Search results for: universities in the world

Authors: Samer Abu Ghazaleh, Jawdat Gousous

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E-learning in general started in Jordan around ten years ago in universities and at different departments and colleges. This paper will investigate the possibility to apply e-learning in architecture department at University of Jordan. As known architecture departments in general depend greatly in its syllabus upon design courses and studios, which consists nearly one third of its total credit hours. A survey has been conducted for architectural students at the University of Jordan and several conclusions have been reached irrespective of age, gender and nationality of the students, where the main problem was the way of the communication between the tutor and the student.

Keywords: cellular telephone, design courses, e-learning, internet

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Authors: Perizat Balkhimbekova

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Evolutionary changes in cognitive world view taking place in the last decades are followed by changes in perception of the key concepts which are related to the certain lingua-cultural sphere. Also, such concepts reflect the person’s attitude to essential processes in the sphere of concepts, e.g. the opposite operations like creation and destruction. These changes in people’s life and thinking are displayed in a language world view. In order to open the maintenance of mental structures and concepts we should use language means as observable results of people’s cognitive activity. Semantics of words, free phrases and idioms should be considered as an authoritative source of information concerning concepts. The regularized set of concepts in people consciousness forms the sphere of concepts. Cognitive linguistics widely discusses the sphere of concepts as its crucial category defining it as the field of knowledge which is made of concepts. It is considered that a sphere of concepts comprises the various types of association and forms conceptual fields. As a material for the given research, the data from Russian National Corpus and British National Corpus were used. In is necessary to point out that data provided by computational studies, are intrinsic and verifiable; so that we have used them in order to get the reliable results. The procedure of study was based on such techniques as extracting of the context containing concepts of creation|destruction from the Russian National Corpus (RNC), and British National Corpus (BNC); analyzing and interpreting of those context on the basis of cognitive approach; finding of correspondence between the given concepts in the Russian and English world view. The key problem of our study is to find the correspondence between the elements of world view represented by opposite concepts such as creation and destruction. Findings: The concept of "destruction" indicates a process which leads to full or partial destruction of an object. In other words, it is a loss of the object primary essence: structures, properties, distinctive signs and its initial integrity. The concept of "creation", on the contrary, comprises positive characteristics, represents the activity aimed at improvement of the certain object, at the creation of ideal models of the world. On the other hand, destruction is represented much more widely in RNC than creation (1254 cases of the first concept by comparison to 192 cases for the second one). Our hypothesis consists in the antinomy represented by the aforementioned concepts. Being opposite both in respect of semantics and pragmatics, and from the point of view of axiology, they are at the same time complementary and interrelated concepts.

Keywords: creation, destruction, concept, world view

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Authors: Warda Fatima, Hasnain Javed

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The emerging trend of Drug resistance in childhood Tuberculosis is increasing worldwide and now becoming a priority challenge for National TB Control Programs of the world. Childhood TB accounts for 10-15% of total TB burden across the globe and same proportion is quantified in case of drug resistant TB. One third population suffering from MDR TB dies annually because of non-diagnosis and unavailability of appropriate treatment. However, true Childhood MDR TB cannot be estimated due to non-confirmation. Diagnosis of Pediatric TB by sputum Smear Microscopy and Culture inoculation are limited due to paucibacillary nature and difficulties in obtaining adequate sputum specimens. Diagnosis becomes more difficult when it comes to HIV infected child. New molecular advancements for early case detection of TB and MDR TB in adults have not been endorsed in children. Multi centered trials are needed to design better diagnostic approaches and efficient and safer treatments for DR TB in high burden countries. The aim of the present study is to sketch out the current situation of the childhood Drug resistant TB especially in the developing world and to highlight the classic and novel methods that are to be implemented in high-burden resource-limited locations.

Keywords: drug resistant TB, childhood, diagnosis, novel methods

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Authors: Abram Zoltan

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Over the past hundred years, human activities, particularly the burning of fossil fuels, have released enough carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases to dissipate additional heat into the lower atmosphere and affect the global climate. Climate change affects many social and environmental determinants of health: clean air, safe drinking water, and adequate food. Our aim is to draw attention to the effects of climate change on the health and health care system. Improving climate awareness and the knowledge related to climate change's health impacts are essential among medical students and practicing medical doctors. Therefore, in their everyday practice, they also need some assistance and up-to-date knowledge of how climate change can endanger human health and deal with these novel health problems. Our activity, based on the cooperation of more universities, aims to develop new curriculum outlines and learning materials on climate change's health impacts for medical schools. Special attention is intended to pay to the possible preventative measures against these impacts. For all of this, the project plans to create new curriculum outlines and learning materials for medical students, elaborate methodological guidelines and create training materials for medical doctors' postgraduate learning programs. The target groups of the project are medical students, educational staff of medical schools and universities, practicing medical doctors with special attention to the general practitioners and family doctors. We had searched various surveys, domestic and international studies about the effects of climate change and statistical estimation of the possible consequences. The health effects of climate change can be measured only approximately by considering only a fraction of the potential health effects and assuming continued economic growth and health progress. We can estimate that climate change is expected to cause about 250,000 more deaths. We conclude that climate change is one of the most serious problems of the 21st century, affecting all populations. In the short- to medium-term, the health effects of climate change will be determined mainly by human vulnerability. In the longer term, the effects depend increasingly on the extent to which transformational action is taken now to reduce emissions. We can contribute to reducing environmental pollution by raising awareness and by educating the population.

