded into categories based on responses. The results of the study show that students were able to make informed decisions and could give reasons for their decisions. They were enthusiastic in formulating policy making based on their knowledge base and have strong held views and reasoning for their choice.

Keywords: informed decision making, socio-scientific issues, nuclear energy use, policy making

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Authors: Govind Ji Pandey

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The divergent opinions in the society are important for its development but with reasonable restrictions. The world recently witnessed one of the most violent protests by a group against the editor and publisher of the magazine ‘Charlie Hebdo’ for publishing cartoon of their religious leader. The supporter of freedom of speech and expression around the world were in shock and termed it the strongest attack against the free speech. People all around the world condemned the killing of the journalists but many soft voices from several corners were also coming for reasonable restrictions on the freedom of speech and expression. Of late, Indian society has witnessed many protests and supports of films with controversial content. It is the beauty of the Indian democracy which gives an opportunity to all for discussion and debate on any issue that challenges established social norms. However, many organizations as well as individuals misuse it for their personal benefits. There have been many film directors who faced protest from several quarters for their controversial themes. This research aims at analyzing the controversial contents published in print media and shown in films. To understand the nature and frequency of such media reports, content analysis technique is used. The research also highlights the perception of the public regarding the controversies. For getting the popular opinion on the coverage of controversial content in cinema and print media, five hundred people from Lucknow, UP, India were randomly selected. The findings of this research are important to understand the response of media and society towards the controversial content presented in cinema and print media. The research highlights that how a handful of people curb free speech in a democratic country like India.

Keywords: cinema, censor board, free speech, liberty, social-religious beliefs

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Authors: A. M. Tarola, R. Preti, A. M. Girelli, P. Campana

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Safeguarding, studying and enhancing biodiversity play an important and indispensable role in re-launching agriculture. The ancient local varieties are therefore a precious resource for genetic and health improvement. In order to protect biodiversity through the recovery and valorization of autochthonous varieties, in this study we analyzed 12 samples of four ancient apple cultivars representative of Friuli Venezia Giulia, selected by local farmers who work on a project for the recovery of ancient apple cultivars. The aim of this study is to evaluate the polyphenolic profile and the antioxidant capacity that characterize the organoleptic and functional qualities of this fruit species, besides having beneficial properties for health. In particular, for each variety, the following compounds were analyzed, both in the skins and in the pulp: gallic acid, catechin, chlorogenic acid, epicatechin, caffeic acid, coumaric acid, ferulic acid, rutin, phlorizin, phloretin and quercetin to highlight any differences in the edible parts of the apple. The analysis of individual phenolic compounds was performed by High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) coupled with a diode array UV detector (DAD), the antioxidant capacity was estimated using an in vitro essay based on a Free Radical Scavenging Method and the total phenolic compounds was determined using the Folin-Ciocalteau method. From the results, it is evident that the catechins are the most present polyphenols, reaching a value of 140-200 μg/g in the pulp and of 400-500 μg/g in the skin, with the prevalence of epicatechin. Catechins and phlorizin, a dihydrohalcone typical of apples, are always contained in larger quantities in the peel. Total phenolic compounds content was positively correlated with antioxidant activity in apple pulp (r² = 0,850) and peel (r² = 0,820). Comparing the results, differences between the varieties analyzed and between the edible parts (pulp and peel) of the apple were highlighted. In particular, apple peel is richer in polyphenolic compounds than pulp and flavonols are exclusively present in the peel. In conclusion, polyphenols, being antioxidant substances, have confirmed the benefits of fruit in the diet, especially as a prevention and treatment for degenerative diseases. They demonstrated to be also a good marker for the characterization of different apple cultivars. The importance of protecting biodiversity in agriculture was also highlighted through the exploitation of native products and ancient varieties of apples now forgotten.

Keywords: apple, biodiversity, polyphenols, antioxidant activity, HPLC-DAD, characterization

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Authors: Peter Iyobosa Asemota

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This study on solid waste management practices addressed aspects of environmental and health impacts resulting from poor management of solid waste. The study was occasioned by the observed rate and volume of illegal and indiscriminate dumping of solid waste materials especially in informal settlements. The main focus of this study was to establish the impact of waste management practices on human health and the environment. The study, therefore, presents a critical analysis of the state of solid waste management in the study area and the implications for human health and the environment. The study was carried out in Kayamandi informal settlement within Stellenbosch municipality. The sustainable management of solid waste is very important in order to minimize the environmental and public health risks associated with improper solid waste management. There is no denying the fact that the problems of waste management will become critical as time goes on because of improper and inefficient waste management practices. Towns and cities exhibit the burdens of waste management which is a characteristics feature of most African cities. The study critically assess the implementation of waste management practices by the residents of the informal settlement; identify the factors affecting management issues in the operation of solid waste management system by the municipality; identify factors militating against the implementation of waste management policies and legislation. Furthermore, a waste assessment study was carried out to assess the generation; composition of the waste stream and also determine the attitudes and behavior of the residents with regard to waste management practices. Findings from the study revealed that Kayamandi is not different from other informal settlements with regards to waste management. People are of the opinion that solid waste management is the sole responsibility of municipal authorities and as such, the government should be responsible for bearing the cost of solid waste management.

