Search results for: personal growth

Authors: Christia C. Baltar

Abstract:

Everybody goes to primary education but not all proceed to secondary education because of poverty and it is evident in the Philippines. Moreover, the number goes down when they reach higher education. The researcher believes that higher education may improve the standard of living of the family looking at the economic benefits of it. Once one graduated from a particular degree, one may employ with higher wage than those who are non-degree holder. Every year the Philippines produce more than five hundred thousand graduates of higher education and it keeps on increasing every year. Thus, the competition in the employment is really high. It is then important to pursue higher education than settling to a high school graduate because a degree is what most of the employer is looking for. The Philippine government through the Department of Labor and Employment is offering job fairs to all cities as much as possible just to cater employment for those graduates away from urban areas like in Manila and even the privates sectors also proposing for job fairs. Researcher conducted a survey in her institution and she further used secondary information to strengthen the findings of her survey. Researcher used descriptive measures, chi-square test for independence, and the correlation coefficient to analyze the data in her survey. In the survey conducted results show that there was an increase on the income of the family of the graduates of higher education. The graduates believed that their standard of living improved because they were able to work in a better job. The data were analyzed and the results show that there was no significant relationship on sex, age and marital status of the graduates to their economic status but the degree program they enrolled in the tertiary education affects their economic status. The impact of earning higher education can be seen indirectly to the economic growth of the Philippines. Finally, researcher concludes that there is direct and indirect impact of the higher education to the economic status of the graduates.

Keywords: economic, economic benefits, higher education, standard of living

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Authors: Thilivhali E. Rasimphi, David Tinarwo

Abstract:

Access to energy is crucial in poverty alleviation, economic growth, education, and agricultural improvement. The best renewable energy source is one which is locally available, affordable, and can easily be used and managed by local communities. The usage of renewable energy technology has the potential to alleviate many of the current problems facing rural areas. To address energy poverty, biogas technology has become an important part of resolving such. This study, therefore, examines the performance of digesters in Gawula village; it also identifies the contributing factors to the adoption and use of the technology. Data was collected using an open-ended questionnaire from biogas users. To evaluate the performance of the digesters, a data envelopment analysis (DEA) non-parametric technique was used, and to identify key factors affecting adoption, a logit model was applied. The reviewed critical barriers to biogas development in the area seem to be a poor institutional framework, poor infrastructure, a lack of technical support, user training on maintenance and operation, and as such, the implemented plants have failed to make the desired impact. Thus most digesters were abandoned. To create awareness amongst rural communities, government involvement is key, and there is a need for national programs. Biogas technology does what few other renewable energy technologies do, which is to integrate waste management and energy. This creates a substantial opportunity for biogas generation and penetration. That is, a promising pathway towards achieving sustainable development through biogas technology.

Keywords: domestic biogas technology, economic, sustainable, social, rural development

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Authors: Saul Emilio Rivero Mejia, Estefanya Marin Tabares, Carlos Andres Rodriguez Toro, Katherine Bolano Restrepo, Sarita Santa Cortes

Abstract:

Medellin is the Colombian city with the best public transportation system in the country, which is composed of two subway lines, five metro cables, two Bus Rapid Transit lines, and a streetcar. But despite the above, the Aburra Valley, the area in which the city is located, comparatively speaking, has a lower number of urban roads per inhabitant built, compared to the national average. In addition, since there is approximately one vehicle for every three inhabitants in Medellin, the problems of congestion and environmental pollution have become more acute over the years, and it has even been necessary to implement restrictive measures to the use of private vehicles on a permanent basis. In that sense, due to the limitations of physical space, the low public investment in road infrastructure, it is necessary to opt for mobility alternatives according to the above. Within the options for the city, there is what is known as micromobility. Micromobility is understood as those small and light means of transport used to travel short distances, which use electrical energy, such as skateboards and bicycles. These transport alternatives have a high potential for use by the city's young population, but this requires an adequate infrastructure and also state regulation. Taking into account the above, this paper will analyze the current state and future of micro mobility in the city of Medellin, making a prospective analysis, supported by a PEST (political, economic, social and technological) analysis. Based on the above, it is expected to identify the growth of demand for these alternative means and its impact on the mobility of the city in the medium and short term.

Keywords: electric, micromobility, transport, sustainable

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Authors: Annika Freudenberger, Sin Sokhong

Abstract:

In just a few years, the Face-to-Face Victory Gardens Project (F2F) in Cambodia has developed a high-impact project that has provided immediate and tangible benefits to local families. This has been accomplished with a relatively hands-off approach that relies on households’ own motivation and personal investments of time and resources -which is both unique and impressive in the landscape of NGO and government initiatives in the area. Households have been growing food both for their own consumption and to sell or exchange. Not all targeted beneficiaries are equally motivated and maximizing their involvement, but there is a clear subset of households -particularly those who serve as facilitators- whose circumstances have been transformed as a result of F2F. A number of household factors and contextual economic factors affect families’ income generation opportunities. All the households we spoke with became involved with F2F with the goal of selling some proportion of their produce (i.e., not exclusively for their own consumption). For some, this income is marginal and supplemental to their core household income; for others, it is substantial and transformative. Some engage directly with customers/buyers in their immediate community, while others sell in larger nearby markets, and others link up with intermediary vendors. All struggle, to a certain extent, to compete in a local economy flooded with cheap produce imported from large-scale growers in neighboring provinces, Thailand, and Vietnam, although households who grow and sell herbs and greens popular in Khmer cuisine have found a stronger local market. Some are content with the scale of their garden, the income they make, and the current level of effort required to maintain it; others would like to expand but are faced with land constraints and water management challenges. Households making a substantial income from selling their products have achieved success in different ways, making it difficult to pinpoint a clear “model” for replication. Within our small sample size of interviewees, it seems as though the families with a clear passion for their gardens and high motivation to work hard to bring their products to market have succeeded in doing so. Khmer greens and herbs have been the most successful; they are not high-value crops, but they are fairly easy to grow, and there is a constant demand. These crops are also not imported as much, so prices are more stable than those of crops such as long beans. Although we talked to a limited number of individuals, it also appears as though successful families either restricted their crops to those that would grow well in drought or flood conditions (depending on which they are affected by most); or benefit already from water management infrastructure such as water tanks which helps them diversify their crops and helps them build their resilience.