Keywords: climate change, health impacts, medical students, education

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Authors: Reham Barakat

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Over the last few decades, the influence of International Financial Institutions (IFIs), especially the World Bank (WB), has significantly increased. Since the early 1980s, IFIs have assumed greater role, especially in developing countries; their total lending has dramatically increased, affecting billions of people in their Borrower States. Though the purpose of the development assistance provided by IFIs is to alleviate poverty and promote economic and social development in their member countries, IFIs have been subject to massive criticism by civil society institutions, international NGOs and local communities for the harmful environmental, social and economic impacts resulting from their development interventions in borrower countries, such as deforestation, displacement of indigenous peoples, and unemployment. While the role of IFIs has expanded over time, affecting billions of people, their accountability mechanisms remained behind and were criticized for lacking sufficient independency and enforceability. The serious adverse environmental impacts of the World Bank’s funded projects, along with their weak accountability mechanisms, raises the question of 'To what extent IFIs should be held internationally responsible for the harmful environmental consequences arising from their development interventions?'. This paper argues that IFIs are legally responsible for the harmful environmental consequences arising from their development interventions. The study (i) identifies the applicable laws and relevant primary rules from which the international environmental obligations of IFIs towards their borrower countries are derived (ii) assesses the World Bank’s compliance to the principles of the International Environmental Law including the precautionary principle, the polluter pays principle, and the principle of Good-Neighborliness, (iii) assesses the World Bank’s current internal accountability mechanisms for harmful environmental impacts resulting from the World Bank’s funded projects, and finally (iv) identifies the appropriate dispute settlement mechanisms to which states and non-state actors could raise their claims against IFIs for harmful environmental consequences arising from their interventions.

Keywords: international environmental law, international financial institutions, international responsibility, world bank, environmental and social safeguards

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Authors: Cleopatra Oluseye Ibukun

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Following the endogenous growth theory, entrepreneurship has been considered pivotal to economic growth and development, particularly in developing countries like Nigeria. Meanwhile, efforts to reduce unemployment has yielded minimal result with over 36% of youth unemployment and a dwindling economic growth despite the country’s natural and human resource endowment. This study, therefore, investigates the effects of entrepreneurship and institutional quality on economic growth and unemployment in Nigeria over the period 1996 to 2018. The data is obtained from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), World Bank’s World Development Indicators (WDI), and the World Bank’s World Governance Indicators (WGI). The study period is guided by the availability of data, and the study employs both descriptive and econometric techniques of analysis (specifically, the Auto-regressive Distributed Lag Approach). This approach is preferable given that the variables are stationary at the first difference, while the bounds test suggests the existence of co-integration among the variables. By implication, an increase in entrepreneurship significantly improves economic growth, and it reduces unemployment in both the short-run and the long-run. Besides, institutional quality proxied by the control of corruption, political stability, and government effectiveness significantly mediates the interaction between entrepreneurship and macroeconomic performance. This study concludes that improved institutional quality enhances the effect of entrepreneurship on economic growth and unemployment in Nigeria, and it recommends an improvement in Nigeria’s institutional quality because it can jeopardise or augment the effect of entrepreneurship on macroeconomic performance.

Keywords: entrepreneurship, institutional quality, unemployment, gross domestic product, Nigeria

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Authors: Francisco Julio Batle Lorente

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The present paper aims at presenting a new category of role for academia: proactive creator/promoter of communities of practice in emerging areas of innovation. It is based in research among practitioners in three different areas: social entrepreneurship, alumni engaged in entrepreneurship and innovation, and digital nomads. The concept of CoP is related to an intentionally created space to share experiences and collectively reflect on the cases arising from practice. Such an endeavour is not contemplated in the literature on academic roles in an explicit way. The goal of the paper is providing a framework for this function and throw some light on the perception and priorities of members of emerging communities (78 alumni, 154 social entrepreneurs, and 231 digital nomads) regarding community, learning, engagement, and networking, areas in which the university can help and, by doing so, contributing to signal the emerging area and creating new opportunities for the academia. The research methodology was based in Survey research. It is a specific type of field study that involves the collection of data from a sample of elements drawn from a well-defined population through the use of a questionnaire. It was considered that survey research might be valuable to the present project and help outline the utility of various study designs and future projects with the emerging communities that are the object of the investigation. Open questions were used for different topics, as well as critical incident technique. It was used a standard technique for survey sampling and questionnaire design. Finally, it was defined a procedure for pretesting questionnaires and for data collection. The questionnaire was channelled by means of google forms. The results indicate that the members of emerging, innovative CoPs and learning such the ones that were selected for this investigation lack cohesion, inspiration, networking, opportunities for creation of social capital, opportunities for collaboration beyond their existing and close network. The opportunity that arises for the academia from proactively helping articulate CoP (and Communities of learning) are related to key elements of any CoP/ CoL: community construction approaches, technological infrastructure, benefits, participation issues and urgent challenges, trust, networking, technical ability/training/development and collaboration. Beyond training, other three areas (networking, collaboration and urgent challenges) were the ones in which the contribution of universities to the communities were considered more interesting and workable to practitioners. The analysis of the responses for the open questions related to perception of the universities offer options for terra incognita to be explored for universities (signalling new areas, establishing broader collaborations with research, government, media and corporations, attracting investment). Based on the findings from this research, there is some evidence that CoPs can offer a formal and informal method of professional and interprofessional development for member of any emerging and innovative community and can decrease social and professional isolation. The opportunity that it offers to academia can increase the entrepreneurial and engaged university identity. It also moves to academia into a realm of civic confrontation of present and future challenges in a more proactive way.