Keywords: environment, waste, waste composition, waste stream, policy, waste categories, sanitary landfill, waste collection, integrated solid waste management

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Authors: Siobhan Laird

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Under article 12 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which extends human rights in their application to those under the age of 18 years, children must be consulted ‘in all matters affecting the child’. The Office of the Children’s Commissioner for England is responsible for improving the welfare of children and young people by ensuring that their Convention rights are respected and realised and their views taken seriously. In 2014 the Children’s Commissioner engaged a team of researchers at the Centre for Social Work, University of Nottingham to develop and roll out an online survey to gather information from children and young people about their exercise of choice within the public care system. Approximately 3,000 children responded to this survey, which comprised both closed and open-ended questions. SPSS was used to analyse the numerical data and a thematic analysis of textual data was conducted on answers to open-ended questions. Findings revealed that children exercised considerable choice over personal space and their spare time, but had much less choice in relation to contact with their birth families, where they lived, or the timings of moves from one placement into another. The majority of children described how they were supported to express their opinions and believed that these were taken seriously. However, a significant number reported problems and explained how specific behaviours by professionals and carers made it difficult for them to express their opinion or to feel that they had influenced decisions which affected them. In open-ended questions eliciting information about their experiences, children and young people were asked to describe how they could be better supported to make choices and what changes would assist for these to be better acknowledged and acted upon by professionals and carers. This paper concludes by presenting the ideas and suggestions of children and young people for improving the public care system in Britain in relation to their exercise of choice.

Keywords: children, choice, participation, public care

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Authors: Lennon Furtado, Sandro Oliveira

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The importance of an effective measurement program lies in the ability to control and predict what can be measured. Thus, the measurement program has the capacity to provide bases in decision-making to support the interests of an organization. Therefore, it is only possible to apply for an effective measurement program with a team of software engineers well trained in the measurement area. However, the literature indicates that are few computer science courses that have in their program the teaching of the software measurement process. And even these, generally present only basic theoretical concepts of said process and little or no measurement in practice, which results in the student's lack of motivation to learn the measurement process. In this context, according to some experts in software process improvements, one of the most used approaches to maintaining the motivation and commitment to software process improvements program is the use of the gamification. Therefore, this paper aims to present a proposal of teaching the measurement process by gamification. Which seeks to improve student motivation and performance in the assimilation of tasks related to software measurement, by incorporating elements of games into the practice of measurement process, making it more attractive for learning. And as a way of validating the proposal will be made a comparison between two distinct groups of 20 students of Software Quality class, a control group, and an experiment group. The control group will be the students that will not make use of the gamification proposal to learn software measurement process, while the experiment group, will be the students that will make use of the gamification proposal to learn software measurement process. Thus, this paper will analyze the objective and subjective results of each group. And as objective result will be analyzed the student grade reached at the end of the course, and as subjective results will be analyzed a post-course questionnaire with the opinion of each student about the teaching method. Finally, this paper aims to prove or refute the following hypothesis: If the gamification proposal to teach software measurement process does appropriate motivate the student, in order to attribute the necessary competence to the practical application of the measurement process.

Keywords: education, gamification, software measurement process, software engineering

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Authors: Diego Abbo

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On February 15, 2012 off the Indian coast of Kerala, in position 091702N-0760180E by the oil tanker Enrica Lexie, flying the Italian flag, bursts of 5.56 x45 caliber shots were fired from assault rifles AR/70 Italian-made Beretta towards the Indian fisher boat St. Anthony. The shots that hit the St. Anthony fishing boat were six, of which two killed the Indian fishermen Ajesh Pink and Valentine Jelestine. From the analysis concerning the kinematic engagement of the two ships and from the autopsy and ballistic results of the Indian judicial authorities it is possible to reconstruct the trajectories of the six aforementioned shots. This essay reconstructs the trajectories of the six shots that cannot be of direct shooting but have undergone a rebound on the water. The investigation carried out scientifically demonstrates the rebound of the blows on the water, the gyrostatic deviation due to the rebound and the tumbling effect always due to the rebound as regards intermediate ballistics. In consideration of the four shots that directly impacted the fishing vessel, the current examination proves, with scientific value, that the trajectories could not be downwards but upwards. Also, the trajectory of two shots that hit to death the two fishermen could not be downwards but only upwards. In fact, this paper demonstrates, with scientific value: The loss of speed of the projectiles due to the rebound on the water; The tumbling effect in the ballistic medium within the two victims; The permanent cavities subject to the injury ballistics and the related ballistic trauma that prevented homeostasis causing bleeding in one case; The thermo-hardening deformation of the bullet found in Valentine Jelestine's skull; The upward and non-downward trajectories. The paper constitutes a tool in forensic ballistics in that it manages to reconstruct, from the final spot of the projectiles fired, all phases of ballistics like the internal one of the weapons that fired, the intermediate one, the terminal one and the penetrative structural one. In general terms the ballistics reconstruction is based on measurable parameters whose entity is contained with certainty within a lower and upper limit. Therefore, quantities that refer to angles, speed, impact energy and firing position of the shooter can be identified within the aforementioned limits. Finally, the investigation into the internal bullet track, obtained from any autopsy examination, offers a significant “lesson learned” but overall a starting point to contain or mitigate bleeding as a rescue from future gunshot wounds.

Keywords: impact physics, intermediate ballistics, terminal ballistics, tumbling effect

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Authors: Iman Shabanzadeh

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The economic growth and the special model of development in China have caused sensitivity in the public opinion of the world regarding the nature of this growth and development. In this regard, the Chinese have tried to put an end to such alarming procedures by using all the tools at their disposal and seek to present a peaceful and cooperative image of themselves. In this way, one of the most important diplomatic tools that Beijing has used to reduce the concerns caused by the Threat Theory has been the use of soft power resources and its tools in its development policies. This article begins by analyzing the concept of soft power and examining its foundations in international relations, and continues to examine the components of soft power in its Chinese version. The main purpose of the article is to figure out about the position of West Asia in China's soft power strategy and resources China use to achieve its goals in this region. In response to the main question, the paper's hypothesis is that soft power in its Chinese version had significant differences from Joseph Nye's original idea. In fact, the Chinese have imported the American version of soft power and adjusted, strengthened and, in other words, internalized it with their abilities, capacities and political philosophy. Based on this, China's software presence in West Asia can be traced in three areas. The first source of China's soft power in this region of West Asia is cultural in nature and is realized through strategies such as "use of educational tools and methods", "media methods" and "tourism industry". The second source is related to political soft power, which is applied through the policy of "balance of influence" and the policy of "mediation" and relying on the "ideological foundations of Confucianism". The third source also refers to China's economic soft power and is realized through three tools: "energy exchanges", "foreign investments" and "Belt-Road initiative". The research method of this article is descriptive-analytical.