Keywords: food security, Victory Gardens, nutrition, Cambodia

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Authors: Lady Salvador Purganan, Jojo M. Villamin, Noel L. Lansang

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Tourism is a multifaceted but interdependent industry. This industry is composed of four major players, the public sector, the private sector, the local community, and the tourists. Each player has a vital role in the success of delivering high-quality tourism products and activities. There are various manifestations of positive economic outcomes that benefit the local community. Pro-poor tourism development approach has a great potential to serve as an avenue for capacity building leading to economic independence since natural attractions and cultural resources are assets that can be capitalized on, especially by the poor, because it is more accessible to them compared to financial resources. In the National Tourism Development Plan 2016-2022, specific mechanisms are not reflected to combat and lower poverty incidence through tourism. The researcher used the multidimensional poverty theory and sustainable tourism theory to formulate indicators in the research instrument and social exchange theory. The expected output of the study is to unlock opportunities, specifically in Brgy. Sta. Lucia, Guimba, Nueva Ecija, by crafting policies taking into utmost consideration local community involvement and participation in the process of tourism development which is essential in attaining inclusive growth and sustainability. This study will apply the sequential explanatory design mixed-method approach.

Keywords: pro-poor tourism, poverty alleviation, livelihood opportunities, tourism development plan

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Authors: Kiranmay Sarma

Abstract:

Recent decades have witnessed rapid increase in urbanization, for which, rural-urban migration is stated to be the principal reason. Urban growth throughout the world has already outstripped the capacities of most of the cities to provide basic amenities to the citizens, including clean drinking water and consequently, they are struggling to get fresh and clean water to meet water demands. Delhi, the capital of India, is one of the rapid fast growing metropolitan cities of the country. As a result, there has been large influx of population during the last few decades and pressure exerted to the limited available water resources, mainly on groundwater. Considering this important aspect, the present research has been designed to study the effects of urbanization on the green cover and groundwater and their relationships of Delhi. For the purpose, four different land uses of the study area have been considered, viz., protected forest area, trees outside forest, maintained park and settlement area. Samples for groundwater and vegetation were collected seasonally in post-monsoon (October), winter (February) and summer (June) at each study site for two years during 2012 and 2014. The results were integrated into GIS platform. The spatial distribution of groundwater showed that the concentration of most of the ions is decreasing from northern to southern parts of Delhi, thus groundwater shows an improving trend from north to south. The depth was found to be improving from south to north Delhi, i.e., opposite to the water quality. The study concludes the groundwater properties in Delhi vary spatially with depending on the types of land cover.

Keywords: groundwater, urbanization, GIS, green cover, Delhi

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Authors: Estefanya Vazquez-Casaubon, Veroline Cauberghe, Dieneke Van de Sompel, Hayley Pearce

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Working together to reduce the anthropogenic impact should be a collective action, including effort within the household. In the matter, children are considered to have an important role in influencing the household to reduce the environmental impact through reversed socialization where children motivate and increase the concern of the parents towards environmental protection. Previous studies reveal that communication between parents and kids is key for effective reversed socialization. However, multiple barriers have been identified in the literature, such as the acceptance of the influence from the kids, the properties of the communication, among other factors. Based on the previous evidence, the present study aims to assess barriers and facilitators of communication at the household level that have an impact on reversed socialization. More precisely, the study examines how parents’ climate change coping strategy (problem-focused, meaning-focused, disregarding) influences the valence and the type of the communication related to climate change, and eventually the extent to which they report their beliefs and behaviours to be influenced by the pro-environmental perspectives of their children; i.e. reversed socialization. Via an online survey, 723 Belgian parents self-reported on communication about environmental protection and risk within their household (such as the frequency of exchange about topics related to climate change sourced from school, the household rules, imparting knowledge to the children, and outer factors like media or peer pressure, the emotional valence of the communication), their perceived socialization, and personal factors (coping mechanisms towards climate change). The results, using structural equation modelling, revealed that parents applying a problem-solving coping strategy related to climate change, appear to communicate more often in a positive than in a negative manner. Parents with a disregarding coping style towards climate change appear to communicate less often in a positive way within the household. Parents that cope via meaning-making of climate change showed to communicate less often in either a positive or negative way. Moreover, the perceived valence of the communication (positive or negative) influenced the frequency and type of household communication. Positive emotions increased the frequency of the communication overall. However, the direct effect of neither of the coping mechanisms on the reversed socialization was significant. High frequency of communication about the media, environmental views of the household members among other external topics had a positive impact on the perceived socialization, followed by discussions school-related; while parental instructing had a negative impact on the perceived socialization. Moreover, the frequency of communication was strongly affected by the perceived valence of the communication (positive or negative). The results go in line with previous evidence that a higher frequency of communication facilitates reversed socialization. Hence the results outstand how the coping mechanisms of the parents can be either a facilitator when they cope via problem-solving, while parents that disregard might avert frequent communication about climate change at the household.

