Search results for: language planning

Authors: Patrick Louie Robles, Jerry Suls, Ciaran Friel, Mark Butler, Samantha Gordon, Frank Vicari, Joan Duer-Hefele, Karina W. Davidson

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Physical activity guidelines focus on increasing moderate-intensity activity for older adults, but adherence to recommendations remains low. This is despite the fact that scientific evidence finds increasing physical activity is positively associated with health benefits. Behavior change techniques (BCTs) have demonstrated some effectiveness in reducing sedentary behavior and promoting physical activity. This pilot study uses a personalized trials (N-of-1) design, delivered virtually, to evaluate the efficacy of using five BCTs in increasing low-intensity physical activity (by 2,000 steps of walking per day) in adults aged 45-75 years old. The 5 BCTs described in habit formation theory are goal setting, action planning, rehearsal, rehearsal in a consistent context, and self-monitoring. The study recruited health system employees in the target age range who had no mobility restrictions and expressed interest in increasing their daily activity by a minimum of 2,000 steps per day at least five days per week. Participants were sent a Fitbit Charge 4 fitness tracker with an established study account and password. Participants were recommended to wear the Fitbit device 24/7 but were required to wear it for a minimum of ten hours per day. Baseline physical activity was measured by Fitbit for two weeks. Participants then engaged remotely with a clinical research coordinator to establish a “walking plan” that included a time and day interval (e.g., between 7am -8am on Monday-Friday), a location for the walk (e.g., park), and how much time the plan would need to achieve a minimum of 2,000 steps over their baseline average step count (20 minutes). All elements of the walking plan were required to remain consistent throughout the study. In the 10-week intervention phase of the study, participants received all five BCTs in a single, time-sensitive text message. The text message was delivered 30 minutes prior to the established walk time and signaled participants to begin walking when the context (i.e., day of the week, time of day) they pre-selected is encountered. Participants were asked to log both the start and conclusion of their activity session by pressing a button on the Fitbit tracker. Within 30 minutes of the planned conclusion of the activity session, participants received a text message with a link to a secure survey. Here, they noted whether they engaged in the BCTs when prompted and completed an automaticity survey to identify how “automatic” their walking behavior had become. At the end of their trial, participants received a personalized summary of their step data over time, helping them learn more about their responses to the five BCTs. Whether the use of these 5 ‘habit formation’ BCTs in combination elicits a change in physical activity behavior among older adults will be reported. This study will inform the feasibility of a virtually-delivered N-of-1 study design to effectively promote physical activity as a component of healthy aging.

Keywords: aging, exercise, habit, walking

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Authors: Henok Biruk Alemayehu, Kalkidan Berhane Tsegaye, Fozia Seid Ali, Nebiyat Feleke Adimassu, Getasew Alemu Mersha

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Background: Strabismus is a visual disorder where the eyes are misaligned and point in different directions. Untreated strabismus can lead to amblyopia, loss of binocular vision, and social stigma due to its appearance. Since it is assumed that knowledge is pertinent for early screening and prevention of strabismus, the main objective of this study was to assess knowledge and attitudes toward strabismus in Woreta town, Northwest Ethiopia. Providing data in this area is important for planning health policies. Methods: A community-based cross-sectional study was done in Woreta town from April–May 2020. The sample size was determined using a single population proportion formula by taking a 50% proportion of good knowledge, 95% confidence level, 5% margin of errors, and 10% non- response rate. Accordingly, the final computed sample size was 424. All four kebeles were included in the study. There were 42,595 people in total, with 39,684 adults and 9229 house holds. A sample fraction ’’k’’ was obtained by dividing the number of the household by the calculated sample size of 424. Systematic random sampling with proportional allocation was used to select the participating households with a sampling fraction (K) of 21 i.e. each household was approached in every 21 households included in the study. One individual was selected ran- domly from each household with more than one adult, using the lottery method to obtain a final sample size. The data was collected through a face-to-face interview with a pretested and semi-structured questionnaire which was translated from English to Amharic and back to English to maintain its consistency. Data were entered using epi-data version 3.1, then processed and analyzed via SPSS version- 20. Descriptive and analytical statistics were employed to summarize the data. A p-value of less than 0.05 was used to declare statistical significance. Result: A total of 401 individuals aged over 18 years participated, with a response rate of 94.5%. Of those who responded, 56.6% were males. Of all the participants, 36.9% were illiterate. The proportion of people with poor knowledge of strabismus was 45.1%. It was shown that 53.9% of the respondents had a favorable attitude. Older age, higher educational level, having a history of eye examination, and a having a family history of strabismus were significantly associated with good knowledge of strabismus. A higher educational level, older age, and hearing about strabismus were significantly associated with a favorable attitude toward strabismus. Conclusion and recommendation: The proportion of good knowledge and favorable attitude towards strabismus were lower than previously reported in Gondar City, Northwest Ethiopia. There is a need to provide health education and promotion campaigns on strabismus to the community: what strabismus is, its’ possible treatments and the need to bring children to the eye care center for early diagnosis and treatment. it advocate for prospective research endeavors to employ qualitative study design.Additionally, it suggest the exploration of studies that investigate causal-effect relationship.

Keywords: strabismus, knowledge, attitude, Woreta

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Authors: Ruth Shapira

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Introduction: The rapid urbanization of the last century confronts planners, regulatory bodies, developers and most of all – the public with seemingly unsolved conflicts regarding values, capital, and wellbeing of the built and un-built urban space. This is reflected in the quality of the urban form and life which has known no significant progress in the last 2-3 decades despite the on-growing urban population. It is the objective of this paper to analyze some of these fundamental issues through the case study of a relatively small town in the center of Israel (Kiryat-Ono, 100,000 inhabitants), unfold the deep structure of qualities versus disruptors, present some cure that we have developed to bridge over and humbly suggest a practice that may be generic for similar cases. Basic Methodologies: The OBJECT, the town of Kiryat Ono, shall be experimented upon in a series of four action processes: De-composition, Re-composition, the Centering process and, finally, Controlled Structural Disintegration. Each stage will be based on facts, analysis of previous multidisciplinary interventions on various layers – and the inevitable reaction of the OBJECT, leading to the conclusion based on innovative theoretical and practical methods that we have developed and that we believe are proper for the open ended network, setting the rules for the contemporary urban society to cluster by. The Study: Kiryat Ono, was founded 70 years ago as an agricultural settlement and rapidly turned into an urban entity. In spite the massive intensification, the original DNA of the old small town was still deeply embedded, mostly in the quality of the public space and in the sense of clustered communities. In the past 20 years, the recent demand for housing has been addressed to on the national level with recent master plans and urban regeneration policies mostly encouraging individual economic initiatives. Unfortunately, due to the obsolete existing planning platform the present urban renewal is characterized by pressure of developers, a dramatic change in building scale and widespread disintegration of the existing urban and social tissue. Our office was commissioned to conceptualize two master plans for the two contradictory processes of Kiryat Ono’s future: intensification and conservation. Following a comprehensive investigation into the deep structures and qualities of the existing town, we developed a new vocabulary of conservation terms thus redefying the sense of PLACE. The main challenge was to create master plans that should offer a regulatory basis to the accelerated and sporadic development providing for the public good and preserving the characteristics of the PLACE consisting of a tool box of design guidelines that will have the ability to reorganize space along the time axis in a coherent way. In Conclusion: The system of rules that we have developed can generate endless possible patterns making sure that at each implementation fragment an event is created, and a better place is revealed. It takes time and perseverance but it seems to be the way to provide a healthy framework for the accelerated urbanization of our chaotic present.

Keywords: housing, architecture, urban qualities, urban regeneration, conservation, intensification

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Authors: Zafar Iqbal Bhatti

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The present research aims to examine and evaluate the frequencies and practices of verb complementation patterns in English newspaper social columns published in Pakistan and Britain. The research will demonstrate that Pakistani English is a non-native variety of English having its own unique usual and logical characteristics, affected by way of the native languages and the culture, upon syntactic levels, making the variety users aware that any differences from British or American English that are systematic and regular, or another English language, are not even if they are unique, erroneous forms and typical characteristics of several kinds. The objectives are to examine the verb complementation patterns that British and Pakistani social columnists use in relation to their syntactic categories. Secondly, to compare the verb complementation patterns used in Pakistani and British English newspapers social columns. This study will figure out various verb complementation patterns in Pakistani and British English newspaper social columns and their occurrence and distribution. The word classes express different functions of words, such as action, event, or state of being. This research aims to evaluate whether there are any appreciable differences in the verb complementation patterns used in Pakistani and British English newspaper social columns. The results will show the number of varieties of verb complementation patterns in selected English newspapers social columns. This study will fill the gap of previous studies conducted in this field as they only explore a little about the differences between Pakistani and British English newspapers. It will also figure out a variety of languages used in Pakistani and British English journals, as well as regional and cultural values and variations. The researcher will use AntConc software in this study to extract the data for analysis. The researcher will use a concordance tool to identify verb complementation patterns in selected data. Then the researcher will manually categorize them because the same type of adverb can sometimes be used for various purposes. From 1st June 2022 to 30th Sep. 2022, a four-month written corpus of the social columns of PE and BE newspapers will be collected and analyzed. For the analysis of the research questions, 50 social columns will be selected from Pakistani newspapers and 50 from British newspapers. The researcher will collect a representative sample of data from Pakistani and British English newspaper social columns. The researcher will manually analyze the complementation patterns of each verb in each sentence, and then the researcher will determine how frequently each pattern occurs. The researcher will use syntactic characteristics of the verb complementation elements according to the description by Downing and Locke (2006). The researcher will examine all of the verb complementation patterns in the data, and the frequency and distribution of each verb complementation pattern will be evaluated using the software. The researcher will explore every possible verb complementation pattern in Pakistani and British English before calculating the occurrence and abundance of each verb pattern. The researcher will explore every possible verb complementation pattern in Pakistani English before calculating the frequency and distribution of each pattern.