Keywords: soft power, cooperative power, china, west asia

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Authors: S. J. Higgs, E. Van Eck, K. Heynis, S. H. Broadberry

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Engagement with non-human animals is a rapidly-growing field of study within the animal science and social science sectors, with human-interactions occurring in many forms; interactions, encounters and animal-assisted therapy. To our knowledge, there has been a wide array of research published on domestic and livestock human-animal interactions, however, there appear to be fewer publications relating to zoo animals and the effect these interactions have on the animal, human and establishment. The aim of this study was to identify if there were any perceivable benefits from the human-animal interaction for the cheetah, the human and the establishment. Behaviour data were collected before, during and after the interaction on the behaviour of the cheetah and the human participants to highlight any trends with nine interactions conducted. All 35 participants were asked to fill in a questionnaire prior to the interaction and immediately after to ascertain if their perceptions changed following an interaction with the cheetah. An online questionnaire was also distributed for three months to gain an understanding of the perceptions of human-animal interactions from members of the public, gaining 229 responses. Both questionnaires contained qualitative and quantitative questions to allow for specific definitive answers to be analysed, but also expansion on the participants perceived perception of human-animal interactions. In conclusion, it was found that participants’ perceptions of human-animal interactions saw a positive change, with 64% of participants altering their opinion and viewing the interaction as beneficial for the cheetah (reduction in stress assumed behaviours) following participation in a 15-minute interaction. However, it was noted that many participants felt the interaction lacked educational values and therefore this is an area in which zoological establishments can work to further improve upon. The results highlighted many positive benefits for the human, animal and establishment, however, the study does indicate further areas for research in order to promote positive perceptions of human-animal interactions and to further increase the welfare of the animal during these interactions, with recommendations to create and regulate legislation.

Keywords: Acinonyx jubatus, encounters, human-animal interactions, perceptions, zoological establishments

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Authors: Abdul Rofiq Badril Rizal Muzammil

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Education is an absolute necessity for human’s life that one must fulfill for the entire life. Without education it is impossible for human to develop her/himself well. The education process is an effort to maintain a good behavior within one’s life. Good behavior will be absolutely achieved if it is taught to early-aged children. This paper focuses on how the story telling method enables teachers to make the students have the construction of good behavior and obtain the goal of national education in Indonesia. The targeted students would involve students in As-Solihin kindergarten, Salafiyah-Syafi’iyah Mumbulsari, Jember, Indonesia. Story is what early-aged children like most. Thus, it is a gorgeous chance to make story telling activity as a method to invest Islamic education values to children. This paper, however, also focuses on some deliberately important aspects which of course teachers need to consider including objectives and strategies of the method’s implementation. The teachers will be in need of knowing each student’s characteristic in the classroom so that it would enable them to select appropriate stories that fit best to early aged students. The selected stories are taken from Islamic stories that tell the life of Prophet and heroes of Islam as well as well-known persons in Islam. In addition, there will be a number of activities done in the classroom after the delivery of the story is over on purpose of leading students to have the fundamental foundation of how to build self-awareness in order they could understand better about the importance of being a well-behaved person. After reviewing relevant theories, secondary research and scholars’ opinion involved in all aspects of early-aged children behavior, the author concludes that by leveraging trusted sources, a proactive, co-operative and creative strategy, the teacher can successfully build up children’s good behavior by instilling the Islamic value toward early-aged children through story telling method.

Keywords: story, Islam, children, early age

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Authors: Farah Fazlinda Binti Mohamad, Ahmad Saifizul Abdullah, Mohamed Rehan Karim , Jamilah Mohamad, Siti Hikmah Musthar

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Road safety is an important issue in Malaysia. It become important as it is discussed widely throughout printed and electronic media. Most of the news portrays on road accident and fatalities have increased the concern of everyone. This issue affects everyone's life as everyone shares the roads. The most vulnerable victims are the road user who uses the roads every day. It is appalling when World Health Organization (WHO) reported that in every 100,000 of population in Malaysia, 23 fatalities recorded due to road accident alone. This figure is quite alarming and requires serious attention. Furthermore, research by Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research concluded that that speeding has contributed to 60% of all road accident in the country. Therefore, this study aims to elucidate the factors that influence road users’ speeding behaviour on selected roads in Peninsular Malaysia. To achieve this, set of questionnaires has distributed to 500 respondents on selected roads in Peninsular Malaysia. The respondents came from various demographic backgrounds in order to have a fair opinion on the issue. Using descriptive analysis, the results have indicated that psychological factors such as emotion and attitude of road user are the prominent factors that influence the road user’s speeding behaviour. Furthermore, the results have shown that male road users were dominant in speeding compared to female, which led to increased vulnerability to road injuries and fatalities. These findings are very useful in order for us to understand road users’ driving behaviour. Relevant authorities should also revise the existing countermeasures and find ways to reduce road accident. Engineers and road experts could cooperate in designing new road specifications for the road user. Nevertheless, it is important to comprehend this speeding issue and factors associated with it. Each road user should take this matter seriously and responsibly as road safety is a responsibility of all.