Keywords: communication, parents’ coping mechanisms, environmental protection, household, perceived socialization

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Authors: Kirsi Snellman, Johannes Gartner, , Katja Upadaya

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A transition towards a future where the economy serves society so that it evolves within the safe operating space of the planet calls for fundamental changes in the way managers think, feel and act, and make decisions that relate to social and environmental issues. Sustainable decision-making in organizations are often challenging tasks characterized by trade-offs between environmental, social and financial aspects, thus often bringing forth ethical concerns. Although there have been significant developments in incorporating uncertainty into environmental decision-making and measuring constructs and dimensions in ethical behavior in organizations, the majority of sustainable decision-making models are rationalist-based. Moreover, research in psychology indicates that one’s readiness to make a decision depends on the individual’s state of mind, the feasibility of the implied change, and the compatibility of strategies and tactics of implementation. Although very informative, most of this extant research is limited in the sense that it often directs attention towards the rational instead of the emotional. Hence, little is known about the role of emotions in sustainable decision making, especially in situations where decision-makers evaluate a variety of options and use their feelings as a source of information in tackling the uncertainty. To fill this lacuna, and to embrace the uncertainty and perceived risk involved in decisions that touch upon social and environmental aspects, it is important to add emotion to the evaluation when aiming to reach the one right and good ethical decision outcome. This analysis builds on recent findings in moral psychology that associate feelings and intuitions with ethical decisions and suggests that emotions can sensitize the manager to evaluate the rightness or wrongness of alternatives if ethical concerns are present in sustainable decision making. Capturing such sensitive evaluation as triggered by intuitions, we suggest that rational justification can be complemented by using emotions as a tool to tune in to what feels right in making sustainable decisions. This analysis integrates ethical decision-making theories with recent advancements in emotion theories. It determines the conditions under which emotions play a role in sustainability decisions by contributing to a personal equilibrium in which intuition and rationality are both activated and in accord. It complements the rationalist ethics view according to which nothing fogs the mind in decision making so thoroughly as emotion, and the concept of cheater’s high that links unethical behavior with positive affect. This analysis contributes to theory with a novel theoretical model that specifies when and why managers, who are more emotional, are, in fact, more likely to make ethical decisions than those managers who are more rational. It also proposes practical advice on how emotions can convert the manager’s preferences into choices that benefit both common good and one’s own good throughout the transition towards a more sustainable future.

Keywords: emotion, ethical decision making, intuition, sustainability

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Authors: Asma Mehan

Abstract:

Under the thrust of technological changes, population growth and vehicular traffic, Iranian historical squares have lost their significance and they are no longer the main social nodes of the society. This research focuses on how historical public squares can inspire designers to enhance social interactions among citizens in Iranian urban context. Moreover, the recent master plan of Tehran demonstrates the lack of public spaces designed for the purpose of people’s social gatherings. For filling this gap, first the current situation of 7 selected primary historical public squares in Tehran including Sabze Meydan, Arg, Topkhaneh, Baherstan, Mokhber-al-dole, Rah Ahan and Hassan Abad have been compared. Later, the influencing elements on social interactions of the public squares such as subjective factors (human relationships and memories) and objective factors (natural and built environment) have been investigated. As a conclusion, some strategies are proposed for improving social interactions in historical public squares like; holding cultural, national, athletic and religious events, defining different and new functions in public squares’ surrounding, increasing pedestrian routs, reviving the collective memory, demonstrating the historical importance of square, eliminating visual obstacles across the square, organization the natural elements of the square, appropriate pavement for social activities. Finally, it is argued that the combination of all influencing factors which are: human interactions, natural elements and built environment criteria will lead to enhance the historical public squares’ potential for social interaction.

Keywords: historical square, Iranian public square, social interaction, Tehran

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Authors: Marcelo Sifuentes López

Abstract:

Strategic performance definition and follow-up processes have to be clear in order to provide value in today’s competitive world. Customer expectations must be linked to internal organization strategic objectives leading to profitability and supported by visibility and flexibility among others.By taking a whole picture of the supply chain, the executive, and its team will define the current supply chain situation and an insight into potential opportunities to improve processes and provide value to main stakeholders. A systematic performance evaluation process based on operational and financial indicators defined by customer requirements needs to be implemented and periodically reviewed in order to mitigate costs and risks on time.Supplier long term relationship and collaboration plays a key role using resources available, real-time communication, innovation and new ways to capitalize global opportunities like emerging markets; efforts have to focus on the reduction of uncertainties in supply and demand. Leadership has to promote consistency of communication and execution involving suppliers, customers, and the entire organization through the support of a strategic sourcing methodology that assure the targeted competitive strategy and sustainable growth. As customer requirements and expectations are met, results could be captured in a casual picture like a “selfie”; where outcomes could be perceived from any desired angle by them; or like most “selfies”, can be taken with a camera held at arm's length by a third party company rather than using a self-timer.

Keywords: supply chain management, competitive advantage, value creation, collaboration and innovation, global marketplace

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Authors: Sebastian Kohlstädt, Michael Vynnycky, Stephan Goeke, Jan Jäckel, Andreas Gebauer-Teichmann

Abstract:

This paper summarizes the progress in the latest computational fluid dynamics research towards the modeling in of lost core viability in high-pressure die casting. High-pressure die casting is a process that is widely employed in the automotive and neighboring industries due to its advantages in casting quality and cost efficiency. The degrees of freedom are however somewhat limited as it has been so far difficult to use lost cores in the process. This is right now changing and the deployment of lost cores is considered a future growth potential for high-pressure die casting companies. The use of this technology itself is difficult though. The strength of the core material, as chiefly salt is used, is limited and experiments have shown that the cores will not hold under all circumstances and process designs. For this purpose, the publicly available CFD library foam-extend (OpenFOAM) is used, and two additional fluid models for incompressible and compressible two-phase flow are implemented as fluid solver models into the FSI library. For this purpose, the volume-of-fluid (VOF) methodology is used. The necessity for the fluid-structure interaction (FSI) approach is shown by a simple CFD model geometry. The model is benchmarked against analytical models and experimental data. Sufficient agreement is found with the analytical models and good agreement with the experimental data. An outlook on future developments concludes the paper.