Keywords: verb complementation, syntactic categories, newspaper social columns, corpus

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Authors: Ramesh Chinnasamy, Srishti Semalty, Vishnu S. Nair, Thirumurugan Vedagiri, Mahesh Ganeshan, Gautam Talukdar, Karthy Sivapushanam, Abhijit Das

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Snakes form an integral component of ecological systems. Human population explosion and associated acceleration of habitat destruction and degradation, has led to a rapid increase in human-snake encounters. The study aims at understanding the level of awareness, knowledge, and attitude of the people towards human-snake negative interaction and role of awareness programmes in the Moyar river valley, Tamil Nadu. The study area is part of the Mudumalai and the Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserves, which are significant wildlife corridors between the Western Ghats and the Eastern Ghats in the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve. The data was collected using questionnaire covering 644 respondents spread across 18 villages between 2018 and 2019. The study revealed that 86.5% of respondents had strong negative perceptions towards snakes which were propelled by fear, superstitions, and threat of snakebite which was common and did not vary among different villages (F=4.48; p = <0.05) and age groups (X2 = 1.946; p = 0.962). Cobra 27.8% (n = 294) and rat snake 21.3% (n = 225) were the most sighted species and most snake encounter occurred during the monsoon season i.e., July 35.6 (n = 218), June 19.1% (n = 117) and August 18.4% (n = 113). At least 1 out of 5 respondents was reportedly bitten by snakes during their lifetime. The most common species of snakes that were the cause of snakebite were Saw scaled viper (32.6%, n = 42) followed by Cobra 17.1% (n = 22). About 21.3% (n = 137) people reported livestock loss due to pythons and other snakes 21.3% (n = 137). Most people, preferred medical treatment for snakebite (87.3%), whereas 12.7%, still believed in traditional methods. The majority (82.3%) used precautionary measure by keeping traditional items such as garlic, kerosene, and snake plant to avoid snakes. About 30% of the respondents expressed need for technical and monetary support from the forest department that could aid in reducing the human-snake conflict. It is concluded that the general perception in the study area is driven by fear and negative attitude towards snakes. Though snakes such as Cobra were widely worshiped in the region, there are still widespread myths and misconceptions that have led to the irrational killing of snakes. Awareness and innovative education programs rooted in the local context and language should be integrated at the village level, to minimize risk and the associated threat of snakebite among the people. Results from this study shall help policy makers to devise appropriate conservation measures to reduce human-snake conflicts in India.

Keywords: Envenomation, Health-Education, Human-Wildlife Conflict, Neglected Tropical Disease, Snakebite Mitigation, Traditional Practitioners

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Authors: Scott M. Black, Craig Maclean, Pauline Hall Barrientos, Konstantinos Ritos, Asimina Kazakidi

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Aortic aneurysms and dissections are leading causes of death in cardiovascular disease. Both inevitably lead to hemodynamic instability without surgical intervention in the form of vascular stent-graft deployment. An accurate description of the aortic geometry and blood flow in patient-specific cases is vital for treatment planning and long-term success of such grafts, as they must generate physiological branch perfusion and in-stent hemodynamics. The aim of this study was to create patient-specific computational fluid dynamics (CFD) models through a multi-modality, multi-dimensional approach with boundary condition optimization to predict branch flow rates and in-stent hemodynamics in custom stent-graft configurations. Three-dimensional (3D) thoracoabdominal aortae were reconstructed from four-dimensional flow-magnetic resonance imaging (4D Flow-MRI) and computed tomography (CT) medical images. The former employed a novel approach to generate and enhance vessel lumen contrast via through-plane velocity at discrete, user defined cardiac time steps post-hoc. To produce patient-specific boundary conditions (BCs), the aortic geometry was reduced to a one-dimensional (1D) model. Thereafter, a zero-dimensional (0D) 3-Element Windkessel model (3EWM) was coupled to each terminal branch to represent the distal vasculature. In this coupled 0D-1D model, the 3EWM parameters were optimized to yield branch flow waveforms which are representative of the 4D Flow-MRI-derived in-vivo data. Thereafter, a 0D-3D CFD model was created, utilizing the optimized 3EWM BCs and a 4D Flow-MRI-obtained inlet velocity profile. A sensitivity analysis on the effects of stent-graft configuration and BC parameters was then undertaken using multiple stent-graft configurations and a range of distal vasculature conditions. 4D Flow-MRI granted unparalleled visualization of blood flow throughout the cardiac cycle in both the pre- and postsurgical states. Segmentation and reconstruction of healthy and stented regions from retrospective 4D Flow-MRI images also generated 3D models with geometries which were successfully validated against their CT-derived counterparts. 0D-1D coupling efficiently captured branch flow and pressure waveforms, while 0D-3D models also enabled 3D flow visualization and quantification of clinically relevant hemodynamic parameters for in-stent thrombosis and graft limb occlusion. It was apparent that changes in 3EWM BC parameters had a pronounced effect on perfusion distribution and near-wall hemodynamics. Results show that the 3EWM parameters could be iteratively changed to simulate a range of graft limb diameters and distal vasculature conditions for a given stent-graft to determine the optimal configuration prior to surgery. To conclude, this study outlined a methodology to aid in the prediction post-surgical branch perfusion and in-stent hemodynamics in patient specific cases for the implementation of custom stent-grafts.

Keywords: 4D flow-MRI, computational fluid dynamics, vascular stent-grafts, windkessel

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Authors: Shoury Gupta

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Chatbots are a rapidly growing technological trend that has revolutionized the way businesses interact with their customers. With the advancements in artificial intelligence, chatbots can now mimic human-like conversations and provide instant and efficient responses to customer inquiries. In this research paper, we aim to explore the implications of chatbots on the future of globalization for both businesses and consumers. The paper begins by providing an overview of the current state of chatbots in the global market and their growth potential in the future. The focus is on how chatbots have become a valuable tool for businesses looking to expand their global reach, especially in areas with high population density and language barriers. With chatbots, businesses can engage with customers in different languages and provide 24/7 customer service support, creating a more accessible and convenient customer experience. The paper then examines the impact of chatbots on cross-cultural communication and how they can help bridge communication gaps between businesses and consumers from different cultural backgrounds. Chatbots can potentially facilitate cross-cultural communication by offering real-time translations, voice recognition, and other innovative features that can help users communicate effectively across different languages and cultures. By providing more accessible and inclusive communication channels, chatbots can help businesses reach new markets and expand their customer base, making them more competitive in the global market. However, the paper also acknowledges that there are potential drawbacks associated with chatbots. For instance, chatbots may not be able to address complex customer inquiries that require human input. Additionally, chatbots may perpetuate biases if they are programmed with certain stereotypes or assumptions about different cultures. These drawbacks may have significant implications for businesses and consumers alike. To explore the implications of chatbots on the future of globalization in greater detail, the paper provides a thorough review of existing literature and case studies. The review covers topics such as the benefits of chatbots for businesses and consumers, the potential drawbacks of chatbots, and how businesses can mitigate any risks associated with chatbot use. The paper also discusses the ethical considerations associated with chatbot use, such as privacy concerns and the need to ensure that chatbots do not discriminate against certain groups of people. The ethical implications of chatbots are particularly important given the potential for chatbots to be used in sensitive areas such as healthcare and financial services. Overall, this research paper provides a comprehensive analysis of chatbots and their implications for the future of globalization. By exploring both the potential benefits and drawbacks of chatbot use, the paper aims to provide insights into how businesses and consumers can leverage this technology to achieve greater global reach and improve cross-cultural communication. Ultimately, the paper concludes that chatbots have the potential to be a powerful tool for businesses looking to expand their global footprint and improve their customer experience, but that care must be taken to mitigate any risks associated with their use.