Keywords: social innovation, new roles of academia, community of learning, community of practice

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Authors: Leone Sherman

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While the democratic rights of a citizen may be very clearly outlined in a country’s constitution, it’s not uncommon for political elite to undermine those rights and gain more power and control over a country than it is allowed by this constitution. Moreover, while such a change in some smaller states may not have a substantial impact on the international community, the same change in countries with vast resources and political influence, such as Russia, is always a considerable factor for the world policy. This article aims to research the weaknesses of the Russian democratic system and their effect on the international policy through the three key aspects: The Russian people’s ability to produce the required political will to control their government’s decisions, the current development of the Russian political environment, and the affection of this environment on the world community as a whole during the recent years. The used methodology is a narrative analysis of recent political events, official statistics, international investigations and media statements. As a result, the ever-widening gap between the people and the government becomes evidently seen, as well as the challenges it imposes on the political world arena, both current and those that still lie ahead of us.

Keywords: Russia, political analysis, democratic weaknesses, international society

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Authors: Rupali Satsangi

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14 years ago, leaders from every country agreed on a vision for the future – a world with less poverty, hunger and disease, greater survival prospects for mothers and their infants, better educated children, equal opportunities for women, and a healthier environment; a world in which developed and developing countries work in partnership for the betterment of all. This vision took the shape of eight Millennium Development Goals, which provide countries around the world a framework for development and time-bound targets by which progress can be measured. However, India has found 35 of the indicators as relevant to India. India’s MDG-framework has been contextualized through a concordance with the existing official indicators of corresponding dimensions in the national statistical system. The present study based on secondary data analyzed the status of India towards achieving the MDGs after reviewing the data study find out that India can miss the MDGs Bus in women health, sanitation and global partnership. These goals were less addressed by India in his policies and takeoffs.

Keywords: millennium development goals, national statistical system, global partnership, healthier environment

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Authors: Mark Deschaine, David Whale

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Utilization of online instruction continues to increase at universities, placing more emphasis on the exploration of issues related to adult graduate student engagement. This reflective case study reviews non-traditional student engagement in online courses. The goals of the study are to enhance student focus, attention and interaction. Findings suggest that interactivity seemed to be a key in keeping students involved and achieving, with specific activities routinely favored by students. It is recommended that time spent engaging students is worthwhile and results in greater course satisfaction and academic effort.

Keywords: online learning, student achievement, student engagement, technology

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Authors: Aqsa Mehmood, Muhammad Ali Tahir, Hafiz Syed Hamid Arshad, Salman Atif, Ejaz Hussain, Gavin McArdle, Michela Bertolotto

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The evolution of smart cities in recent years has been developing dramatically. As urbanization increases, the demand for big data analytics and digital technology-based solutions for cities has also increased. Many cities around the world have now planned to focus on smart cities. To obtain a systematic overview of smart city models, we carried out a bibliometric analysis in the context of seven regions of the world to understand the main dimensions that characterize smart cities. This paper analyses articles published between 2017 and 2021 that were captured from Web of Science and Scopus. Specifically, we investigated publication trends to highlight the research gaps and current developments in smart cities research. Our survey provides helpful insights into the geographical distribution of smart city publications with respect to regions of the world and explores the current key topics relevant to smart cities and the co-occurrences of keywords used in these publications. A systematic literature review and keyword analysis were performed. The results have focused on identifying future directions in smart city development, including smart citizens, ISO standards, Open Geospatial Consortium and the sustainability factor of smart cities. This article will assist researchers and urban planners in understanding the latest trends in research and highlight the aspects which need further attention.