Keywords: CFD, fluid-structure interaction, high-pressure die casting, multiphase flow

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Authors: Christia C. Baltar

Abstract:

Everybody goes to primary education but not all proceed to secondary education because of poverty and it is evident in the Philippines. Moreover, the number goes down when they reach higher education. The researcher believes that higher education may improve the standard of living of the family looking at the economic benefits of it. Once one graduated from a particular degree, one may employ with higher wage than those who are non-degree holder. Every year the Philippines produce more than five hundred thousand graduates of higher education and it keeps on increasing every year. Thus, the competition in the employment is really high. It is then important to pursue higher education than settling to a high school graduate because a degree is what most of the employer is looking for. The Philippine government through the Department of Labor and Employment is offering job fairs to all cities as much as possible just to cater employment for those graduates away from urban areas like in Manila and even the privates sectors also proposing for job fairs. Researcher conducted a survey in her institution and she further used secondary information to strengthen the findings of her survey. Researcher used descriptive measures, chi-square test for independence, and the correlation coefficient to analyze the data in her survey. In the survey conducted results show that there was an increase on the income of the family of the graduates of higher education. The graduates believed that their standard of living improved because they were able to work in a better job. The data were analyzed and the results show that there was no significant relationship on sex, age and marital status of the graduates to their economic status but the degree program they enrolled in the tertiary education affects their economic status. The impact of earning higher education can be seen indirectly to the economic growth of the Philippines. Finally, researcher concludes that there is direct and indirect impact of the higher education to the economic status of the graduates.

Keywords: economic benefits, economic status, graduate, higher education

Procedia PDF Downloads 385

Authors: El Ghazi Safae, Cherkaoui Mounia

Abstract:

Within companies, emotions have been forgotten as key elements of successful management systems. Seen as factors which disturb judgment, make reckless acts or affect negatively decision-making. Since management systems were influenced by the Taylorist worker image, that made the work regular and plain, and considered employees as executing machines. However, recently, in globalized economy characterized by a variety of uncertainties, emotions are proved as useful elements, even necessary, to attend high-level management. The work of Elton Mayo and Kurt Lewin reveals the importance of emotions. Since then emotions start to attract considerable attention. These studies have shown that emotions influence, directly or indirectly, many organization processes. For example, the quality of interpersonal relationships, job satisfaction, absenteeism, stress, leadership, performance and team commitment. Emotions became fundamental and indispensable to individual yield and so on to management efficiency. The idea that a person potential is associated to Intellectual Intelligence, measured by the IQ as the main factor of social, professional and even sentimental success, was the main problematic that need to be questioned. The literature on emotional intelligence has made clear that success at work does not only depend on intellectual intelligence but also other factors. Several researches investigating emotional intelligence impact on performance showed that emotionally intelligent managers perform more, attain remarkable results, able to achieve organizational objectives, impact the mood of their subordinates and create a friendly work environment. An improvement in the emotional intelligence of managers is therefore linked to the professional development of the organization and not only to the personal development of the manager. In this context, it would be interesting to question the importance of emotional intelligence. Does it impact organizational performance? What is the importance of emotional intelligence and how it impacts organizational performance? The literature highlighted that measurement and conceptualization of emotional intelligence are difficult to define. Efforts to measure emotional intelligence have identified three models that are more prominent: the mixed model, the ability model, and the trait model. The first is considered as cognitive skill, the second relates to the mixing of emotional skills with personality-related aspects and the latter is intertwined with personality traits. But, despite strong claims about the importance of emotional intelligence in the workplace, few studies have empirically examined the impact of emotional intelligence on organizational performance, because even though the concept of performance is at the heart of all evaluation processes of companies and organizations, we observe that performance remains a multidimensional concept and many authors insist about the vagueness that surrounds the concept. Given the above, this article provides an overview of the researches related to emotional intelligence, particularly focusing on studies that investigated the impact of emotional intelligence on organizational performance to contribute to the emotional intelligence literature and highlight its importance and show how it impacts companies’ performance.

Keywords: emotions, performance, intelligence, firms

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Authors: JoVontae Butts

Abstract:

A central and enduring theme in the study of American politics is political participation, which indicates the health of a democracy, citizen buy-in, and fair political representation. Though voting push factors have been thoroughly researched and are becoming better understood, the effect of those same push factors often varies for marginalized people. Black voters begun to cast votes at a steadily increasing rate following the 1996 election, gradually growing to its highest level in the 2012 presidential election, even surpassing white voter participation rates. The thirty-year growth period of Black voter engagement concluded in the 2016 election, with the number of participating Black voters stumbling by approximately 7% while other demographics remained roughly the same. Theories for the shift in Black voter behavior range from vote suppression to discouragement due to Barack Obama’s concluding tenure in office. Furthermore, Black voter engagement rebounded in the 2020 election, leaving turnout and race scholars to speculate even further, predicting that disapproval of Trump energized the Black voter bloc. Though there is much conjecture regarding the changes in Black voter behavior, there is truly little empirical evidence to vet those suppositions. This study engages and quantifies speculations for the changes in Black voter engagement in recent elections using 2016 and 2020 American National Election Studies Pilot Study data. Additionally, this study expands upon McGregor’s theory of political hypervigilance by exploring differences in political engagement for church-attending Black voters and those that do not.

Keywords: race, religion, evangelicalism, political engagement

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Authors: Hector Liu, Chih-Ming Tsai

Abstract:

Consumer behaviors in the subscription of over-the-top (OTT) media services have substantially changed because of the COVID-19 pandemic; hence, this study aims to determine the factors affecting subscription intentions. The increased usage of OTT media, particularly in the lockdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic, has intensified the competition between both global and local streaming providers. While studies have discussed antecedents accounting for this change, they have paid limited attention to the psychological factors that shape consumer behavior in using OTT services. Given the changes in consumers’ psychological states during the pandemic, this study seeks to fill the research gap by integrating the expectancy-value model to provide insights into the key gratifications that consumers seek and obtain and that have affected their subscription to OTT services. This study proposes a theoretical model and assesses this framework on data collected from 1,068 OTT service users in Taiwan. The results strengthen the literature by indicating a clear growth in the popularity and subscription of OTT services because of the COVID-19 lockdowns as well as factors such as perceived quality and satisfaction, which influence behavioral intentions for OTT services. Most crucially, however, OTT viewers who acquired a sense of belonging, a sense of being accompanied, and a sense of reduction in anxiety due to being quarantined and in lockdown show a higher tendency to continue their subscriptions to their OTT services of choice during the pandemic. With consumer behavior trends forever changed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the implications from this study provide OTT service platforms with an opportunity to capitalize on their current and potential customers’ changing desires, demands, and factors for a continued subscription.