Keywords: chatbots, conversational AI, globalization, businesses

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Authors: Jane Oliver, Angeline Ferdinand, Jessica Kaufman, Peta Edler, Nicole Allard, Margie Danchin, Katherine B. Gibney

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Background: The cohealth Health Concierge program operated in Melbourne, Australia, from July 2020 to 30 June 2022. The program was designed to provide place-based peer-to-peer COVID-19 education and support to culturally and linguistically diverse residents of high-rise public housing estates. During this time, the COVID-19 public health response changed frequently. We conducted a mixed-methods evaluation to determine the program’s impact on residents’ trust, engagement and communication with health services and public health activities. Methods: The RE-AIM model was used to assess program reach, effectiveness, adoption, implementation and maintenance and the evaluation was informed by a Project Reference Group including end-users. Data were collected between March and May 2022 in four estates where the program operated. We surveyed 301 residents, conducted qualitative interviews with 32 stakeholders and analyzed data from 20,901 forms reporting interactions between Health Concierges and residents collected from August 2021 to May 2022. These forms outlined the support provided by Health Concierges during each interaction. Results: Overall, the program was effective in guiding residents to testing and vaccination services and facilitating COVID-19 safe practices. Nearly two-thirds (191; 63.5%) of the 301 surveyed participants reported speaking with a Health Concierge in the previous six months, and some described having meaningful conversations with them. Despite this, many of the interactions residents described having with Health Concierges were superficial. When considering surveyed participants’ responses to the adapted Public Health Disaster Trust Scale, the mean score across all estates was 2.3 (or slightly more than ‘somewhat confident’) in public health authorities’ ability to respond to a localized infectious disease outbreak. While the program was valued during the rapidly changing public health response, many felt it had failed to evolve in the ‘living with COVID’ phase. Some residents expressed frustration with Health Concierges’ having perceived inactive, passive roles - although other residents felt Health Concierges were helpful and appreciated them. A perception that the true impact of Health Concierges’ work was underrecognized was widely voiced by health staff. All 20,901 Interaction Forms identified COVID-19-related supports provided to residents; almost all included provision of facemasks and/or hand sanitiser and 78% identified additional supports that were also provided, most frequently provision of other health information. Conclusions: The program disseminated up-to-date information to a diverse population within a rapidly changing public health setting. Health Concierges were able promote COVID-19-safe behaviours, including vaccine uptake, and link residents with support services. We recommend the program be revised and continued. New programs that draw on the Health Concierge model may be valuable in supporting future pandemic responses and should be considered in preparedness planning.

Keywords: community health, COVID-19 pandemic, infectious diseases, public health, community health workers

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Authors: Lara Bettinelli, Bernhard Glatz, Josef Fink

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Planning engineers and researchers use various calculation models with different levels of complexity, calculation efficiency and accuracy in dynamic calculations of railway bridges under high-speed traffic. When choosing a vehicle model to depict the dynamic loading on the bridge structure caused by passing high-speed trains, different goals are pursued: On the one hand, the selected vehicle models should allow the calculation of a bridge’s vibrations as realistic as possible. On the other hand, the computational efficiency and manageability of the models should be preferably high to enable a wide range of applications. The commonly adopted and straightforward vehicle model is the moving load model (MLM), which simplifies the train to a sequence of static axle loads moving at a constant speed over the structure. However, the MLM can significantly overestimate the structure vibrations, especially when resonance events occur. More complex vehicle models, which depict the train as a system of oscillating and coupled masses, can reproduce the interaction dynamics between the vehicle and the bridge superstructure to some extent and enable the calculation of more realistic bridge accelerations. At the same time, such multi-body models require significantly greater processing capacities and precise knowledge of various vehicle properties. The European standards allow for applying the so-called additional damping method when simple load models, such as the MLM, are used in dynamic calculations. An additional damping factor depending on the bridge span, which should take into account the vibration-reducing benefits of the vehicle-bridge interaction, is assigned to the supporting structure in the calculations. However, numerous studies show that when the current standard specifications are applied, the calculation results for the bridge accelerations are in many cases still too high compared to the measured bridge accelerations, while in other cases, they are not on the safe side. A proposal to calculate the additional damping based on extensive dynamic calculations for a parametric field of simply supported bridges with a ballasted track was developed to address this issue. In this contribution, several different approaches to determine the additional damping of the supporting structure considering the vehicle-bridge interaction when using the MLM are compared with one another. Besides the standard specifications, this includes the approach mentioned above and two additional recently published alternative formulations derived from analytical approaches. For a bridge catalogue of 65 existing bridges in Austria in steel, concrete or composite construction, calculations are carried out with the MLM for two different high-speed trains and the different approaches for additional damping. The results are compared with the calculation results obtained by applying a more sophisticated multi-body model of the trains used. The evaluation and comparison of the results allow assessing the benefits of different calculation concepts for the additional damping regarding their accuracy and possible applications. The evaluation shows that by applying one of the recently published redesigned additional damping methods, the calculation results can reflect the influence of the vehicle-bridge interaction on the design-relevant structural accelerations considerably more reliable than by using normative specifications.

Keywords: Additional Damping Method, Bridge Dynamics, High-Speed Railway Traffic, Vehicle-Bridge-Interaction

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Authors: Heba Salama, Barry Gibson, Jennifer Burr

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Introduction: It is often argued that better oral health leads to better wellbeing, and the goal of dental care is to improve wellbeing. Notwithstanding, to our best knowledge, there is a lack of evidence to support the relationship between oral health and wellbeing. Aim: The scoping review aims to examine current definitions of health and wellbeing as well as map the evidence to examine the relationship between oral health and wellbeing. Methods: The scoping review followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews Extension for Scoping Review (PRISMA-ScR). A two-phase search strategy was followed because of the unmanageable number of hits returned. The first phase was to identify how well-being was conceptualised in oral health literacy, and the second phase was to search for extracted keywords. The extracted keywords were searched in four databases: PubMed, CINAHL, PsycINFO, and Web of Science. To limit the number of studies to a manageable amount, the search was limited to the open-access studies that have been published in the last five years (from 2018 to 2022). Results: Only eight studies (0.1%) of the 5455 results met the review inclusion criteria. Most of the included studies defined wellbeing based on the hedonic theory. And the Satisfaction with Life Scale is the most used. Although the research results are inconsistent, it has generally been shown that there is a weak or no association between oral health and wellbeing. Interpretation: The review revealed a very important point about how oral health literature uses loose definitions that have significant implications for empirical research. That results in misleading evidence-based conclusions. According to the review results, improving oral health is not a key factor in improving wellbeing. It appears that investing in oral health care to improve wellbeing is not a top priority to tell policymakers about. This does not imply that there should be no investment in oral health care to improve oral health. That could have an indirect link to wellbeing by eliminating the potential oral health-related barriers to quality of life that could represent the foundation of wellbeing. Limitation: Only the most recent five years (2018–2022), peer-reviewed English-language literature, and four electronic databases were included in the search. These restrictions were put in place to keep the volume of literature at a manageable level. This suggests that some significant studies might have been omitted. Furthermore, the study used a definition of wellbeing that is currently being evolved and might not everyone agrees with it. Conclusion: Whilst it is a ubiquitous argument that oral health is related to wellbeing, and this seems logical, there is little empirical evidence to support this claim. This question, therefore, requires much more detailed consideration. Funding: This project was funded by the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research in Libya and Tripoli University.

Keywords: oral health, wellbeing, satisfaction, emotion, quality of life, oral health related quality of life

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Authors: Rizwana Tabassum

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Introductive Statement: Delay in budget releases is often cited as one of the biggest bottlenecks to smooth and efficient service delivery. While budget release from the ministry of finance to the line ministries has been expedited by simplifying the procedure, budget distribution within the line ministries remains one of the major causes of slow budget utilization. While the budget preparation is a bottom-up process where all DDOs submit their proposals to their controlling officers (such as Upazila Civil Surgeon sends it to Director General Health), who consolidate the budget proposals in iBAS++ budget preparation module, the approved budget is not disaggregated by all DDOs. Instead, it is left to the discretion of the controlling officers to distribute the approved budget to their sub-ordinate offices over the course of the year. Though there are some need-based criteria/formulae to distribute the approved budget among DDOs in some sectors, there is little evidence that these criteria are actually used. This means that majority of the DDOs don’t know their yearly allocations upfront to enable yearly planning of activities and expenditures. This delays the implementation of critical activities and the payment to the suppliers of goods and services and sometimes leads to undocumented arrears to suppliers for essential goods/services. In addition, social sector budgets are fragmented because of the vertical programs and externally financed interventions that pose several management challenges at the level of the budget holders and frontline service providers. Slow procurement processes further delay the provision of necessary goods and services. For example, it takes an average of 15–18 months for drugs to reach the Upazila Health Complex and below, while it should not take more than 9 months in procuring and distributing these. Aim of the Study: This paper aims to investigate the budget distribution practices of an emerging economy, Bangladesh. The paper identifies challenges of timely distribution and ways to deal with problems as well. Methodology: The study draws conclusions on the basis of document analysis which is a branch of the qualitative research method. Major Findings: Upon approval of the National Budget, the Ministry of Finance is required to distribute the budget to budget holders at the department level; however, budget is distributed to drawing and disbursing officers much later. Conclusions: Timely and predictable budget releases assist completion of development schemes on time and on budget, with sufficient recurrent resources for effective operation. ADP implementation is usually very low at the beginning of the fiscal year and expedited dramatically during the last few months, leading to inefficient use of resources. The timely budget release will resolve this issue and deliver economic benefits faster, better, and more reliably. This will also give the project directors/DDOs the freedom to think and plan the budget execution in a predictable manner, thereby ensuring value for money by reducing time overrun and expediting the completion of capital investments, and improving infrastructure utilization through timely payment of recurrent costs.