Keywords: countermeasures, psychological, road safety, speeding

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Authors: Bruno Valverde Chahaira, Matheus Jeronimo Low Lopes, Marta Beatriz Tanaka Ferdinandi

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This paper proposes to dissect the meanings and / or directions of the State, in order, to present the State models to elaborate a conceptual framework about its function in the legal scope. To do so, it points out the possible contracts established between the State and the Society, since the general principles immanent in them can guide the models of society in force. From this orientation arise the contracts, whose purpose is by the effect to modify the status (the being and / or the opinion) of each of the subjects in presence - State and Society. In this logic, this paper announces the fiduciary contracts and “veredicção”(portuguese word) contracts, from the perspective of semiotics discourse (or greimasian). Therefore, studies focus on the issue of manifest language in unilateral and bilateral or reciprocal relations between the State and Society. Thus, under the biases of the model of the communicative situation and discourse, the guidelines of these contractual relations will be analyzed in order to see if there is a pragmatic sanction: positive when the contract is signed between the subjects (reward), or negative when the contract between they are broken (punishment). In this way, a third path emerges which, in this specific case, passes through the subject-third sector. In other words, the proposal, which is systemic in nature, is to analyze whether, since the contract of the welfare state is not carried out in the constitutional program on fundamental rights: education, health, housing, an others. Therefore, in the structure of the exchange demanded by the society according to its contractual obligations (others), the third way (Third Sector) advances in the empty space left by the State. In this line, it presents the modalities of action of the third sector in the social scope. Finally, the normative communication organization of these three subjects is sought in the pragmatic model of discourse, namely: State, Society and Third Sector, in an attempt to understand the constant dynamics in the Law and in the language of the relations established between them.

Keywords: access to justice, state, social rights, third sector

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Authors: Ammarah Irum, Muhammad Ali Tahir

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Document-level sentiment analysis in Urdu is a challenging Natural Language Processing (NLP) task due to the difficulty of working with lengthy texts in a language with constrained resources. Deep learning models, which are complex neural network architectures, are well-suited to text-based applications in addition to data formats like audio, image, and video. To investigate the potential of deep learning for Urdu sentiment analysis, we implemented five different deep learning models, including Bidirectional Long Short Term Memory (BiLSTM), Convolutional Neural Network (CNN), Convolutional Neural Network with Bidirectional Long Short Term Memory (CNN-BiLSTM), and Bidirectional Encoder Representation from Transformer (BERT). In this study, we developed a hybrid deep learning model called BiLSTM-Single Layer Multi Filter Convolutional Neural Network (BiLSTM-SLMFCNN) by fusing BiLSTM and CNN architecture. The proposed and baseline techniques are applied on Urdu Customer Support data set and IMDB Urdu movie review data set by using pre-trained Urdu word embedding that are suitable for sentiment analysis at the document level. Results of these techniques are evaluated and our proposed model outperforms all other deep learning techniques for Urdu sentiment analysis. BiLSTM-SLMFCNN outperformed the baseline deep learning models and achieved 83%, 79%, 83% and 94% accuracy on small, medium and large sized IMDB Urdu movie review data set and Urdu Customer Support data set respectively.

Keywords: urdu sentiment analysis, deep learning, natural language processing, opinion mining, low-resource language

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Authors: Emad A. S. Abu-Ayyash

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Cohesive devices, the linguistic tools that are usually employed to hold the different parts of the text together, have been the focus of a significant number of discourse analysis studies. These linguistic tools have grabbed the attention of researchers since the inception of the first and most comprehensive model of cohesion in 1976. However, it was noticed that some cohesive devices (e.g., endophoric reference, conjunctions, ellipsis, substitution, and lexical ties) – being thought of as more popular than others (e.g., exophoric reference) – were over-researched. The present paper explores the usage of two cohesive devices that have been evidently almost absent from discourse analysis studies. These cohesive devices are exophoric and homophoric references, the linguistic items that can be interpreted in terms of the physical and cultural contexts of discourse. The significance of the current paper, therefore, stems from the fact that it attempts to fill a gap in the research conducted so far on cohesive devices. This study provides an explanation of the concepts of the cohesive devices that have been employed in a plethora of research on cohesion and elucidates the relevant context-related concepts. The paper also identifies the gap in cohesive devices research. Exophora and homophora, the least visited cohesive devices in previous studies, were qualitatively and quantitatively explored in six opinion articles, four produced by eight postgraduate English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students in a university in the United Arab Emirates and two by professional NS writers in the Independent and the Guardian. The six pieces were about the United Kingdom Independent Party (UKIP) leader’s call to ban the burqa in the UK and were analysed vis-a-vis the employment and function of homophora and exophora. The study found that both EFL students and native speakers employed exophora and homophora considerably in their writing to serve a variety of functions, including building assumptions, supporting main ideas, and involving the readers among others.

Keywords: cohesive devices, context, culture, exophoric reference, homophoric reference

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Authors: Sakulsri Srisaracam

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Social media has become an important source of information for the public and the media profession. Some social issues raised on social media are picked up by journalists to report on other platforms. This relationship between social media and mainstream media can sometimes drive public debate or stimulate social movements. The question to examine is in what situations can social media conversations raise awareness and stimulate change on public issues. This study addresses the communication patterns of social media conversations driving covert issues into mainstream media and leading to social advocacy movements. In methodological terms, the study findings are based on a content analysis of Facebook, Twitter, news websites and television media reports on three different case studies – saving Bryde’s whale, protests against a government proposal to downsize the Office of Knowledge Management and Development in Thailand, and a dengue fever campaign. These case studies were chosen because they represent issues that most members of the public do not pay much attention to but social media conversations stimulated public debate and calls to action. This study found: 1) Collective social media conversations can stimulate public debate and encourage change at three levels – awareness, public debate, and action of policy and social change. The level depends on the communication patterns of online users and media coverage. 2) Patterns of communication have to be designed to combine social media conversations, online opinion leaders, mainstream media coverage and call to both online and offline action to motivate social change. Thus, this result suggests that social media is a powerful platform for collective communication and setting the agenda on public issues for mainstream media. However, for social change to succeed, social media should be used to mobilize online movements to move offline too.