Keywords: smart cities, sustainability, regions, urban development, VOS viewer, research trends

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Authors: Sun Zhe, Ruggero Micheletto

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As discussed extensively in many studies, noise in neural networks have an important role in the functioning and time evolution of the system. The mechanism by which noise induce stochastic resonance enhancing and influencing certain operations is not clarified nor is the mechanism of information storage and coding. With the present research we want to study the role of noise, especially focusing on the frequency peaks in a three variable Hindmarsh−Rose Small−World network. We investigated the behaviour of the network to external noises. We demonstrate that a variation of signal to noise ratio of about 10 dB induces an increase in membrane potential signal of about 15%, averaged over the whole network. We also considered the integral of the whole membrane potential as a paradigm of internal noise, the one generated by the brain network. We showed that this internal noise is attenuated with the size of the network or with the number of random connections. By means of Fourier analysis we found that it has distinct peaks of frequencies, moreover, we showed that increasing the size of the network introducing more neurons, reduced the maximum frequencies generated by the network, whereas the increase in the number of random connections (determined by the small-world probability p) led to a trend toward higher frequencies. This study may give clues on how networks utilize noise to alter the collective behaviour of the system in their operations.

Keywords: neural networks, stochastic processes, small-world networks, discrete Fourier analysis

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Authors: Scott Wysong

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Qatar will spend billions of dollars to host the 2022 World Cup. While football fans around the globe get excited to cheer on their favorite team every four years, critics debate the merits of a country hosting such an expensive and large-scale event. That is, the host countries spend billions of dollars on stadiums and infrastructure to attract these mega sporting events with the hope of equitable returns in economic impact and creating jobs. Yet, in many cases, the host countries are left in debt with decaying venues. There are benefits beyond the economic impact of hosting mega-events. For example, citizens are often proud of their city/country to host these famous events. Yet, often overlooked in the literature is the proposition that serving as the host for a mega-event may enhance the country’s brand image, not only as a tourist destination but for the products made in that country of origin. This research aims to explore this phenomenon by taking an exploratory look at consumer perceptions of three host countries of a mega-event in sports. In 2014, the U.S., Chinese and Finn (Finland) consumer attitudes toward Brazil and its products were measured before and after the World Cup via surveys (n=89). An Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) revealed that there were no statistically significant differences in the pre-and post-World Cup perceptions of Brazil’s brand personality or country-of-origin image. After the World Cup in 2018, qualitative interviews were held with U.S. sports fans (n=17) in an effort to further explore consumer perceptions of products made in the host country: Russia. A consistent theme of distrust and corruption with Russian products emerged despite their hosting of this prestigious global event. In late 2021, U.S. football (soccer) fans (n=42) and non-fans (n=37) were surveyed about the upcoming 2022 World Cup. A regression analysis revealed that how much an individual indicated that they were a soccer fan did not significantly influence their desire to visit Qatar or try products from Qatar in the future even though the country was hosting the World Cup—in the end, hosting a mega-event as grand as the World Cup showcases the country to the world. However, it seems to have little impact on consumer perceptions of the country, as a whole, or its brands. That is, the World Cup appeared to enhance already pre-existing stereotypes about Brazil (e.g., beaches, partying and fun, yet with crime and poverty), Russia (e.g., cold weather, vodka and business corruption) and Qatar (desert and oil). Moreover, across all three countries, respondents could rarely name a brand from the host country. Because mega-events cost a lot of time and money, countries need to do more to market their country and its brands when hosting. In addition, these countries would be wise to measure the impact of the event from different perspectives. Hence, we put forth a comprehensive future research agenda to further the understanding of how countries, and their brands, can benefit from hosting a mega sporting event.

Keywords: branding, country-of-origin effects, mega sporting events, return on investment

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Authors: Sulaiman Almutairy, Trevor Davies, Yota Dimitriadi

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This paper presents study investigating how to understand better the psychological readiness for mobile learning (m-learning) among Saudi students, while also evaluating m-learning in Saudi Arabia-a topic that has not yet received adequate attention from researchers. Data was acquired through a questionnaire administered to 131 Saudi students at UK universities, in July 2013. The study confirmed that students are confident using mobile devices in their daily lives and that they would welcome more opportunities for mobile learning. The findings indicated that Saudi higher education students are highly familiar with, and are psychologically ready for, m-learning.

Keywords: m-learning, mobile technologies, psychological readiness, higher education

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Authors: Atom Mkhitaryan, Astghik Avetisyan

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We analyze the developments of doctoral education in Armenia since 1990 and the management process. Education and training of highly qualified personnel are increasingly seen as a fundamental platform that ensures the development of the state. Reforming the national institute for doctoral studies (aspirantura) is aimed at improving the quality of human resources in science, optimizing research topics in accordance with the priority areas of development of science and technology, increasing publication and innovative activities, bringing national science and research closer to the world level and achieving international recognition. We present a number of defended dissertations in Armenia during the last 30 years, the dynamics and the main trends of the development of the academic degree awarding system. We discuss the possible impact of reforming the system of training and certification of highly qualified personnel on the organization of third–level doctoral education (doctoral schools) and specialized / dissertation councils in Armenia. The results of the SWOT analysis of doctoral education and academic degree awarding processes in Armenia are shown. The article presents the main activities and projects aimed at using the advantages and strong points of the National Academy network in order to improve the quality of doctoral education and training. The paper explores the mechanisms of organizational, methodological and infrastructural support for research and innovation activities of doctoral students and young scientists. There are also suggested approaches to the organization of strong networking between research institutes and foreign universities for training and certification of highly qualified personnel. The authors define the role of ISEC in the management of doctoral studies and the establishment of a competitive third-level education for the sphere of research and development in Armenia.