Keywords: consumer behavior, COVID-19, expectancy-value model, OTT media services

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Authors: Siti Nor Amira Bt. Mohamad, Mohamad Yazis B. Ali Basah, Muhammad Ridhwan B. Ab. Aziz, Khairil Faizal B. Khairi, Mazlynda Bt. Md. Yusuf, Hisham B. Sabri

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The understanding of risk and the concept of it occurs associated in Islamic financing was well-known in the financial industry by the using of Profit-and-Loss Sharing (PLS). It was presently in any Islamic financial transactions in order to comply with shariah rules. However, the existence of risk in Murabahah contract of financing is an ability that the counterparty is unable to complete its obligations within the agreed terms. Therefore, it is called as credit or default risk. Credit risk occurs when the client fails to make timely payment after the bank makes complete delivery of assets. Thus, it affects the growth of the bank as the banking business is in no position to have appropriate measures to cover the risk. Therefore, the bank may impose penalty on the outstanding balance. This paper aims to highlight the credit risk determinant and issues surrounding in Islamic bank in Malaysia in terms of Murabahah financing and how to manage it by using the proper techniques. Finally, it explores the credit risk management concept that might solve the problems arise. The study found that the credit risk can be managed properly by improving the use of comprehensive reference checklist of business partners on their character and past performance as well as their comprehensive database. Besides that, prevention of credit risk can be done by using collateral as security against the risk and we also argue on the Shariah guidelines and procedures should be implement coherently by the banking business because so that the risk would be control by having an effective instrument for Islamic modes of financing.

Keywords: Islamic banking, credit risk, Murabahah financing, risk mitigation

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Authors: Sudha Subramani, Hua Wang

Abstract:

Domestic Violence (DV) against women is now recognized to be a serious and widespread problem worldwide. There is a growing concern that violence against women has a global public health impact, as well as a violation of human rights. From the existing statistical surveys, it is revealed that there exists a strong relationship between DV and health issues of women like bruising, lacerations, depression, anxiety, flashbacks, sleep disturbances, hyper-arousal, emotional distress, sexually transmitted diseases and so on. This social problem is still considered as behind the closed doors issue and stigmatized topic. Women conceal their sufferings from family and friends, as they experience a lack of trust in others, feelings of shame and embarrassment among the society. Hence, women survivors of DV experience some barriers in seeking the support of specialized services such as health care access, crisis support, and legal guidance. Fortunately, with the popularity of social media like Facebook and Twitter, people share their opinions and emotional feelings to seek the social and emotional support, for sympathetic encouragement, to show compassion and empathy among the public. Considering the DV, social media plays a predominant role in creating the awareness and promoting the support services to the public, as we live in the golden era of social media. The various professional people like the public health researchers, clinicians, psychologists, social workers, national family health organizations, lawyers, and victims or their family and friends share the unprecedentedly valuable information (personal opinions and experiences) in a single platform to improve the social welfare of the community. Though each tweet or post contains a less informational value, the consolidation of millions of messages can generate actionable knowledge and provide valuable insights about the public opinion in general. Hence, this paper reports on an exploratory analysis of the effectiveness of social media for unobtrusive assessment of attitudes and awareness towards DV. In this paper, mixed methods such as qualitative analysis and text mining approaches are used to understand the social media disclosures of DV through the lenses of opinion sharing, anonymity, and support seeking. The results of this study could be helpful to avoid the cost of wide scale surveys, while still maintaining appropriate research conditions is to leverage the abundance of data publicly available on the web. Also, this analysis with data enrichment and consolidation would be useful in assisting advocacy and national family health organizations to provide information about resources and support, raise awareness and counter common stigmatizing attitudes about DV.

Keywords: domestic violence, social media, social stigma and support, women health

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Authors: Stavros Palavouzis, Alexandra Triantafyllopoulou, Aliki Tzima, Epaminondas Paplomatas

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Mating-type genes are present in most filamentous fungi, even though teleomorphs for all species have not been recorded. Our study tries to explore the effect of different growth conditions on the expression of MAT genes in Neofusicoccum mediterraneum. As such, selected isolates were grown in potato dextrose broth or in water agar supplemented with pine needles under a 12 h photoperiod, as well as in constant darkness. Mycelia and spores were collected at different time points, and RNA extraction was performed, with the extracted product being used for cDNA synthesis. New primers for MAT gene expression were designed while qPCR results are underway. The second part of the study involved the isolation and cloning in a selected pGEM-T vector of the Botryosphaeria dothidea MAT1 1 1 and MAT1 2 1 mating genes, including flanking regions. As a next step, the genes were amplified using newly designed primers with engineered restriction sites. Amplicons were excised and subsequently sub-cloned in appropriate binary vectors. The constructs were afterward inserted into Agrobacterium tumefaciens and utilized for Agrobacterium-mediated transformation (ATMT) of Neofusicoccum mediterraneum. At the same time, the transformation of a Verticillium dahliae tomato race 1 strain (70V) was performed as a control. While the procedure was successful in regards to V. dahliae, transformed strains of N. mediterraneum could not be obtained. At present, a new transformation protocol, which utilizes a combination of protoplast and Agro transformation, is being evaluated.