Keywords: public issues, mainstream media, social media, social movement

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Authors: Gulfam Hasan, Ijaz Ashraf, Saleem Ashraf, Muhammad Rafay Muzammil, Salman Asghar, Shafiq-Ur-Rehman Zia

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The word “climate change” has become the most popular term when anyone observes any uncertain climate variation in their respective region. Asian countries are more prone to the impact of this phenomenon, and Pakistan is the leading affected country. Last few years, governments all over the world have been trying to cater to this issue for the best entrust of their population, especially agriculture. Now the farmers in Pakistan are fully aware of the term “climate change” and are more concerned about its solutions. On the other hand, developed countries like the USA are setting a benchmark for developing countries in every sphere of life. Based on cultural and other variations, the research was carried out to identify the behavior of farmers regarding the same issue. Cross-sectional survey research was designed for an in-depth study of relevant research questions. Face-to-face interviews were conducted in Pakistan, while virtual and face-to-face interviews were conducted in the Indiana State of the USA. The results of the present study and the responses of farmers were very interesting. The common climate change mitigation strategies suggested by farmers of both countries were less use of motor vehicles (replacement with bicycles in the circle of 10 Km), less dependency on chemical fertilizers (increased use of Manure, Bio-fertilizer, Compost), and plantation of the tree. The difference of opinion was in less government interest, lack of farmers’ education, political instability (views of Pakistani farmers), awareness of local communities, self-satisfaction, and economic disparities (views of USA farmers). Based on the given evidence, it was recommended that there is a dire need to address the climate change issue all over the world without discrimination of race, color, region, or religion. Because it will affect not only agriculture but also the real effect will be on HUMANITY.

Keywords: climate change, mitigation strategies, forests, biodiversity

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Authors: Sarinra Thongmee, Adithep Mingsuan, Chanyapak Polkhet, Supattra Wongsuk, Krittaphon Prakobsaeng

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The purposes of this research and development was to develop and evaluation of clinical nursing practice guideline (CNPG) for the prevention of infection during intubation in patient withsuspected or confirmedCOVID-19 patient. This study was developed by using the evidence based practice model of Soukup (2000) as a conceptual framework. The study consisted of 4 steps: 1) situational analysis of intubation service in patients with confirmed COVID-19, 2) development the CNPG, 3) apply the NPG to trial, and 4) evaluation of the NPG. Thesample consisted of 52 nurse anesthetists and 25 infected or suspected COVID-19 patients. The research instrument consisted of 1) CNPG, 2) the nurses anesthetist opinion questionnaire to the guideline, 3) the evaluation practice form, and 4) the nurse anesthetist knowledge test on nursing care of patients infected with COVID-19. Data were analyzed by using descriptive statistics, and Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed rank test. The results found that this developed NPG consists of 4 sections: 1) NPG for Preventing Airborne Infection Prevention2) preparation of anesthetic and intubation equipments 3) roles and duties of the intubation team 4) guidelines for intubation in suspected or confirmed COVID-19patients. The result found that 1) provider: using NPG in providers revealed that nurse anesthetist had higher mean of knowledge scores than before using NPG statistically significant at the 0.05 level (p<0.01) and able to follow the NPG 100% in all activities. The anesthetic team was not infected with COVID-19from intubation outside operating room.2) Client: the patient was safe, no complications from intubation. Summary CNPG to prevent infection in intubation of suspected or confirmedCOVID-19 patient was appropriate and applicable to practice.

Keywords: nursing practice guideline, prevention of infection, endotracheal intubation, COVID-19

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Authors: Maryam Pirdehghan

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During the Ba'ath Party's rule in Iraq, propaganda was utilized to justify and to promote Saddam Hussein's image in the collective memory as the greatest Arab leader. Consequently, urban walls were routinely covered with images of Saddam. Relying on these images, the regime aimed to provide a basis for evoking meanings in the public opinion, which would supposedly strengthen Saddam’s power and reconstruct facts to legitimize his political ideology. Nonetheless, Saddam was not always portrayed with common and explicit elements but in certain periods of his rule, the paintings depicted him in an unusual context, where various historical and contemporary elements were combined in a narrative background. Therefore, an understanding of the implied socio-political references of these elements is required to fully elucidate the impact of these images on forming the memory and collective unconscious of the Iraqi people. To obtain such understanding, one needs to address the following questions: a) How Saddam Hussein is portrayed in mural during his rule? b) What of elements and mythical-historical narratives are found in the paintings? c) Which Saddam's political views were subject to the collective memory through mural? Employing visual semiotics, this study reveals that during Saddam Hussein's regime, the paintings were initially simple portraits but gradually transformed into narrative images, characterized by a complex network of historical, mythical and religious elements. These elements demonstrate the transformation of a secular-nationalist politician into a Muslim ruler who tried to instill three major policies in domestic and international relations i.e. the arabization of Iraq, as well as the propagation of pan-arabism ideology (first period), the implementation of anti-Israel policy (second period) and the implementation of anti-American-British policy (last period).

Keywords: Ba'ath Party, Saddam Hussein, mural, Iraq, propaganda, collective memory

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Authors: Marny S. Menkes Lemmel

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Upon hearing or reading the term agape love in a Christian context, one typically thinks of God's love for people and the type of love people should have for God and others. While C.S. Lewis, a significant propagator of this view, and others with a similar opinion are correct in their knowledge of agape in the New Testament in most occurrences, nonetheless, examples of this term appear in the New Testament having quite a different sense. The New World Encyclopedia, regarding the verb form of agape, 'agapao,' comments that it is occasionally used also in a negative sense, but here and elsewhere, there is no elaboration on the significance of these negative instances. If intensity and sacrifice are the crucial constituents of God's agape love and that of his followers, who are commanded to love as God does, the negative instances of this term in the New Testament conceivably indicate that a person's love for improper recipients is likewise intense and sacrificial. This is significant because one who has chosen to direct such love neither to God nor his "neighbors," but to inanimate things or status, clearly shows his priorities, having decided to put all his energy and resources into them while demeaning those for whom God has required such love, including God himself. It is not merely a matter of a person dividing his agape love among several proper objects of that love, but of directing it toward improper targets. Not to heed God's commands regarding whom to love is to break God's entire law, and not to love whom one should, but to love what one should not, is not merely a matter of indifference, but is disloyalty and loathing. An example of such use of the term agape occurs in Luke 11:43 where the Pharisees do not and cannot love God at the same time as loving a place of honor in the synagogues and greetings in the public arena. The exclamation of their dire peril because of their love for the latter reveals that the previously mentioned love objects are not in God's gamut of proper recipients. Furthermore, it appears to be a logical conclusion that since the Pharisees love the latter, they likewise despise God and those whom God requires his people to love. Conversely, the objects of the Pharisees' love in this verse should be what followers of God ought to despise and avoid. In short, appearances of the use of the verb agapao in a negative context are blatant antitheses to what God expects and should alert the reader or listener to take notice. These negative uses are worthy of further discussion than a brief aside by scholars of their existence without additional comment.