Keywords: budget distribution, challenges, digitization, emerging economy, service delivery

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Authors: Jatinder Pal Singh, Harpreet Singh, Gagandeep Singh Digra, Mandeep Kaur Sidhu, Pawan Kumar

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Introduction: Ganglion cyst is a benign condition in which there is a cystic lesion in relation to a joint or a tendon sheath arising from myxoid degeneration of fibrous connective tissue. These can be unilocular or multilocular. In rare cases, there may be multiple ganglion cysts, known as cystic ganglionosis. They can occur at any age but are commonly seen in adults. Clinically they may be asymptomatic or present as swelling or mass effect in adjacent structures. These are common in extremities such as hands and feet. Case Presentation: 11-year-old female child presented with slowly progressive painless swelling of her right hand since the age of 4. Antenatal and perinatal history was unremarkable. Her family history was negative. She denies fever, malaise, morning stiffness, weight loss, fatigue, restriction of joint movements, or any sensory and motor deficit. Lab parameters were negative for inflammatory or infectious etiology. No other joint or extremity involvement was present. On physical examination, the swelling was present on the dorsum and palmer aspect of the right hand and wrist. They were non-tender on palpation without any motor or sensory deficit. MRI hand revealed multiple well-defined fluid signal intensity cystic appearing lesions in periarticular/intraarticular locations in relation to distal radio-ulnar, radio-carpal, intercarpal, carpometacarpal, metacarpophalangeal and interphalangeal joints as well as peritendinous location around flexor tendons more so in the region of wrist, palm, 1st and 5th digit and along extensor tendons in the region of wrist, largest one noted along flexor pollicis longus tendon in thenar region and along 1st digit measuring approx. 4.6 x 1.2 x 1.2 centimeter. Pressure erosions and bone remodelling were noted in the bases of the 2nd to 5th metacarpals, capitate, trapezoid, the distal shaft of 1st metacarpal, and proximal phalanx of 1st digit. Marrow edema was noted in the base and proximal shaft of the 4th metacarpal and proximal shaft of the 3rd metacarpal – likely stress or pressure related. The patient was advised of aspiration, but the family refused the procedure. Therefore the patient was kept on conservative treatment. Conclusion: Cystic ganglionosis is a rare condition with very few cases reported in the medical literature. Its prevalence and association are not known because of the rarity of this condition. It should be considered as an important differential in patients presenting with soft tissue swelling in extremities. Treatment option includes conservative management, aspiration, and surgery. Aspiration has a high recurrence rate. Although surgery has a low recurrence rate, it carries a high rate of complications. Imaging with MRI is essential for confirmation of the cystic nature of lesions and their relation with the joint capsules or tendons. This helps in differentiating from other soft tissue lesions and presurgical planning.

Keywords: radiology, rare, cystic ganglionosis, child

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Authors: Soledad Coronel Poma, Lorena Alvarado Rodriguez

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The purpose of this project is to design public space through urban-architectural strategies that help to the sustainable recovery of the Huayla estuary and the revival of tourism in this area. This design considers other sustainable and architectural ideas used in similar cases, along with national and international regulations for saving shorelines in danger. To understand the situation of this location, Puerto Bolivar is the main port of the Province of El Oro and of the south of the country, where 90,000 national and foreign tourists pass through all year round. For that reason, a physical-urban, social, and environmental analysis of the area was carried out through surveys and conversations with the community. This analysis showed that around 70% of people feel unsatisfied and concerned about the estuary and its surroundings. Crime, absence of green areas, bad conservation of shorelines, lack of tourists, poor commercial infrastructure, and the spread of informal commerce are the main issues to be solved. As an intervention project whose main goal is that residents and tourists have contact with native nature and enjoy doing local activities, three main strategies: mobility, ecology, and urban –architectural are proposed to recover the estuary and its surroundings. First of all, the design of this public space is based on turning the estuary location into a linear promenade that could be seen as a tourist corridor, which would help to reduce pollution, increase green spaces and improve tourism. Another strategy aims to improve the economy of the community through some local activities like fishing and sailing and the commerce of fresh seafood, both raw products and in restaurants. Furthermore, in support of the environmental approach, some houses are rebuilt as sustainable houses using local materials and rearranged into blocks closer to the commercial area. Finally, the planning incorporates the use of many plants such as palms, sameness trees, and mangroves around the area to encourage people to get in touch with nature. The results of designing this space showed an increase in the green area per inhabitant index. It went from 1.69 m²/room to 10.48 m²/room, with 12 096 m² of green corridors and the incorporation of 5000 m² of mangroves at the shoreline. Additionally, living zones also increased with the creation of green areas taking advantage of the existing nature and implementing restaurants and recreational spaces. Moreover, the relocation of houses and buildings helped to free estuary's shoreline, so people are now in more comfortable places closer to their workplaces. Finally, dock spaces are increased, reaching the capacity of the boats and canoes, helping to organize the area in the estuary. To sum up, this project searches the improvement of the estuary environment with its shoreline and surroundings that include the vegetation, infrastructure and people with their local activities, achieving a better quality of life, attraction of tourism, reduction of pollution and finally getting a full recovered estuary as a natural ecosystem.

Keywords: recover, public space, stuary, sustainable

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Authors: Arun Perumbilavil Anand

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For the past few years, the state of Kerala has been witnessing a large inflow of migrant workers from other states of the country, which emerged as a result of demographic transition and Gulf emigration. The in-migration patterns in Kerala have changed over the time with the migrants having a higher residence history bringing their families to the state, thereby making the process more complicated and divergent in its approach. These developments have led to an increase in the young migrant population at least in some parts of the state, which has opened up doubts and questions related to their future in the host society. At this juncture, the study ponders into the factors that are associated with the assimilation and wellbeing of migrant children in the society of Kerala. As one of the objectives, the study also analyzed the influence and role played by the educational institutions (both public and private) in meeting the needs and aspirations of both the children and their parents. The study gains significance as it tries to identify various impediments that hinder the cognitive skill formation and behaviour patterns of the migrant children in the host society. Data and Methodology: The study is based on the primary data collected through a series of interviews and interactions held with parents, children, and teachers of different educational institutions, including both public and private. The primary survey also made use of research techniques like observation, in-depth interviews, and case study method. The study was conducted in schools in the Kanjikode area of the Palakkad district in Kerala. The findings of the study are on the basis of a survey conducted in four schools and 40 migrant children. Findings: The study found that majority of the children have wholly integrated and assimilated into the host society. The influence of the peer group was quite visible in giving stimulus to the assimilation process. Most of the children do not have any emotional or cultural sentiments attached to their state of origin, and they consider Kerala as their ‘home state’ and the local language (Malayalam) as their ‘mother tongue'. The study could also find that the existing education system in the host society fails to meet the needs and aspirations of migrants as well as that of their children. On a comparative scale, to some extent, private schools have succeeded in fulfiling the special requirements of the migrant children. An interesting point that the study could pinpoint at is that the children of the migrants show better health conditions and wellbeing than compared to the natives, which is usually addressed as an epidemiologic paradox. As a concluding remark, the study recommends the inclusion concept of inclusive education into the education system of the state with giving due emphasis on those who are at higher risk of being excluded or marginalized, along with fostering increased interaction between diverse groups.

Keywords: assimilation, Kerala, migrant children, well-being

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Authors: Doreen Mekunda

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This paper is built on the premise that the current socio-political crisis in the two restive regions of Cameroon, though enveloped with destructive and devastating trends (effects) on both property and human lives, is not without its strengths and merits. It is incontestable that many cultures, to a greater extent, are going to be destroyed as people forcibly move from war-stricken habitats to non-violent places. Many cultural potentials, traditional shrines, artifacts, art, and crafts, etc., are unknowingly or knowingly disfigured, and many other ugly things will, by the end of the crisis, affect the cultures of these two regions under siege and of the receiving population. A plethora of other problems like the persecution of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) for being displaced and blamed for increased crime rates and the existence of cultural and ethnic differences that produce both inter-tribal and interpersonal conflicts and conflicts between communities will abound. However, there is the emergence of rapid literature, and other forms of cultural productions, whether written or oral, is visible, thereby precipitating a rich cultural diversity due to the coming together of a variety of cultures of both the IDPs and the receiving populations, rapid urbanization, improvement of health-related issues, the rebirth of indigenous cultural practices, the development of social and lingua-cultural competences, dependence on alternative religions, faith and spirituality. Even financial and economic dependence, though a burden to others by IDPs, has its own merits as it improves the living standards of the IDPs. To be able to obtain plausible results, cultural materialism, which is a literary theory that hinges on the empirical study of socio-cultural systems within a materialist infrastructure-super-structure framework, is employed together with the postcolonial theory. Postcolonial theory because the study deals with postcolonial experiences/tenets of migration, hybridity, ethnicity, indignity, language, double consciousness, migration, center/margin binaries, and identity, amongst others. The study reveals that the involuntary movement of persons from their habitual homes brings about movement in cultures, thus, the emergence of new cultures. The movement of people who hold fast to their cultural heritage can only influence new forms of literature, the development of new communication competences, the rise of alternative religion, faith and spirituality, the re-emergence of customary and traditional legal systems that might have been abandoned for the new judicial systems, and above all the revitalization of traditional health care systems.