Keywords: doctoral studies, academic degree, PhD, certification, highly qualified personnel, dissertation, research and development, innovation, networking, management of doctoral school

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Authors: Azza Taha Zaki

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The death of tragedy is probably the most distinctive literary controversy of the twentieth century. There is common critical consent that tragedy in the classical sense of the word is no longer possible. Thinkers, philosophers, and critics such as Nietzsche, Durrenmatt, and George Steiner have all agreed that the decline of the genre in the modern age is due to the total lack of a unified world image and the absence of a shared vision in a fragmented and ideologically diversified world. The production of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead in 1967 marked the rise of the genre of tragi-comedy as a more appropriate reflection of the spirit of the age. At the hands of such great dramatists as Tom Stoppard (1937- ), the revived genre was not used as an extra comic element to give some comic relief to an otherwise tragic text, but it was given a postmodernist touch to serve the interpretation of the dilemma of man in the postmodernist world. This paper will study features of postmodernist tragi-comedy in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead as one of the most important plays in modern British theatre and investigate Stoppard’s vision of man and life as influenced by postmodernist thought and philosophy.

Keywords: British, drama, postmodernist, Stoppard, tragi-comedy

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Authors: Hiba Naccache

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The present research investigated whether gender differences affect performance in a simple math quiz in statistics course. Participants of this study comprised a sample of 567 statistics students in two different universities in Lebanon. Data were collected through a simple math quiz. Analysis of quantitative data indicated that there wasn’t a significant difference in math performance between males and females. The results suggest that improvements in student performance may depend on improved mastery of basic algebra especially for females. The implications of these findings and further recommendations were discussed.

Keywords: gender, education, math, statistics

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Authors: Maria Clapham, Krysta Thomason

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This study examined how age and gender of a leader affect characterizations of leaders across cultures. Participants from around the world were randomly assigned to rate one of the following types of leaders: successful leader, female leader over age 50, female leader under age 40, male leader over age 50, or male leader under age 40. Ratings of these leaders on communal, agentic, task-oriented, relationship-oriented, and transformational leadership characteristics were compared across four world regions: Asia, Europe, Latin America, and USA/Canada. Results suggest some similarities and differences in characterizations of leaders across cultures.

Keywords: culture, gender, leadership, stereotyping

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Authors: Harun Ozdemirci

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Complexity and chaos are the characteristics of our new world today. Either business or governmental sector, inner and outer environment changes in all aspects. To ensure leaders to guide organizations accurately and effectively, leaders also must change their attitudes towards this changing world . We need new tools, new mindsets and new views for new century. Every leader have to operate within an cerative and innovative way of thinking. But how it will occur and at which direction it will be managed or directed? What kind of abilities and attitudes make leader compatible with this ever-changing and ambigous environment? Leader who will lead in the future must have some special skillls. But how can we develop these skills and behaviours? What must be the mindset of a future leader? This paper searchs for answers of some of these questions. But asking questions is more important than giving answers to them. Innovation and creativity have been at the centerpiece of our lives for some years. But we don’t know how to manage and how to tackle with the challenges come up with this new situation. This new world order compel us to take some new positions against new employees who have different types of lives and habits, new productivity processes, new adversaries… Future environment will not be the same as we experience before. So, our responses to this new environment can not be the same as our predecessors gave. We have to innovate new ways of thinking, and new tools for solving new type of problems.

Keywords: innovation, creativity, leader, future, liberal arts

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Authors: Jeffrey Siphiwe Mkhize

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Twelve years of schooling for most South African children, particularly those children from disadvantaged past, are confronted with numerous and diverse challenges. These challenges range from infrastructural limitations, language of teaching, poor resources and varying family backgrounds. Likewise, schools are categorized to signify schools’ geographic location, poverty lines, societal class and type of students that the school are likely to enroll. Such categorization perpetuates particular lines of identities that are indirectly reinforced by the same system that seeks to redress. South African universities prefer point systems to determine students’ suitability to gain access to their programmes. Once students are admitted based on the qualifying points there is an assumed equity in the manner in which they receive tuition. They are assumed as equal; noting the widened access to South African universities as means to redress past inequalities. Given the challenges, inequalities, it is necessary to view higher education as a site for knowledge construction that is accessible to all students. Epistemological access is key to all students irrespective of their socio-economic status. This paper seeks to contribute to the discourse of student engagement using lecturer-student relationship as a lens to understand this phenomenon. Data were generated using South African Survey of Student Engagement, focus group interviews, semi-structured one-on-one-interviews as well as document analysis. The focus was on students registered for the first year of a Bachelor of Education degree as well as lecturers that teach high risk modules in this qualification at the same level. The findings suggest that lecturers are challenged by overcrowded classrooms and over-enrolled modules; this challenge hampers their good intentions to become more efficient and innovative in their teaching. Students lack confidence in approaching lecturers for assistance. Collaborative learning has stronger results and students believe in self-support to deal with their challenges based on their individual strengths. Collaborative learning is key to student academic performance.