Keywords: agape love, divine commands, focus, new testament context, sacrificial

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Authors: Marta Kaprzyk

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The cinema of Alejandro González Iñárritu hasn’t been subjected to a lot of detailed analysis yet, what makes it an exceptionally interesting research material. The purpose of this presentation is to discuss the significance of urban space in three films of this Mexican director, that forms Death Trilogy: ‘Amores Perros’ (2000), ‘21 Grams’ (2003) and ‘Babel’ (2006). The fact that in the aforementioned movies the urban space itself becomes an additional protagonist with its own identity, psychology and the ability to transform and affect other characters, in itself warrants for independent research and analysis. Independently, such mode of presenting urban space has another function; it enables the director to complement the rest of characters. The basis for methodology of this description of cinematographic space is to treat its visual layer as a point of departure for a detailed analysis. At the same time, the analysis itself will be supported by recognised academic theories concerning special issues, which are transformed here into essential tools necessary to describe the world (mise-en-scène) created by González Iñárritu. In ‘Amores perros’ the Mexico City serves as a scenery – a place full of contradictions- in the movie depicted as a modern conglomerate and an urban jungle, as well as a labyrinth of poverty and violence. In this work stylistic tropes can be found in an intertextual dialogue of the director with photographies of Nan Goldin and Mary Ellen Mark. The story recounted in ‘21 Grams’, the most tragic piece in the trilogy, is characterised by almost hyperrealistic sadism. It takes place in Memphis, which on the screen turns into an impersonal formation full of heterotopias described by Michel Foucault and non-places, as defined by Marc Augé in his essay. By contrast, the main urban space in ‘Babel’ is Tokio, which seems to perfectly correspond with the image of places discussed by Juhani Pallasmaa in his works concerning the reception of the architecture by ‘pathological senses’ in the modern (or, even more adequately, postmodern) world. It’s portrayed as a city full of buildings that look so surreal, that they seem to be completely unsuitable for the humans to move between them. Ultimately, the aim of this paper is to demonstrate the coherence of the manner in which González Iñárritu designs urban spaces in his Death Trilogy. In particular, the author attempts to examine the imperative role of the cities that form three specific microcosms in which the protagonists of the Mexican director live their overwhelming tragedies.

Keywords: cinematographic space, Death Trilogy, film Studies, González Iñárritu Alejandro, urban space

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Authors: Mercy E. Makpor

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Traditional Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) idea has gone beyond just ensuring safety environments, caring about global warming and ensuring good living standards and conditions for the society at large. The paradigm shift is towards a focus on strategic objectives and the long-term value creation for both businesses and the society at large for a realistic future. As an important approach to solving social and environment issues, CSR has been accepted globally. Yet the approach is expected to go beyond where it is currently. So much is expected from businesses and governments at every level globally and locally. This then leads to the original idea of the concept, that is, how it originated and how it has been perceived over the years. Little wonder there has been a lot of definitions surrounding the concept without a major globally acceptable definition of it. The definition of CSR given by the European Commission will be considered for the purpose of this paper. Sustainable Development (SD), on the other hand, has been viewed in recent years as an ethical concept explained in the UN-Report termed “Our Common Future,” which can also be referred to as the Brundtland report. The report summarises the need for SD to take place in the present without comprising the future. However, the recent 21st-century framework on sustainability known as the “Triple Bottom Line (TBL)” framework, has added its voice to the concepts of CSR and sustainable development. The TBL model is of the opinion that businesses should not only report on their financial performance but also on their social and environmental performances, highlighting that CSR has gone beyond just the “material-impact” approach towards a “Future-Oriented” approach (sustainability). In this paper, the concept of CSR is revisited by exploring the various theories therein. The discourse on the concepts of sustainable development and sustainable development frameworks will also be indicated, thereby inducing these into how CSR can benefit both businesses and their stakeholders as well as the entirety of the society, not just for the present but for the future. It does this by exploring the importance of both concepts (CSR and SD) and concludes by making recommendations for a more empirical research in the near future.

Keywords: corporate social responsibility, sustainable development, sustainability, triple bottom line model

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Authors: Vladimir Sharapaev

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This paper seeks to address the question of the authorship of copyrighted works created solely by the artificial intelligence or with the use thereof, and proposes possible interpretational or legislative solutions to the problems arising from the plurality of the persons potentially involved in the ultimate creation of the work and division of tasks among such persons. Being based on the commonly accepted assumption that a copyrighted work can only be created by a natural person, the paper does not deal with the issues regarding the creativity of the artificial intelligence per se (or the lack thereof), and instead focuses on the distribution of the intellectual property rights potentially belonging to the creators of the artificial intelligence and/or the creators of the content used for the formation of the copyrighted work. Moreover, the technical development and rapid improvement of the AI-based programmes, which tend to be reaching even greater independence on a human being, give rise to the question whether the initial creators of the artificial intelligence can be entitled to the intellectual property rights to the works created by such AI at all. As the juridical practice of some European courts and legal doctrine tends to incline to the latter opinion, indicating that the works created by the AI may not at all enjoy copyright protection, the questions of authorships appear to be causing great concerns among the investors in the development of the relevant technology. Although the technology companies dispose with further instruments of protection of their investments, the risk of the works in question not being copyrighted caused by the inconsistency of the case law and a certain research gap constitutes a highly important issue. In order to assess the possible interpretations, the author adopted a doctrinal and analytical approach to the research, systematically analysing the European and Czech copyright laws and case law in some EU jurisdictions. This study aims to contribute to greater legal certainty regarding the issues of the authorship of the AI-created works and define possible clues for further research.