Keywords: alternative religion, emergence, socio-political crisis, spirituality, lingua-cultural competences

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Authors: Andreas Lind, Aitor Iriondo Pascual, Dan Hogberg, Lars Hanson

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Factory setup lifecycles are most often described and prepared in CAD environments; the preparation is based on experience and inputs from several cross-disciplinary processes. Early in the factory setup preparation, a so-called block layout is created. The intention is to describe a high-level view of the intended factory setup and to claim area reservations and allocations. Factory areas are then blocked, i.e., targeted to be used for specific intended resources and processes, later redefined with detailed factory setup layouts. Each detailed layout is based on the block layout and inputs from cross-disciplinary preparation processes, such as manufacturing sequence, productivity, workers’ workplace requirements, and resource setup preparation. However, this activity is often not carried out with all variables considered simultaneously, which might entail a risk of sub-optimizing the detailed layout based on manual decisions. Therefore, this work aims to realize a digital method for assembly manufacturing layout planning where productivity, area utilization, and ergonomics can be considered simultaneously in a cross-disciplinary manner. The purpose of the digital method is to support engineers in finding optimized designs of detailed layouts for assembly manufacturing factories, thereby facilitating better decisions regarding setups of future factories. Input datasets are company-specific descriptions of required dimensions for specific area reservations, such as defined dimensions of a worker’s workplace, material façades, aisles, and the sequence to realize the product assembly manufacturing process. To test and iteratively develop the digital method, a demonstrator has been developed with an adaptation of existing software that simulates and proposes optimized designs of detailed layouts. Since the method is to consider productivity, ergonomics, area utilization, and constraints from the automatically generated block layout, a multi-objective optimization approach is utilized. In the demonstrator, the input data are sent to the simulation software industrial path solutions (IPS). Based on the input and Lua scripts, the IPS software generates a block layout in compliance with the company’s defined dimensions of area reservations. Communication is then established between the IPS and the software EPP (Ergonomics in Productivity Platform), including intended resource descriptions, assembly manufacturing process, and manikin (digital human) resources. Using multi-objective optimization approaches, the EPP software then calculates layout proposals that are sent iteratively and simulated and rendered in IPS, following the rules and regulations defined in the block layout as well as productivity and ergonomics constraints and objectives. The software demonstrator is promising. The software can handle several parameters to optimize the detailed layout simultaneously and can put forward several proposals. It can optimize multiple parameters or weight the parameters to fine-tune the optimal result of the detailed layout. The intention of the demonstrator is to make the preparation between cross-disciplinary silos transparent and achieve a common preparation of the assembly manufacturing factory setup, thereby facilitating better decisions.

Keywords: factory setup, multi-objective, optimization, simulation

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Authors: Chantal Maille

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This paper is about gender-based analysis plus (GBA+), an intersectional gender policy used in Canada to assess the impact of policies and programs for men and women from different origins. It looks at Canada’s political culture to explain the nature of its gender policies. GBA+ is defined as an analysis method that makes it possible to assess the eventual effects of policies, programs, services, and other initiatives on women and men of different backgrounds because it takes account of gender and other identity factors. The ‘plus’ in the name serves to emphasize that GBA+ goes beyond gender to include an examination of a wide range of other related identity factors, such as age, education, language, geography, culture, and income. The point of departure for GBA+ is that women and men are not homogeneous populations and gender is never the only factor in defining a person’s identity; rather, it interacts with factors such as ethnic origin, age, disabilities, where the person lives, and other aspects of individual and social identity. GBA+ takes account of these factors and thus challenges notions of similarity or homogeneity within populations of women and men. Comparative analysis based on sex and gender may serve as a gateway to studying a given question, but women, men, girls, and boys do not form homogeneous populations. In the 1990s, intersectionality emerged as a new feminist framework. The popularity of the notion of intersectionality corresponds to a time when, in hindsight, the damage done to minoritized groups by state disengagement policies in concert with global intensification of neoliberalism, and vice versa, can be measured. Although GBA+ constitutes a form of intersectionalization of GBA, it must be understood that the two frameworks do not spring from a similar logic. Intersectionality first emerged as a dynamic analysis of differences between women that was oriented toward change and social justice, whereas GBA is a technique developed by state feminists in a context of analyzing governmental policies and aiming to promote equality between men and women. It can nevertheless be assumed that there might be interest in such a policy and program analysis grid that is decentred from gender and offers enough flexibility to take account of a group of inequalities. In terms of methodology, the research is supported by a qualitative analysis of governmental documents about GBA+ in Canada. Research findings identify links between Canadian gender policies and its political culture. In Canada, diversity has been taken into account as an element at the basis of gendered analysis of public policies since 1995. The GBA+ adopted by the government of Canada conveys an opening to intersectionality and a sensitivity to multiculturalism. The Canadian Multiculturalism Act, adopted 1988, proposes to recognize the fact that multiculturalism is a fundamental characteristic of the Canadian identity and heritage and constitutes an invaluable resource for the future of the country. In conclusion, Canada’s distinct political culture can be associated with the specific nature of its gender policies.

Keywords: Canada, gender-based analysis, gender policies, political culture

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Authors: A. M. Byrne, E. Bonfiglio, C. Rigby, N. Edelstyn

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Introduction: Neuromarketing employs numerous methodologies when investigating products and advertisement effectiveness. Electroencephalography (EEG), a non-invasive measure of electrical activity from the brain, is commonly used in neuromarketing. EEG data can be considered using time-frequency (TF) analysis, where changes in the frequency of brainwaves are calculated to infer participant’s mental states, or event-related potential (ERP) analysis, where changes in amplitude are observed in direct response to a stimulus. This presentation discusses the findings of a systematic review of EEG measures in neuromarketing. A systematic review summarises evidence on a research question, using explicit measures to identify, select, and critically appraise relevant research papers. Thissystematic review identifies which EEG measures are the most robust predictor of customer preference and purchase intention. Methods: Search terms identified174 papers that used EEG in combination with marketing-related stimuli. Publications were excluded if they were written in a language other than English or were not published as journal articles (e.g., book chapters). The review investigated which TF effect (e.g., theta-band power) and ERP component (e.g., N400) most consistently reflected preference and purchase intention. Machine-learning prediction was also investigated, along with the use of EEG combined with physiological measures such as eye-tracking. Results: Frontal alpha asymmetry was the most reliable TF signal, where an increase in activity over the left side of the frontal lobe indexed a positive response to marketing stimuli, while an increase in activity over the right side indexed a negative response. The late positive potential, a positive amplitude increase around 600 ms after stimulus presentation, was the most reliable ERP component, reflecting the conscious emotional evaluation of marketing stimuli. However, each measure showed mixed results when related to preference and purchase behaviour. Predictive accuracy was greatly improved through machine-learning algorithms such as deep neural networks, especially when combined with eye-tracking or facial expression analyses. Discussion: This systematic review provides a novel catalogue of the most effective use of each EEG measure commonly used in neuromarketing. Exciting findings to emerge are the identification of the frontal alpha asymmetry and late positive potential as markers of preferential responses to marketing stimuli. Predictive accuracy using machine-learning algorithms achieved predictive accuracies as high as 97%, and future research should therefore focus on machine-learning prediction when using EEG measures in neuromarketing.

Keywords: EEG, ERP, neuromarketing, machine-learning, systematic review, time-frequency

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Authors: Olga Maksakova

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A work with unconscious patients after acute brain damages besides special knowledge and practical skills of all the participants requires a very specific organization. A lot of said about team approach in neurorehabilitation, usually as for outpatient mode. Rehabilitologists deal with fixed patient problems or deficits (motion, speech, cognitive or emotional disorder). Team-building means superficial paradigm of management psychology. Linear mode of teamwork fits casual relationships there. Cases with deep altered states of consciousness (vegetative states, coma, and confusion) require non-linear mode of teamwork: recovery of consciousness might not be the goal due to phenomenon uncertainty. Rehabilitation team as Semi-open Complex System includes the patient as a part. Patient's response pattern becomes formed not only with brain deficits but questions-stimuli, context, and inquiring person. Teamwork is sourcing of phenomenology knowledge of patient's processes as Third-person approach is replaced with Second- and after First-person approaches. Here is a chance for real-time change. Patient’s contacts with his own body and outward things create a basement for restoration of consciousness. The most important condition is systematic feedbacks to any minimal movement or vegetative signal of the patient. Up to now, recovery work with the most severe contingent is carried out in the mode of passive physical interventions, while an effective rehabilitation team should include specially trained psychologists and psychotherapists. It is they who are able to create a network of feedbacks with the patient and inter-professional ones building up the team. Characteristics of ‘Team-Patient’ system (TPS) are energy, entropy, and complexity. Impairment of consciousness as the absence of linear contact appears together with a loss of essential functions (low energy), vegetative-visceral fits (excessive energy and low order), motor agitation (excessive energy and excessive order), etc. Techniques of teamwork are different in these cases for resulting optimization of the system condition. Directed regulation of the system complexity is one of the recovery tools. Different signs of awareness appear as a result of system self-organization. Joint meetings are an important part of teamwork. Regular or event-related discussions form the language of inter-professional communication, as well as the patient's shared mental model. Analysis of complex communication process in TPS may be useful for creation of the general theory of consciousness.