Keywords: collaborative learning, consultations, student engagement, student performance

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Authors: Misbah Shaheen, Anam Qureshi

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In this work we will discuss the challenges faced by tourism industry in Pakistan. Tourism plays vital role in the socio-economic growth of a country. The countries of world, with less tourism opportunities are lagging behind from other nations of the world. Pakistan is one of those countries which rich in historical places, natural beauty, and uniqueness in handmade items and also of green forests. Present study will discuss the challenges being faced by tourism industry with special focus on hotel industry and law and order situation.

Keywords: Pakistan, tourism, handmade items, hotel industry

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Authors: Nargiz Ismayilova

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The issue of modernism and the concept of postmodernism has been the focus of world researchers for many years, and there are very few researchers who have come to a common denominator about this term. During the independence period, the expansion of the relations of Azerbaijani literature with the world has led to the spread of many currents and tendencies formed in the West to the literary environment in our country. In this context, the works created in our environment are distinguished by their extreme richness in terms of subject matter and diversity in terms of genre. As an interesting example of contemporary postmodern prose in Azerbaijan, Parviz Jabrayil's novel "In a Foreign Language" pays attention with its more different plotline. The disagreement exists among the critics about the novel. Some are looking for high artistry in work; others are satisfied with the elements of postmodernism in work. Delimitation of the border between modernism and postmodernism can serve to carry out a deep scientific study of the novel. The novel depicts the world in the author's consciousness against the background of water shortage (thirst) in the Old City (Icharishahar). The author deconstructs today's Ichari Shahar mould. Along with modernism, elements of postmodernism occupy a large place in the work. When we look at the general tendencies of postmodernist art, we see that science and individuality are questioned, criticizing the sharp boundaries of modernism and the negativity of these restrictions, and modernism offers alternatives to artistic production by identifying its negatives and shortcomings in the areas of artistic freedom. The novel is extremely interesting in this point of view.

Keywords: concept of postmodernism, modernism, delimitation, political postmodernism, modern postmodern prose, Azerbaijani literature, novel, comparison, world literature, analysis

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Authors: Lottie Lane

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It is habitually assumed and stated that the World Bank should engage and comply with international human rights standards. However, the basis for holding the Bank to such standards is unclear. Most advocates of the idea invoke aspects of international law to argue that the Bank has existing obligations to act in compliance with human rights standards. The Bank itself, however, does not appear to accept such arguments, despite having endorsed the importance of human rights for a considerable length of time. A substantial challenge is that under the current international human rights law framework, the World Bank is considered a non-state actor, and as such, has no direct human rights obligations. In the absence of clear legal duties for the Bank, it is necessary to look at the tools available beyond the international human rights framework to encourage the Bank to comply with human rights standards. This article critically examines several bases for arguing that the Bank should comply and engage with human rights through its policies and practices. Drawing on the Bank’s own ‘good governance’ approach as well as the United Nations’ ‘human rights-based-approach’ to development, a new basis is suggested. First, the relationship between the World Bank and human rights is examined. Three perspectives are considered: (1) the legal position – what the status of the World Bank is under international human rights law, and whether it can be said to have existing legal human rights obligations; (2) the Bank’s own official position – how the Bank envisages its relationship with and role in the protection of human rights; and (3) the relationship between the Bank’s policies and practices and human rights (including how its attitudes are reflected in its policies and how the Bank’s operations impact human rights enjoyment in practice). Here, the article focuses on two examples – the (revised) 2016 Environmental and Social Safeguard Policies and the 2012 case-study regarding Gambella, Ethiopia. Both examples are widely considered missed opportunities for the Bank to actively engage with human rights. The analysis shows that however much pressure is placed on the Bank to improve its human rights footprint, it is extremely reluctant to do so explicitly, and the legal bases available are insufficient for requiring concrete, ex ante action by the Bank. Instead, the Bank’s own ‘good governance’ approach to development – which it has been advocating since the 1990s – can be relied upon. ‘Good governance’ has been used and applied by many actors in many contexts, receiving numerous different definitions. This article argues that human rights protection can now be considered a crucial component of good governance, at least in the context of development. In doing so, the article explains the relationship and interdependence between the two concepts, and provides three rationales for the Bank to take a ‘human rights-based approach’ to good governance. Ultimately, this article seeks to look beyond international human rights law and take a governance approach to provide a convincing basis upon which to argue that the World Bank should comply with human rights standards.