Keywords: artificial intelligence, copyright, authorship, copyrighted work, intellectual property

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Authors: Freyedon Ahmadi

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Corporate citizenship is considered as one of the most discussed topics in the developed countries, in which a citizen considers a Corporate just like a usual citizen with every civil right as respectful for corporate as for actual citizens, and in return citizens expect that corporate would pay a reciprocal respect to them. The current study’s purpose is to identify the impact of the current state of corporate citizenship along effective factors on its condition on industrial producing units, in order to find an accession plane for corporate citizenship development. In this study corporate citizenship is studied in four dimensions like legal corporate, economical corporate, ethical corporate and voluntary corporate. Moreover, effective factors’ impact on corporate citizenship is explored based on threefold dimensional model: behavioral, structural, and content factors, as well. In this study, 50 corporate of Food industry and of petrochemical industry, along with 200 selected individuals from directors’ board on Tehran province’s scale with stratified random sampling method, are chosen as actuarial sample. If based on functional goal and compilation methods, the present study is a description of correlation type; questionnaire is used for accumulation of initial Data. For Instrument Validity expert’s opinion is used and structural equations and its reliability is qualified by using Cronbach Alpha. The results of this study indicate that close to 70 percent of under survey corporate have not a good condition in corporate citizenship. And all of structural factors, behavioral factors, contextual factors, have a great deal of impression and impact on the advent corporate citizenship behavior in the producing Units. Among the behavioral factors, social responsibility; among structural factors, organic structure and human centered orientation, medium size, high organizational capacity; and among the contextual factors, the clientele’s positive viewpoints toward corporate had the utmost importance in impression on under survey Producing units.

Keywords: corporate citizenship, structural factors, behavioral factors, contextual factors, producing units

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Authors: Euripides Antoniades

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In 1821, the Greek Revolution movement, under the political influence that arose from the French revolution, and the corresponding movements in Italy, Germany and America, demanded the liberation of the nation and the establishment of an independent national state. Published topics in the British press regarding the Greek Revolution, focused on: a)the right of the Greeks to claim their freedom from Turkish domination in order to establish an independent state based on the principle of national autonomy, b)criticism regarding Turkish rule as illegal and the power of the Ottoman Sultan as arbitrary, c)the recognition of the Greek identity and its distinction from the Turkish one and d)the endorsement Greeks as the descendants of ancient Greeks. The London Times is a print publication that presents, in chronological or thematic order, the news, opinions or announcements about the most important events that have occurred in a place during a specified period of time. A combination of qualitative and quantitative content analysis was applied. An attempt was made to record Greek Revolution references along with the usage of specific words and expressions that contribute to the representation of the historical events and their exposure to the reading public. Key finds of this research reveal that a)there was a frequency of passionate daily articles concerning the events in Greece, their length, and context in The Times of London, b)he British public opinion was influenced by this particular newspaper and c) he newspaper published various news about the revolution by adopting the role of animator of the Greek struggle. In fact, this type of news was the main substance of the The London Times’ structure, establishing a positive image about the Greek Revolution contributing to the European diplomatic development. These factors offered a change in the attitude of the British and Russians respectively assuming a positive approach towards Greece.

Keywords: Greece, revolution, press, the london times, great britain, mass media

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Authors: B. Self, V. Fleming, C. Maxwell

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The fourth clause of the UK 1967 Abortion Act allows individuals (including health care practitioners) to conscientiously object to participating in an abortion. Individuals are able to object if they consider that participating is incompatible with their religious, moral, philosophical, ethical, or personal beliefs. Currently, there is no research on service users’ opinions and understandings of conscientious objection or the impact of conscientious objection from the UK service users’ perspective. This perspective is imperative in understanding the real-world consequences and impact of conscientious objection and essential when creating policy and guidelines. This qualitative research took a liberal feminist approach. It provided a platform for service users to share their experiences of abortion and conscientious objection, as well as their opinions and understandings of conscientious objection. The method employed was semi-structured interviews. Findings indicated that conscientious objection could work in practice. However, it is currently failing some individuals, as health care practitioners are not always referring and informing service users. Participants didn’t experience burdens such as long waiting times and were still able to access legal abortion. However, participants did experience negative emotional effects, as they were often left feeling scared, angry, and hopeless when they were not referred. Moreover, participants’ opinions on conscientious objection in the UK varied greatly. The majority supported the most common approach within the literature and in practice, whereby health care practitioners are able to object so long as they refer and inform the service user. However, the opinion that health care practitioners should not be allowed to object or should be able to object without referring and informing was also present. Without this research, the impact that conscientious objection is having on service users in the UK and service users’ opinions on conscientious objection wouldn’t be known. These findings will be used to inform national policy and guidelines, making access to abortion fairer and safer for all.