Keywords: anamorph, heterothallism, perithecia, pycnidia, sexual stage

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Authors: Shabeer Khan

Abstract:

The main objective of Islamic Finance is to promote social justice thorough financial inclusion and redistribution of economic resources between rich and poor. The approach of Islamic finance is more comprehensive in nature and covers both formal and informal sectors of the economy, first, through reducing the gap between both sectors, and second by using specific Islamic values to reallocate the wealth between formal and informal sectors. Applying Generalized Method of Movements (GMM) to the annual data spanning from 1995-2015 for 141 countries, this study explores the determinants of informal business sector in Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) countries and then compares with Non-OIC countries. Economic freedom and institutions variables as well as economic growth and money supply are found to reduce informal business sector in both OIC and Non-OIC nations while government expenditure are found to increase informal business sector in both group of nations. Informal Business sector remain the same in both types of countries but still the majority Muslim population in OIC economies create main difference between both groups of nations and justify the potential role of Islamic Finance in informal business sector in OIC nations. The study suggests that institutions quality should be improved and entrepreneurs’ friendly business environment must be provided. This study refines the main features of informal business sector and discuss their implications on policy designing and implementation, particularly in the context of Islamic finance fight against poverty, inequality and improving living standards of informal sector participants in OIC countries.

Keywords: Islamic finance, informal Business Sector, Generalized Method of Movements (GMM) and OIC

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Authors: Saeed Nazari, Masoom Nazari, Ali Hejazi, Siamak Sanoobari Ghazi Jahani, Mohammad Dehghani, Javad Vakili

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More than ever, digitization is an imperative for businesses to keep their competitive advantages, foster innovation and reduce paperwork. To design and successfully implement digital transformation initiatives within process safety management system, employees need to be equipped with the right tool, frameworks, and best practices. we developed a unique full stack application so-called SHEQTool which is entirely dynamic based on our extensive expertise, experience, and client feedback to help business processes particularly operations safety management. We use our best knowledge and scientific methodologies published by CCPS and OSHA Guidelines to streamline operations and integrated them into task management within Petrochemical Companies. We digitalize their main process safety management system elements and their sub elements such as hazard identification and risk management, training and communication, inspection and audit, critical changes management, contractor management, permit to work, pre-start-up safety review, incident reporting and investigation, emergency response plan, personal protective equipment, occupational health, and action management in a fully customizable manner with no programming needs for users. We review the feedback from main actors within petrochemical plant which highlights improving their business performance and productivity as well as keep tracking their functions’ key performance indicators (KPIs) because it; 1) saves time, resources, and costs of all paperwork on our businesses (by Digitalization); 2) reduces errors and improve performance within management system by covering most of daily software needs of the organization and reduce complexity and associated costs of numerous tools and their required training (One Tool Approach); 3) focuses on management systems and integrate functions and put them into traceable task management (RASCI and Flowcharting); 4) helps the entire enterprise be resilient to any change of your processes, technologies, assets with minimum costs (through Organizational Resilience); 5) reduces significantly incidents and errors via world class safety management programs and elements (by Simplification); 6) gives the companies a systematic, traceable, risk based, process based, and science based integrated management system (via proper Methodologies); 7) helps business processes complies with ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISO 45001, ISO 31000, best practices as well as legal regulations by PDCA approach (Compliance).

Keywords: process, safety, digitalization, management, risk, incident, SHEQTool, OSHA, CCPS

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Authors: Sana Masmoudi Mardassi, Yosra Makni Fourati

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Regulators highlight the importance of the Audit Committee (AC) as a key internal corporate governance mechanism. One of the most important roles of this committee is to oversee the financial reporting process. The purpose of this paper is to examine the link between the characteristics of an audit committee and the financial reporting quality by investigating whether the characteristics of audit committees are associated with improved financial reporting quality, especially the Real Earnings Management. In the current study, a panel data from 80 nonfinancial companies listed on the Amsterdam Stock Exchange during the period between 2010 and 2017 were used. To measure audit committee characteristics, four proxies have been used, specifically, audit committee independence, financial expertise, gender diversity and AC meetings. For this research, a linear regression model was used to identify the influence of a set of board characteristics of the audit committee on real earnings management after controlling for firm audit committee size, leverage, size, loss, growth and board size. This research provides empirical evidence of the association between audit committee independence, financial expertise, gender diversity and meetings and Real Earnings Management (REM) as a proxy of financial reporting quality. The study finds that independence and AC Gender diversity are strongly related to financial reporting quality. In fact, these two characteristics constrain REM. The results also suggest that AC- financial expertise reduces to some extent, the likelihood of engaging in REM. These conclusions provide support then to the audit committee requirement under the Dutch Corporate Governance Code rules regarding gender diversity and AC meetings.

Keywords: audit committee, financial expertise, independence, real earnings management

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Authors: J. Ramirez, A. Maldonado, M. de la L. Olvera

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The effect of both the molar concentration of the starting solution and the substrate temperature on the electrical, morphological, structural and optical properties of chemically sprayed fluorine-doped zinc oxide (ZnO:F) thin films deposited on glass substrates, is analyzed in this work. All the starting solutions employed were aged for ten days before the deposition. The results show that as the molar concentration increases, a decrease in the electrical resistivity values is obtained, reaching the minimum in films deposited from a 0.4 M solution at 500°C. A further increase in the molar concentration leads to a very slight increase in the resistivity. On the other hand, as the substrate temperature is increased, the resistivity decreases and a tendency towards to minimum value is evidenced; taking the molar concentration as parameter, minimum values are reached at 500°C. The attain of ZnO:F thin films, with a resistivity as low as 7.8×10-3 Ώcm (sheet resistance of 130 Ώ/☐ and film thickness of 600 nm) measured in as-deposited films is reported here for the first time. The concurrent effect of the high molar concentration of the starting solution, the substrate temperature values used, and the ageing of the starting solution, which might cause polymerization of the zinc ions with the fluorine species, enhance the electrical properties. The structure of the films is polycrystalline, with a (002) preferential growth. Molar concentration rules the surface morphology as at low concentration an hexagonal and porous structure is developed changing to a uniform compact and small grain size surface in the films deposited with the high molar concentrations.