Keywords: World Bank, international human rights law, good governance, human rights-based approach

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Authors: Maeah Stephanie A. Macapaz Abadejos

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Covid-19 shook the whole world. Every person on all sides of the world was affected by the pandemic. All the nations and world leaders were searching for a variety of cures and solutions to stop the spread of the virus. In connection with this, this investigative case study aims to show a relationship between COVID-19 vaccinations to the immune system of the seniors and elderly. The seniors and elderly are one of the most vulnerable populations that show high morbidity and mortality in any illnesses and diseases. This study will show lived experiences of the senior’s immune system and health status, how it is being affected by the COVID-19 virus and its vaccines, Risk for COVID-19 Infection, Hospitalization, and Death by Age Group. Participants of this study are from 3 Cebu City Barangays and 2 from Barangays of the Cities of the Cebu Province. To conclude, this study shall serve its purpose of providing clear and concise results in strengthening the evidence of the effects of the COVID-19 virus infection, especially the free vaccinations, on the health and overall well-being of the elderly and seniors.

Keywords: gerontology nursing, vaccination, protection and immunity, seniors and the elderly

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Authors: Nilanthi Ratnayake, Wen-Ling Liu

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Prior research indicates an increasing gap between the skills and capabilities of graduates in the contemporary workplace across the globe. The challenge of addressing this issue primarily lies on the hands of higher education institutes/universities. In particular, surveys of UK employers and retailers found that soft skills including communication, numeracy, teamwork, confidence, analytical ability, digital/IT skills, business sense, language, and social skills are highly valued by graduate employers, and in achieving this, there are various assessed and non-assessed learning exercises have already been embedded into the university curriculum. To this end, this research study aims to explore the reflections of postgraduate student participation in a live commercial project (i.e. designing an advertising campaign for open days, summer school etc.) implemented with the intention of offering a transformative experience by deploying this project. Qualitative research methodology has been followed in this study, collecting data from three types of target audiences; students, academics and employers via a series of personal interviews and focus group discussions. Recorded data were transcribed, entered into NVIVO, and analysed using meaning condensation and content analysis. Students reported that they had a very positive impact towards improving self-efficacy, especially in relation to soft skills and confidence in seeking employment opportunities. In addition, this project has reduced cultural barriers for international students in general communications. Academic staff and potential employers who attended on the presentation day expressed their gratitude for offering a lifelong experience for students, and indeed believed that these type of projects contribute significantly to enhance skills and capabilities of students to cater the demands of employers. In essence, key findings demonstrate that an integration of knowledge-based skills into a live commercial project facilitate individuals to make the transition from education to employment in terms of skills, abilities and work behaviours more effectively in comparison to some other activities/assuagements that are currently in place in higher education institutions/universities.

Keywords: soft skills, commercially live project, higher education, student participation

Procedia PDF Downloads 361

Authors: Bendes Ákos

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Digital evidence will be the most widely used type of evidence in the future. With the development of the modern world, more and more new types of crimes have evolved and transformed. For this reason, it is extremely important to examine these types of crimes in order to get a comprehensive picture of them, with which we can help the authorities work. In 1865, with early technologies, people were able to forge a picture of a quality that is not even recognized today. With the help of today's technology, authorities receive a lot of false evidence. Officials are not able to process such a large amount of data, nor do they have the necessary technical knowledge to get a real picture of the authenticity of the given evidence. The digital world has many dangers. Unfortunately, we live in an age where we must protect everything digitally: our phones, our computers, our cars, and all the smart devices that are present in our personal lives and this is not only a burden on us, since companies, state and public utilities institutions are also forced to do so. The training of specialists and experts is essential so that the authorities can manage the incoming digital evidence at some level. When analyzing evidence, it is important to be able to examine it from the moment it is created. Establishing authenticity is a very important issue during official procedures. After the proper acquisition of the evidence, it is essential to store it safely and use it professionally. After the proper acquisition of the evidence, it is essential to store it safely and use it professionally. Otherwise, they will not have sufficient probative value and in case of doubt, the court will always decide in favor of the defendant. One of the most common problems in the world of digital data and evidence is doubt, which is why it is extremely important to examine the above-mentioned problems. The most effective way to avoid digital crimes is to prevent them, for which proper education and knowledge are essential. The aim is to present the dangers inherent in the digital world and the new types of digital crimes. After the comparison of the Hungarian investigative techniques with international practice, modernizing proposals will be given. A sufficiently stable yet flexible legislation is needed that can monitor the rapid changes in the world and not regulate afterward but rather provide an appropriate framework. It is also important to be able to distinguish between digital and digitalized evidence, as the degree of probative force differs greatly. The aim of the research is to promote effective international cooperation and uniform legal regulation in the world of digital crimes.