Keywords: rehabilitation team, urgent rehabilitation, severe brain damage, consciousness disorders, complex system theory

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Authors: B. Shaw, K. Doherty

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The Cultural Communication and Computing Research Institute (C3RI) is a diverse multidisciplinary research institute including art, design, media production, communication studies, computing and engineering. Across these disciplines it can seem like there are enormous differences of research practice and convention, including differing positions on objectivity and subjectivity, certainty and evidence, and different political and ethical parameters. These differences sit within, often unacknowledged, histories, codes, and communication styles of specific disciplines, and it is all these aspects that can make understanding of research practice across disciplines difficult. To explore this, a one day event was orchestrated, testing how a PhD community might communicate and share research in progress in a multi-disciplinary context. Instead of presenting results at a conference, research students were tasked to articulate their method of inquiry. A working party of students from across disciplines had to design a conference call, visual identity and an event framework that would work for students across all disciplines. The process of establishing the shape and identity of the conference was revealing. Even finding a linguistic frame that would meet the expectations of different disciplines for the conference call was challenging. The first abstracts submitted either resorted to reporting findings, or only described method briefly. It took several weeks of supported intervention for research students to get ‘inside’ their method and to understand their research practice as a process rich with philosophical and practical decisions and implications. In response to the abstracts the conference committee generated key methodological categories for conference sessions, including sampling, capturing ‘experience’, ‘making models’, researcher identities, and ‘constructing data’. Each session involved presentations by visual artists, communications students and computing researchers with inter-disciplinary dialogue, facilitated by alumni Chairs. The apparently simple focus on method illuminated research process as a site of creativity, innovation and discovery, and also built epistemological awareness, drawing attention to what is being researched and how it can be known. It was surprisingly difficult to limit students to discussing method, and it was apparent that the vocabulary available for method is sometimes limited. However, by focusing on method rather than results, the genuine process of research, rather than one constructed for approval, could be captured. In unlocking the twists and turns of planning and implementing research, and the impact of circumstance and contingency, students had to reflect frankly on successes and failures. This level of self – and public- critique emphasised the degree of critical thinking and rigour required in executing research and demonstrated that honest reportage of research, faults and all, is good valid research. The process also revealed the degree that disciplines can learn from each other- the computing students gained insights from the sensitive social contextualizing generated by communications and art and design students, and art and design students gained understanding from the greater ‘distance’ and emphasis on application that computing students applied to their subjects. Finding the means to develop dialogue across disciplines makes researchers better equipped to devise and tackle research problems across disciplines, potentially laying the ground for more effective collaboration.

Keywords: interdisciplinary, method, research student, training

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Authors: Şule Yanık, Hasan Gürgür

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It is thought that it is important for disabled children to have the opportunity to benefit preschool education that smoothens transition process to formal education, and for the constitution of a precondition for their success. Within this context, it is important for the disabled in Turkey to be evaluated medically firstly and then educational-wise in order for them to benefit early inclusive education. Thus, disabled people are both diagnosed in hospitals and at Guidance and Research Centers (GRC) attached to Ministry of Education educational-wise. It is seen that standard evaluation tools are used and evaluations are done by special education teachers (SET) in order for educational diagnosis and evaluation (EDAE) to be realized. The literature emphasizes the importance of informal evaluation tools as well as formal ones. According to this, it is thought that another party, besides students in EDAE process and SETs, is family, because families are primary care takers for their children, and that the most correct and real information can be obtained via families beside results of educational evaluation processes (EEP). It is thought that obtaining opinions of families during EEP is important to be able to exhibit the present EDAE activities in Turkey, materialize any existing problems, and increase quality of the process. Within this context, the purpose of this study is to exhibit experiences regarding EDAE processes of 10 families having preschool children with hearing loss (CHL). The process of research is designed to be descriptive based on qualitative research paradigms. Data were collected via semi-structured interview questions, and the themes were obtained. As a result, it is seen that families, after they realize the hearing loss of their children, do not have any information regarding the subject, and that they consult to an ear-nose-throat doctor or an audiologist for support. It is seen that families go to hospitals for medical evaluation which is a pre-requisite for benefiting early education opportunities. However, during this process, as some families do not have any experience of having a CHL, it is seen that they are late for medical evaluation and hearing aids. Moreover, families stated that they were directed to GRC via audiologists for educational evaluation. Families stated that their children were evaluated regarding language, academic and psychological development in proportion with their ages in GRC after they were diagnosed medically. However, families stated that EEP realized in GRC was superficial, short and lacked detail. It is seen that many families were not included in EEP process, whereas some families stated that they were asked questions because their children are too small to answer. Regarding the benefits of EEP for themselves and their children, families stated that GRC had to give a report to them for benefiting the free support of Special Education and Rehabilitation Center, and that families had to be directed to inclusive education. As a result, it is seen that opinions of families regarding EDAE processes at GRC indicate inefficiency of the process as it is short and superficial, regardless being to the point.

Keywords: children with hearing loss, educational diagnosis and evaluation, guidance and research center, inclusion

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Authors: Brenda Thean I. Lim, Safurah Jaafar

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Augmented reality (AR) in the healthcare industry has been gaining popularity in recent years, principally in areas of medical education, patient care and digital health solutions. One of the drivers in deciding to invest in AR technology is the potential economic benefits it could bring for patients and healthcare providers, including the pharmaceutical and medical technology sectors. Works of literature have shown that the benefits and impact of AR technologies have left trails of achievements in improving medical education and patient health outcomes. However, little has been published on the economic impact of AR in healthcare, a very resource-intensive industry. This systematic review was performed on studies focused on the benefits and impact of AR in healthcare to appraise if they meet the founded quality criteria so as to identify relevant publications for an in-depth analysis of the economic impact assessment. The literature search was conducted using multiple databases such as PubMed, Cochrane, Science Direct and Nature. Inclusion criteria include research papers on AR implementation in healthcare, from education to diagnosis and treatment. Only papers written in English language were selected. Studies on AR prototypes were excluded. Although there were many articles that have addressed the benefits of AR in the healthcare industry in the area of medical education, treatment and diagnosis and dental medicine, there were very few publications that identified the specific economic impact of technology within the healthcare industry. There were 13 publications included in the analysis based on the inclusion criteria. Out of the 13 studies, none comprised a systematically comprehensive cost impact evaluation. An outline of the cost-effectiveness and cost-benefit framework was made based on an AR article from another industry as a reference. This systematic review found that while the advancements of AR technology is growing rapidly and industries are starting to adopt them into respective sectors, the technology and its advancements in healthcare were still in their early stages. There are still plenty of room for further advancements and integration of AR into different sectors within the healthcare industry. Future studies will require more comprehensive economic analyses and costing evaluations to enable economic decisions for or against implementing AR technology in healthcare. This systematic review concluded that the current literature lacked detailed examination and conduct of economic impact and benefit analyses. Recommendations for future research would be to include details of the initial investment and operational costs for the AR infrastructure in healthcare settings while comparing the intervention to its conventional counterparts or alternatives so as to provide a comprehensive comparison on impact, benefit and cost differences.

Keywords: augmented reality, benefit, economic impact, healthcare, patient care

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Authors: Ayse Collins

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The Agenda 2030 puts Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in the situation where they should emphasize ways to promote sustainability accordingly. However, it is still unclear: a) how sustainability is understood, and b) which actions have been taken in both discourse and practice by HEIs regarding the three pillars of sustainability, society, environment, and economy. There are models of sustainable universities developed by different authors from different countries; For Example, The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) methodology which offers a variety of indicators to diagnose performance. However, these models have never been developed for universities in particular. Any model, in this sense, cannot be completed adequately without defining the appropriate tools to measure, analyze and control the performance of initiatives. There is a need to conduct researches in different universities from different countries to understand where we stand in terms of sustainable higher education. Therefore, this study aims at exploring the actions taken by a university in Ankara, Turkey, since Agenda 2030 should consider localizing its objectives and targets according to a certain geography. This university just announced 2021-2022 as “Sustainability Year.” Therefore, this research is a multi-methodology longitudinal study and uses the theoretical framework of the organization and transition management (TM). It is designed to examine the activities as being strategic, tactical, operational, and reflexive in nature and covers the six main aspects: academic community, administrative staff, operations and services, teaching, research, and extension. The preliminary research will answer the role of the top university governance, perception of the stakeholders (students, instructors, administrative and support staff) regarding sustainability, and the level of achievement at the mid-evaluation and final, end of year evaluation. TM Theory is a multi-scale, multi-actor, process-oriented approach with the analytical framework to explore and promote change in social systems. Therefore, the stages and respective methodology for collecting data in this research is: Pre-development Stage: a) semi-structured interviews with university governance, c) open-ended survey with faculty, students, and administrative staff d) Semi-structured interviews with support staff, and e) analysis of current secondary data for sustainability. Take-off Stage: a) semi-structured interviews with university governance, faculty, students, administrative and support staff, b) analysis of secondary data. Breakthrough stabilization a) survey with all stakeholders at the university, b) secondary data analysis by using selected indicators for the first sustainability report for universities The findings from the predevelopment stage highlight how stakeholders, coming from different faculties, different disciplines with different identities and characteristics, face the sustainability challenge differently. Though similar sustainable development goals ((social, environmental, and economic) are set in the institution, there are differences across disciplines and among different stakeholders, which need to be considered to reach the optimum goal. It is believed that the results will help changes in HEIs organizational culture to embed sustainability values in their strategic planning, academic and managerial work by putting enough time and resources to be successful in coping with sustainability.