Keywords: conscientious objection, abortion, medical ethics, reproductive justice

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Authors: Sarinra Thongmee, Krittaporn Prakobsaeng, Adithep Mingsuan, Chanyapak Polkhet, Supattra Wongsuk

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The purposes of this research and developmentwasto develop and evaluation of the clinical nursingpractice guideline (CNPG) for the prevention infection during intubation in patient with suspected or confirmedCOVID-19 patient. This study was developed by using the evidencebased practice model of Soukup (2000) asa conceptual framework. The study consisted of 4 steps: 1) situational analysis of intubation service in patientswith confirmed COVID-19; 2) development of the CNPG; 3) apply the NPG to trial; and 4) evaluation of the CNPG. The sample consisted of 52 nurse anesthetists and 25 infected or suspected COVID-19 patients. The research instrument consisted of 1) the CNPG, which was developed by the researchers; 2) the nurses anesthetist opinion questionnaire to the guideline; 3) the evaluation practice form; and 4) the nurse anesthetist knowledge test on nursing care of patients infected with COVID-19. Data were analyzed by using descriptive statistics, and Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed rank test. The results revealed this developed CNPG consists of 4 sections: 1)the CNPG for airborne precautions2) the preparation of anesthetic and intubation equipments3) the roles and duties of the intubation team, 4) the guidelines for intubation in suspected or confirmed COVID-19 patients. The results of CNPG use found that 1)the provider: using NPG in providers revealed that nurse anesthetist had a higher mean of knowledge scores than before using CNPG statistically significant at the 0.05 level (p<0.01) and able to follow the NPG 100% inall activities. The anesthetic team was not infected with COVID-19 from intubation outside the operating room. 2)the client: the patient was safe, with no complications from intubation. Summary CNPG to prevent infection during reintubation of suspected or confirmedCOVID-19patient was appropriate and applicable to practice.

Keywords: clinical nursing practice guideline, prevention of infection, endotracheal intubation, COVID-19

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Authors: Paiboon Chuwatthanakij

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Each of the countries around the world has different ways of management and many of them depend on people to administrate their country. Thailand, for example, empowers the sovereignty of Thai people under constitution; however, our Thai voting system is not able to flow fast enough under the current Political management system. The sovereignty of Thai people is addressing this problem through representatives during current elections, in order to set a new policy for the countries ideology to change in the House and the Cabinet. This is particularly important in a democracy to be developed under our current political institution. The Organic Act on Political Parties 2007 is the establishment we have today that is causing confrontations within the establishment. There are many political parties that will soon be abolished. Many political parties have already been subsidized. This research study is to analyze the legal problems with the political party establishment under the Organic Act on Political Parties 2007. This will focus on the freedom of each political establishment compared to an effective political operation. Textbooks and academic papers will be referenced from studies home and abroad. The study revealed that Organic Act on Political Parties 2007 has strict provisions on the political structure over the number of members and the number of branches involved within political parties system. Such operations shall be completed within one year; but under the existing laws the small parties are not able to participate with the bigger parties. The cities are capable of fulfilling small political party requirements but fail to become coalesced because the current laws won't allow them to be united as one. It is important to allow all independent political parties to join our current political structure. Board members can’t help the smaller parties to become a large organization under the existing Thai laws. Creating a new establishment that functions efficiently throughout all branches would be one solution to these legal problems between all political parties. With this new operation, individual political parties can participate with the bigger parties during elections. Until current political institutions change their system to accommodate public opinion, these current Thai laws will continue to be a problem with all political parties in Thailand.

Keywords: coalesced, political party, sovereignty, elections

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Authors: Kubra Sultan Yuzuncuyil, Aytekin İsman, Berkay Bulus

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With the developments of information and communication technologies, the forms of molding public opinion have changed. In the presence of Internet, the notion of activism has been endowed with digital codes. Activists have engaged the use of Internet into their campaigns and the process of creating collective identity. Activist movements have been incorporating the relevance of new communication technologies for their goals and opposition. Creating and managing activism through Internet is called Online Activism. In this main, Slow Food Movement which was emerged within the philosophy of defending regional, fair and sustainable food has been engaging Internet into their activist campaign. This movement supports the idea that a new food system which allows strong connections between plate and planet is possible. In order to make their voices heard, it has utilized social networks and develop particular skills in the framework online activism. This study analyzes online activist skills of Slow Food Movement (SFM) develop and attempts to measure its effectiveness. To achieve this aim, it adopts the model proposed by Sivitandies and Shah and conduct both qualitiative and quantiative content analysis on social network use of Slow Food Movement. In this regard, the sample is chosen as the official profile and analyzed between in a three month period respectively March-May 2017. It was found that SFM develops particular techniques that appeal to the model of Sivitandies and Shah. The prominent skill in this regard was found as hyperlink abbreviation and use of multimedia elements. On the other hand, there are inadequacies in hashtag and interactivity use. The importance of this study is that it highlights and discusses how online activism can be engaged into a social movement. It also reveals current online activism skills of SFM and their effectiveness. Furthermore, it makes suggestions to enhance the related abilities and strengthen its voice on social networks.

Keywords: slow food movement, Twitter, internet, online activism

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Authors: Atinder Pal Kaur

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A central characteristic of people is their apparent movement from one station to other for their sustenance. Human migration has become one of the most challenging issues faced by the world today. Migration represents an important dimension in world-wide setting; and remittances received by families constitute a major agent in integrating societies in the all over the world, both economically and socially. This paper is an attempt to explore the impact of male migration and remittances upon the family system. This paper brings out how the women play the role of head of the household and take all the economic decisions, but still faces discrimination in the family, that bring loneliness and emotional breakdown on their personal front. For the purpose of this study, data was collected using 30 interviews and 10 case studies in the Doaba region of Punjab. The respondents were classified into two age groups 20-35 years and above 40 years aged women whose husbands migrated abroad. The findings of this study revealed that even though the women were taking some of the economic decisions, but in majority of the cases the patriarchal structure still existed and power remained in the hands of their husbands or in-laws. It was found that women of different age groups reported differently in terms of authority that they have regarding remittances and its consequences in their emotional well-being. The distinction related to their participation in public and private spheres still exists and public spheres are mostly dominated by male members of the family. It can be concluded that freedom of women to take decision on their own is still restricted and they are subjugated to follow their husband or in-law’s opinion in matters related to both public and private spheres. However, old age group women enjoyed more independence and freedom to take decision in comparison to young age women. Loneliness and depression were more common in the young age respondent’s group than in old age women.

Keywords: gender discrimination, migration, patriarchal structure, remittances

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