Keywords: zinc oxide, chemical spray, thin films, TCO

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Authors: Khaled Khleifat, Muayyad Abboud, Amjad Khleifat, Humodi Saeed

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In this study, Pseudomonas aeruginosa was isolated from infected burn patients and characterized by standard biochemical tests. The in vitro copper uptake was compared between this isolated pathogenic strain and two non-pathogenic control strains of Gram positive bacteria Bacillusthuringiensis strain Israelisas well as Gram negative bacteria Enterobacter aerogenes. Maximum copper uptake of 470 ppm/g biomass was obtained by P. aeruginosa strain, while the control strains B. thuringiensis andEnterobacter aerogenes had copper uptake of 350 and 383 ppm/g biomass, respectively. However, the lowest copper uptake (60 ppm/g biomass) was observed with another control the saprophytic strain Pseudomonas (Shewanella) putrefaciens. A further investigation regarding the effect of copper toxicity on bacterial growth, gave an MIC score of 600 ppm for P. aeruginosa strain compared to 460 and 300 ppm for the two Gram positive and Gram negative control strains, respectively. In tandem with these in vitro findings, blood analysis on burn patients infected with P. aeruginosa has indicated a selective decrease of copper (hypocupremia) and ceruloplasmin plasma levels. The iron metabolism was also affected by this copper deprivation leading to a similar decrease in plasma levels of PCV, iron, total iron binding capacity, and transferrin. All these hematological changes were significantly different (P < 0.05) from the matched group of non-infected burn patients. The observed hypocupremia in infected burn patients was attributed to demanding scavenger ability by P. aeruginosa strain for the copper of plasma.

Keywords: pseudomonas, Cu uptake, burn patients, biosorption

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Authors: K. Majumdar, S. Datta

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Electricity is recognized as fundamental to industrialization and improving the quality of life of the people. Harnessing the immense untapped hydropower potential in Tripura region opens avenues for growth and provides an opportunity to improve the well-being of the people of the region, while making substantial contribution to the national economy. Gumti hydro power plant generates power to mitigate the crisis of power in Tripura, India. The first unit of hydro power plant (5 MW) was commissioned in June 1976 & another two units of 5 MW was commissioned simultaneously. But out of 15 MW capacity at present only 8-9 MW power is produced from Gumti hydro power plant during rainy season. But during lean season the production reduces to 0.5 MW due to shortage of water. Now, it is essential to implement some mitigation measures so that the further atrocities can be prevented and originality will be possible to restore. The decision making ability of the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and Concordance Analysis Techniques (CAT) are utilized to identify the better decision or solution to the present problem. Some related attributes are identified by the method of surveying within the experts and the available reports and literatures. Similar criteria are removed and ultimately seven relevant ones are identified. All the attributes are compared with each other and rated accordingly to their importance over the other with the help of Pair wise Comparison Matrix. In the present investigation different mitigation measures are identified and compared to find the best suitable alternative which can solve the present uncertainties involving the existence of the Gumti Hydro Power Plant.

Keywords: concordance analysis techniques, analytic hierarchy process, hydro power

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Authors: Vorya Shabrandi

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The study factors of poverty and inequality causes in countries is the subject of many scholars and economists in the last century, theorists in various areas of economic science know different factors as the roots of poverty and inequality in Iran after the 1979 revolution. Economists have emphasized political elements and political scientists on political elements. This research reviews the political economy of poverty and corruption in Iran after the revolution. The findings of this research, based on AcemOgluand Robinson theory, show how the institutional structural dependence of Iran's economy to raw has led to the growth of its non-economic economic institutions and its consequence of the continuity of the release and looting economy and poverty and inequality in Iran's political economy Is. This research was carried out using descriptive-analytical and comparative methods. Many economists try to justify the conditions of the country based on war, sanctions; And the external factors, and ... knows. In this study, we tried to examine the roots of poverty and the looting economy of Iran by implementing Research AcemOgluand Robinson on the institutions and roots of poverty. Looking for a framework for understanding why countries, such as Iran, the reason for the difference in revenue in different countries, as well as the poor or wealth of countries, regardless of the non-effective and non-professional institutions, and why inefficient institutions in some countries, such as Iran, such as Iran It remains and does not have a voluntary political powers to change these institutions. Findings The research shows that institutions are broadly the main reason for the roots of the robust and looting economy (poverty and inequality) in Iran.

Keywords: Iran, plunderable (Loot) economy, raw shopping, poverty and inequality, acem oglu and robinson, non-inclusive institutions

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Authors: Ching-I Chen

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The continued rise of e-commerce is the main driver of the rapid growth of global online purchase. Consumers can nearly buy everything they want at one occasion through online shopping. The purchase behavior models which focus on single product category are insufficient to describe online shopping behavior. Therefore, analysis of multi-category purchase gets more and more popular. For example, market basket analysis explores customers’ buying tendency of the association between product categories. The information derived from market basket analysis facilitates to make cross-selling strategies and product recommendation system. To detect the association between different product categories, we use the market basket analysis with the multidimensional scaling technique to build an associated map which describes how likely multiple product categories are bought at the same time. Besides, we also build an inter-purchase time model for associated products to describe how likely a product will be bought after its associated product is bought. We classify inter-purchase time behaviors of multi-category products into nine types, and use a mixture regression model to integrate those behaviors under our assumptions of purchase sequences. Our sample data is from comScore which provides a panelist-label database that captures detailed browsing and buying behavior of internet users across the United States. Finding the inter-purchase time from books to movie is shorter than the inter-purchase time from movies to books. According to the model analysis and empirical results, this research finally proposes the applications and recommendations in the management.