Keywords: higher education, sustainability, sustainability auditing, transition management

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Authors: Rajkumar Ghosh

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Water scarcity is a significant challenge in urban areas, even in smart cities (Lucknow, Bangalore, Jaipur, etc.) where efficient resource management is prioritized. The depletion of groundwater resources in Gomti Nagar, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India is particularly severe, posing a significant challenge for sustainable development in the region. This study focuses on addressing the water shortage by investigating the effectiveness of rooftop rainwater harvesting systems (RTRWHs) as a sustainable approach to bridge the gap between groundwater recharge and extraction. The aim of this study is to assess the effectiveness of RTRWHs in reducing aquifer depletion and addressing the water scarcity issue in the Gomti Nagar region. The research methodology involves the utilization of RTRWHs as the primary method for collecting rainwater. RTRWHs will be implemented in residential and commercial buildings to maximize the collection of rainwater. Data for this study were collected through various sources such as government reports, surveys, and existing groundwater abstraction patterns. Statistical analysis and modelling techniques were employed to assess the current water situation, groundwater depletion rate, and the potential impact of implementing RTRWHs. The study reveals that the installation of RTRWHs in the Gomti Nagar region has a positive impact on addressing the water scarcity issue. Currently, RTRWHs cover only a small percentage of the total rainfall collected in the region. However, when RTRWHs are installed in all buildings, their influence on increasing water availability and reducing aquifer depletion will be significantly greater. The study also highlights the significant water imbalance in the region, emphasizing the urgent need for sustainable water management practices. This research contributes to the theoretical understanding of sustainable water management systems in smart cities. By highlighting the effectiveness of RTRWHs in reducing aquifer depletion, it emphasizes the importance of implementing such systems in urban areas. Data for this study were collected through various sources such as government reports, surveys, and existing groundwater abstraction patterns. The collected data were then analysed using statistical analysis and modelling techniques to assess the current water situation, groundwater depletion rate, and the potential impact of implementing RTRWHs. The findings of this study demonstrate that the implementation of RTRWHs can effectively mitigate the water scarcity crisis in Gomti Nagar. By reducing aquifer depletion and bridging the gap between groundwater recharge and extraction, RTRWHs offer a sustainable solution to the region's water scarcity challenges. Widespread adoption of RTRWHs in all buildings and integration into urban planning and development processes are crucial for efficient water management in smart cities like Gomti Nagar. These findings can serve as a basis for policymakers, urban planners, and developers to prioritize and incentivize the installation of RTRWHs as a potential solution to the water shortage crisis.

Keywords: water scarcity, urban areas, smart cities, resource management, groundwater depletion, rooftop rainwater harvesting systems, sustainable development, sustainable water management, mitigating water scarcity

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Authors: Loris Franchi, Daniele Calvi, Sabrina Corpino

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This paper presents a design methodology in which stakeholders are assisted with the exploration of a so-called negotiation space, aiming to the maximization of both group social welfare and single stakeholder’s perceived utility. The outcome results in less design iterations needed for design convergence while obtaining a higher solution effectiveness. During the early stage of a space project, not only the knowledge about the system but also the decision outcomes often are unknown. The scenario is exacerbated by the fact that decisions taken in this stage imply delayed costs associated with them. Hence, it is necessary to have a clear definition of the problem under analysis, especially in the initial definition. This can be obtained thanks to a robust generation and exploration of design alternatives. This process must consider that design usually involves various individuals, who take decisions affecting one another. An effective coordination among these decision-makers is critical. Finding mutual agreement solution will reduce the iterations involved in the design process. To handle this scenario, the paper proposes a design methodology which, aims to speed-up the process of pushing the mission’s concept maturity level. This push up is obtained thanks to a guided negotiation space exploration, which involves autonomously exploration and optimization of trade opportunities among stakeholders via Artificial Intelligence algorithms. The negotiation space is generated via a multidisciplinary collaborative optimization method, infused by game theory and multi-attribute utility theory. In particular, game theory is able to model the negotiation process to reach the equilibria among stakeholder needs. Because of the huge dimension of the negotiation space, a collaborative optimization framework with evolutionary algorithm has been integrated in order to guide the game process to efficiently and rapidly searching for the Pareto equilibria among stakeholders. At last, the concept of utility constituted the mechanism to bridge the language barrier between experts of different backgrounds and differing needs, using the elicited and modeled needs to evaluate a multitude of alternatives. To highlight the benefits of the proposed methodology, the paper presents the design of a CubeSat mission for the observation of lunar radiation environment. The derived solution results able to balance all stakeholders needs and guaranteeing the effectiveness of the selection mission concept thanks to its robustness in valuable changeability. The benefits provided by the proposed design methodology are highlighted, and further development proposed.

Keywords: concurrent engineering, artificial intelligence, negotiation in engineering design, multidisciplinary optimization

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Authors: Shirin Alabdulqader

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This research aims to investigate the concept of code-switching (CS) between English, Arabic, and the CS practices of Saudi online users via a Translanguaging (TL) lens for more inclusive view towards the nature of the data from the study. It employs Digitally Mediated Communication (DMC), specifically the WhatsApp and Twitter platforms, in order to understand how the users employ online resources to communicate with others on a daily basis. This project looks beyond language and considers the multimodal affordances (visual and audio means) that interlocutors utilise in their online communicative practices to shape their online social existence. This exploratory study is based on a data-driven interpretivist epistemology as it aims to understand how meaning (reality) is created by individuals within different contexts. This project used a mixed-method approach, combining a qualitative and a quantitative approach. In the former, data were collected from online chats and interview responses, while in the latter a questionnaire was employed to understand the frequency and relations between the participants’ linguistic and non-linguistic practices and their social behaviours. The participants were eight bilingual Saudi nationals (both men and women, aged between 20 and 50 years old) who interacted with others online. These participants provided their online interactions, participated in an interview and responded to a questionnaire. The study data were gathered from 194 WhatsApp chats and 122 Tweets. These data were analysed and interpreted according to three levels: conversational turn taking and CS; the linguistic description of the data; and CS and persona. This project contributes to the emerging field of analysing online Arabic data systematically, and the field of multimodality and bilingual sociolinguistics. The findings are reported for each of the three levels. For conversational turn taking, the CS analysis revealed that it was used to accomplish negotiation and develop meaning in the conversation. With regard to the linguistic practices of the CS data, the majority of the code-switched words were content morphemes. The third level of data interpretation is CS and its relationship with identity; two types of identity were indexed; absolute identity and contextual identity. This study contributes to the DMC literature and bridges some of the existing gaps. The findings of this study are that CS by its nature, and most of the findings, if not all, support the notion of TL that multiliteracy is one’s ability to decode multimodal communication, and that this multimodality contributes to the meaning. Either this is applicable to the online affordances used by monolinguals or multilinguals and perceived not only by specific generations but also by any online multiliterates, the study provides the linguistic features of CS utilised by Saudi bilinguals and it determines the relationship between these features and the contexts in which they appear.

Keywords: social media, code-switching, translanguaging, online interaction, saudi bilinguals

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Authors: Chevonne Reynolds, Res Altwegg, Andrew Balmford, Claire N. Spottiswoode

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Modern agriculture has revolutionised the planet’s capacity to support humans, yet has simultaneously had a greater negative impact on biodiversity than any other human activity. Balancing the demand for food with the conservation of biodiversity is one of the most pressing issues of our time. Biodiversity-friendly farming (‘land sharing’), or alternatively, separation of conservation and production activities (‘land sparing’), are proposed as two strategies for mediating the trade-off between agriculture and biodiversity. However, there is much debate regarding the efficacy of each strategy, as this trade-off has typically been addressed by short term studies at fine spatial scales. These studies ignore processes that are relevant to biodiversity at larger scales, such as meta-population dynamics and landscape connectivity. Therefore, to better understand species response to agricultural land-use and provide evidence to underpin the planning of better production landscapes, we need to determine the merits of each strategy at larger scales. In South Africa, a remarkable citizen science project - the South African Bird Atlas Project 2 (SABAP2) – collates an extensive dataset describing the occurrence of birds at a 5-min by 5-min grid cell resolution. We use these data, along with fine-resolution data on agricultural land-use, to determine which strategy optimises the agriculture-biodiversity trade-off in a southern African context, and at a spatial scale never considered before. To empirically test this trade-off, we model bird species population density, derived for each 5-min grid cell by Royle-Nicols single-species occupancy modelling, against both the amount and configuration of different types of agricultural production in the same 5-min grid cell. In using both production amount and configuration, we can show not only how species population densities react to changes in yield, but also describe the production landscape patterns most conducive to conservation. Furthermore, the extent of both the SABAP2 and land-cover datasets allows us to test this trade-off across multiple regions to determine if bird populations respond in a consistent way and whether results can be extrapolated to other landscapes. We tested the land sparing/sharing trade-off for 281 bird species across three different biomes in South Africa. Overall, a higher proportion of species are classified as losers, and would benefit from land sparing. However, this proportion of loser-sparers is not consistent and varies across biomes and the different types of agricultural production. This is most likely because of differences in the intensity of agricultural land-use and the interactions between the differing types of natural vegetation and agriculture. Interestingly, we observe a higher number of species that benefit from agriculture than anticipated, suggesting that agriculture is a legitimate resource for certain bird species. Our results support those seen at smaller scales and across vastly different agricultural systems, that land sparing benefits the most species. However, our analysis suggests that land sparing needs to be implemented at spatial scales much larger than previously considered. Species persistence in agricultural landscapes will require the conservation of large tracts of land, and is an important consideration in developing countries, which are undergoing rapid agricultural development.

Keywords: agriculture, birds, land sharing, land sparing

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Authors: Insiya Bhalloo

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It is quite common in the Muslim faith for non-Arabic speakers to be able to convert written Arabic, especially Quranic Arabic, into a phonological code without significant semantic or syntactic knowledge. This is due to prior experience learning to read the Quran (a religious text written in Classical Arabic), from a very young age such as via enrolment in Quranic Arabic classes. As compared to native speakers of Arabic, these Arabic readers do not have a comprehensive morpho-syntactic knowledge of the Arabic language, nor can understand, or engage in Arabic conversation. The study seeks to investigate whether mere phonological experience (as indicated by the Arabic readers’ experience with Arabic phonology and the sound-system) is sufficient to cause phonological-interference during word recognition of previously-heard words, despite the participants’ non-native status. Both native speakers of Arabic and non-native speakers of Arabic, i.e., those individuals that learned to read the Quran from a young age, will be recruited. Each experimental session will include two phases: An exposure phase and a test phase. During the exposure phase, participants will be presented with Arabic words (n=40) on a computer screen. Half of these words will be common words found in the Quran while the other half will be words commonly found in Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) but either non-existent or prevalent at a significantly lower frequency within the Quran. During the test phase, participants will then be presented with both familiar (n = 20; i.e., those words presented during the exposure phase) and novel Arabic words (n = 20; i.e., words not presented during the exposure phase. ½ of these presented words will be common Quranic Arabic words and the other ½ will be common MSA words but not Quranic words. Moreover, ½ the Quranic Arabic and MSA words presented will be comprised of nouns, while ½ the Quranic Arabic and MSA will be comprised of verbs, thereby eliminating word-processing issues affected by lexical category. Participants will then determine if they had seen that word during the exposure phase. This study seeks to investigate whether long-term phonological memory, such as via childhood exposure to Quranic Arabic orthography, has a differential effect on the word-recognition capacities of native Arabic speakers and Arabic readers; we seek to compare the effects of long-term phonological memory in comparison to short-term phonological exposure (as indicated by the presentation of familiar words from the exposure phase). The researcher’s hypothesis is that, despite the lack of lexical knowledge, early experience with converting written Quranic Arabic text into a phonological code will help participants recall the familiar Quranic words that appeared during the exposure phase more accurately than those that were not presented during the exposure phase. Moreover, it is anticipated that the non-native Arabic readers will also report more false alarms to the unfamiliar Quranic words, due to early childhood phonological exposure to Quranic Arabic script - thereby causing false phonological facilitatory effects.

Keywords: modern standard arabic, phonological facilitation, phonological memory, Quranic arabic, word recognition

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Authors: Emily Schulz

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The ancient Vedic culture from India had traditions that supported all aspects of health, including psychological health, and are relevant in the current era. These traditions have been compiled by Professor Dr. Purna, a rare Himalayan Master, into the Purna Health Management System (PHMS). The PHMS is a unique, holistic, and integrated approach to health management. It is comprised of four key factors: Health, Fitness, and Nutrition (HF&N), Life Balance (Stress Management) (LB-SM), Spiritual Growth and Development (SG&D); and Living in Harmony with the Natural Environment (LHWNE). The purpose of the PHMS is to give people the tools to take responsibility for managing their own holistic health and wellbeing. A study using a cross-sectional mixed-methods anonymous online survey was conducted during 2017-2018. Adult students of Professor Dr. Purna were invited to participate through announcements made at various events He held throughout the globe. Follow-up emails were sent with consenting language for interested parties and provided them with a link to the survey. Participation in the study was completely voluntary and no incentives were given to respond to the survey. The overall aim of the study was to investigate the effectiveness of implementation of the PHMS on practitioners' emotional balance. However, given the holistic nature of the PHMS, survey questions also inquired about participants’ physical health, stress level, ability to manage stress, and wellbeing using Likert scales. The survey also included some open-ended questions to gain an understanding of the participants’ experiences with the PHMS relative to their emotional balance. In total, 52 people out of 253 potential respondents participated in the study. Data were analyzed using nonparametric Spearman’s Rho correlation coefficient (rs) since the data were not on a normal distribution. Statistical significance was set at p < .05. Results of the study suggested that there are moderate to strong statistically significant relationships (p < .001) between participants' frequent implementation of each of the four key factors of the PHMS and self-reported mental/emotional health (HF&N rs = 0.42; LB-SM rs = 0.54; SG&D rs = 0.49; LHWNE rs = 0.45) Results also demonstrated statistically significant relationships (p < .001) between participants' frequent implementation of each of the four key factors of the PHMS and their self-reported ability to manage stress (HF&N rs = 0.44; LB-SM rs = 0.55; SG&D rs = 0.39; LHWNE rs = 0.55). Additionally, those who reported experiencing better physical health also reported better mental/emotional health (rs = 0.49, p < .001) and better ability to manage stress (rs = 0.46, p < .001). The findings of this study suggest that wisdom from the ancient Vedic culture may be useful for those working in the field of psychology and related fields who would like to assist clients in calming their mind and emotions and managing their stress levels.

Keywords: balanced emotions, balanced mind, stress management, Vedic philosophy

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Authors: V. Vsevolozhskaia

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Since 1990, energy-efficient development concepts have constituted both a turning point in civil engineering and a challenge for an environmentally friendly future. Energy and water currently play an essential role in the sustainable economic growth of the world in general and Russia in particular: the efficiency of the water supply system is the second most important parameter for energy consumption according to the British assessment method, while the water-energy nexus has been identified as a focus for accelerating sustainable growth and developing effective, innovative solutions. The activities considered in this study were aimed at organizing and executing the renovation of the property in residential buildings located in St. Petersburg, specifically buildings with local or federal historical heritage status under the control of the St. Petersburg Committee for the State Inspection and Protection of Historic and Cultural Monuments (KGIOP) and UNESCO. Even after reconstruction, these buildings still fall into energy efficiency class D. Russian Government Resolution No. 87 on the structure and required content of project documentation contains a section entitled ‘Measures to ensure compliance with energy efficiency and equipment requirements for buildings, structures, and constructions with energy metering devices’. Mention is made of the need to install collectors and meters, which only calculate energy, neglecting the main purpose: to make buildings more energy-efficient, potentially even energy efficiency class A. The least-explored aspects of energy-efficient technology in the Russian Federation remain the water balance and the possibility of implementing rain and meltwater collection systems. These modern technologies are used exclusively for new buildings due to a lack of government directive to create project documentation during the planning of major renovations and reconstruction that would include the collection and reuse of rainwater. Energy-efficient technology for rain and meltwater collection is currently applied only to new buildings, even though research has proved that using rainwater is safe and offers a huge step forward in terms of eco-efficiency analysis and water innovation. Where conservation is mandatory, making changes to protected sites is prohibited. In most cases, the protected site is the cultural heritage building itself, including the main walls and roof. However, the installation of a second water supply system and collection of rainwater would not affect the protected building itself. Water efficiency in St. Petersburg is currently considered only from the point of view of the installation that regulates the flow of the pipeline shutoff valves. The development of technical guidelines for the use of grey- and/or rainwater to meet the needs of residential buildings during reconstruction or renovation is not yet complete. The ideas for water treatment, collection and distribution systems presented in this study should be taken into consideration during the reconstruction or renovation of residential cultural heritage buildings under the protection of KGIOP and UNESCO. The methodology applied also has the potential to be extended to other cultural heritage sites in northern countries and lands with an average annual rainfall of over 600 mm to cover average toilet-flush needs.

Keywords: cultural heritage, energy efficiency, renovation, rainwater collection, reconstruction, water management, water supply

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