Keywords: multiple-category purchase behavior, inter-purchase time, market basket analysis, e-commerce

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Authors: Aboagye Boye Gilbert

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Teaching and learning (Education), not only in Ghana but the whole world is regarded as the (Stepping stone) vehicle to accelerate the country’s economy, development and social growth. Basically the ingredients for human development and the country in general is Vocational and Technical education and this has been stressed in Ghana’s education system since Pre-independence. To this effect, this research seeks to determine using demonstration method of Teachings sewing to improve the skills of form 3 Fashion Designing students of Baworo Integrated Community Centre for Employable Skills. In this research, reviewed literature on opinions of other researchers and what other people have done and said on related articles or topics, analyzed the research design used, translate the data gathered in the study. The study was design to gather information from the school on how they use Teaching methods to teach sewing. The targeted respondent contacted to give assistance Consist of students from BICCES, fashion teachers and tailored garment makers. The sample size consisted of 5 teachers, 20 students and 5 tailors were selected to answer questionnaire items that were used to gather the data for the study. The study revealed that most teachers and students agreed to the fact that demonstration, teaching and learning materials had a positive attitude towards the students in learning sewing. The study recommends that there should be more mechanisms in place to serve as a guide.

Keywords: VOTEC, BECE, BICCES, SHS

Procedia PDF Downloads 74

Authors: Andi Tenri Ayu Rahman, Citrakesumasari, Devintha Virani

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Breast milk is the complex biological fluid mix of macronutrient and micronutrient that are considered as perfect food for babies. Zinc has a role in various biological functions and physical growth. This research aims to know the average zinc (Zn) micronutrients content of breast milk by determinants of infant (birth weight) and mother (nutritional status and food intake) and description of the pattern of mothers breastfeeding. The type of research used is observational analytic with cross-sectional study design. The population was 41 mothers in Kassi-Kassi health center within one month. Sample research is mothers who gave birth at term and breastfed her baby. Sampling was done with random sampling technique involving 37 people. Samples of breast milk were analyzed in the laboratory by using the method of Atomic Absorption Spectrofotometry (AAS). This research find that from the samples (n=37) the average contents of zinc in the breast milk is 0,88±0,54 mg/L with the highest value on the group of low birth weight babies (1,13 ± 0,67mg/L), mothers who had normal nutritional status (0,981 ± 0,514 mg/L) and intake low zinc (0,94 ± 0,54 mg/L). Regarding breastfeeding pattern, 67,6% of the samples had had breastfeeding experience and 81,1% of breastfed more than eight times a day. In summary, the highest average value of the zinc content of breast milk was in the group of low birth weight babies, mother with normal nutritional status, and mothers having relatively low intake pattern.

Keywords: zinc, breastmilk, mother, baby

Procedia PDF Downloads 191

Authors: Evelyn Kropfreiter, Roland Bernhard

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There has been an increased interest in school-based whole-child development in the Austrian education system in the last few years. Although there is a consensus among academics that teachers' beliefs are an essential component of their professional competence, there are hardly any studies in the German-speaking world examining teachers' beliefs about school-based character education. To close this gap, we are conducting a mixed methods study combining qualitative interviews and a questionnaire in Austria (doctoral thesis at the University of Salzburg). In this paper, we present preliminary insights into the quantitative strand of the project. In contrast to German-speaking countries, the Anglo-Saxon world has a long tradition of explicit character education in schools. There has been a rising interest in approaches focusing on a neo-Aristotelian form of character education in England. The Jubilee Centre strongly influences the "renaissance" of papers on neo-Aristotelian character education for Character and Virtues, founded in 2012. The quantitative questionnaire study (n = 264) is an online survey of teachers and school principals conducted in four different federal states in spring 2023. Most respondents (n = 264) from lower secondary schools (AHS-Unterstufe and Mittelschule) believe that character education in schools for 10-14-year-olds is more important for society than good exam results. Many teachers state that they consider themselves prepared to promote their students' personal development and life skills through their education and to attend further training courses. However, there are many obstacles in the education system to ensure that a comprehensive education reaches the students. Many teachers state that they consider themselves prepared to promote their students' character strengths and life skills through their education and to attend further training courses. However, there are many obstacles in the education system to ensure that a comprehensive education reaches the students. Among the most cited difficulties, teachers mention the time factor associated with an overcrowded curriculum and a strong focus on performance, which often leaves them needing more time to keep an eye on nurturing the whole person. The fact that character education is not a separate subject, and its implementation needs to be monitored also makes it challenging to implement it in everyday school life. Austrian teachers prioritize moral virtues such as compassion and honesty as character strengths in everyday school life and resilience and commitment in the next place. Our results are like those reported in other studies on teacher's beliefs about character education. They indicate that Austrian teachers want to teach character in their schools but see systemic constraints such as the curriculum, in which personality roles play a subordinate role, and the focus on performance testing in the school system and the associated lack of time as obstacles to fostering more character development in students.

Keywords: character education, life skills, teachers' beliefs, virtues

Procedia PDF Downloads 81

Authors: N. R. Badurally Adam, S. R. Monebhurrun, M. Z. Dauhoo, A. Khoodaruth

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Transport energy demand is vital for the economic growth of any country. Globalisation and better standard of living plays an important role in transport energy demand. Recently, transport energy demand in Mauritius has increased significantly, thus leading to an abuse of natural resources and thereby contributing to global warming. Forecasting the transport energy demand is therefore important for controlling and managing the demand. In this paper, we develop a model to predict the transport energy demand. The model developed is based on a system of five stochastic differential equations (SDEs) consisting of five endogenous variables: fuel price, population, gross domestic product (GDP), number of vehicles and transport energy demand and three exogenous parameters: crude birth rate, crude death rate and labour force. An interval of seven years is used to avoid any falsification of result since Mauritius is a developing country. Data available for Mauritius from year 2003 up to 2009 are used to obtain the values of design variables by applying genetic algorithm. The model is verified and validated for 2010 to 2012 by substituting the values of coefficients obtained by GA in the model and using particle swarm optimisation (PSO) to predict the values of the exogenous parameters. This model will help to control the transport energy demand in Mauritius which will in turn foster Mauritius towards a pollution-free country and decrease our dependence on fossil fuels.

Keywords: genetic algorithm, modeling, particle swarm optimization, stochastic differential equations, transport energy demand

Procedia PDF Downloads 369