Keywords: digital crime, digital law, cyber crime, international cooperation, new crimes, skepticism

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Authors: Iliuta Cumpanasu, Veronica Oana Cumpanasu

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This paper focuses on studying the conjunction between the new emerged theory of “Memory Effect” in Irregular Migration and Related Criminality and the notion of securitization, and its impact on border management, bringing about a scientific advancement in the field by identifying the patterns corresponding to the linkage of the two concepts, for the first time, and developing a theoretical explanation, with respect to the effects of the non-military threats on border security. Over recent years, irregular migration has experienced a significant increase worldwide. The U.N.'s refugee agency reports that the number of displaced people is at its highest ever - surpassing even post-World War II numbers when the world was struggling to come to terms with the most devastating event in history. This is also the fresh reality within the core studied coordinate, the Balkan Route of Irregular Migration, which starts from Asia and Africa and continues to Turkey, Greece, North Macedonia or Bulgaria, Serbia, and ends in Romania, where thousands of migrants find themselves in an irregular situation concerning their entry to the European Union, with its important consequences concerning the related criminality. The data from the past six years was collected by making use of semi-structured interviews with experts in the field of migration and desk research within some organisations involved in border security, pursuing the gathering of genuine insights from the aforementioned field, which was constantly addressed the existing literature and subsequently subjected to the mixed methods of analysis, including the use of the Vector Auto-Regression estimates model. Thereafter, the analysis of the data followed the processes and outcomes in Grounded Theory, and a new Substantive Theory emerged, explaining how the phenomena of irregular migration and cross-border criminality are the decisive impetus for implementing the concept of securitization in border management by using the proposed pattern. The findings of the study are therefore able to capture an area that has not yet benefitted from a comprehensive approach in the scientific community, such as the seasonality, stationarity, dynamics, predictions, or the pull and push factors in Irregular Migration, also highlighting how the recent ‘Pandemic’ interfered with border security. Therefore, the research uses an inductive revelatory theoretical approach which aims at offering a new theory in order to explain a phenomenon, triggering a practically handy contribution for the scientific community, research institutes or Academia and also usefulness to organizational practitioners in the field, among which UN, IOM, UNHCR, Frontex, Interpol, Europol, or national agencies specialized in border security. The scientific outcomes of this study were validated on June 30, 2021, when the author defended his dissertation for the European Joint Master’s in Strategic Border Management, a two years prestigious program supported by the European Commission and Frontex Agency and a Consortium of six European Universities and is currently one of the research objectives of his pending PhD research at the West University Timisoara.

Keywords: migration, border, security, memory effect

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Authors: Zhou Xiaowen China, Zhang Sanming China

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Neighbourhood space as a very important part of city spaces, is an organic combination of material environment and spiritual achievement in people’ daily life, and has a real impact upon the sustainable development of the whole city. Looking back on the past 2014 World Architecture Festival (WAF), 4 out of 35winning buildings were neighbourhood designs, and all of them mentioned about space-sharing and sustainable development. In this paper, three award-winning cases were studied, including the world building of the year—the chapel (Vietnam, A21 studio), The Carve (Norway, A-Lab) and House for Trees (Vietnam, Vo Trong Nghia Architects). Urban context, planning, space construction and sustainable technology were discussed. Based on those, it was discovered that passive energy-saving technologies have been paid more and more attention, sharing space has been designed ingeniously, and the architectural forms of them reflect social inclusion and equity. This paper is aimed at summarizing the excellent works on the Festival and providing reference for the future design.

Keywords: neighbourhood design, 2014 World Architecture Festival (WAF), sustainable development, space-sharing

Procedia PDF Downloads 444

Authors: N. F. Mikhailova, M. E. Fattakhova, M. A. Mironova, E. V. Vyacheslavova

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For the mental and social adaptation of the deaf and hard-of-hearing people, cultural and social aspects - the formation of identity (acculturation) and educational conditions – are highly significant. We studied 137 deaf and hard-of-hearing students in different educational situations. We used these methods: Big Five (Costa & McCrae, 1997), TRF (Becker, 1989), WCQ (Lazarus & Folkman, 1988), self-esteem, and coping strategies (Jambor & Elliott, 2005), self-stigma scale (Mikhailov, 2008). Type of self-identification of students depended on the degree of deafness, type of education, method of communication in the family: large hearing loss, education in schools for deaf, and gesture communication increased the likelihood of a 'deaf' acculturation. Less hearing loss, inclusive education in public school or school for the hearing-impaired, mixed communication in the family contributed to the formation of 'hearing' acculturation. The choice of specific coping depended on the degree of deafness: a large hearing loss increased coping 'withdrawal into the deaf world' and decreased 'bicultural skills' coping. People with mild hearing loss tended to cover-up it. In the context of ongoing discussion, we researched personality characteristics in deaf and hard on-hearing students, coping and other deafness associated factors depending on their acculturation type. Students who identified themselves with the 'hearing world' had a high self-esteem, a higher level of extraversion, self-awareness, personal resources, willingness to cooperate, better psychological health, emotional stability, higher ability to empathy, a greater satiety of life with feelings and sense and high sense of self-worth. They also actively used strategies, problem-solving, acceptance of responsibility, positive revaluation. Student who limited themselves within the culture of deaf people had more severe hearing loss and accordingly had more communication barriers. Lack of use or seldom use of coping strategies by these students point at decreased level of stress in their life. Their self-esteem have not been challenged in the specific social environment of the students with the same severity of defect, and thus this environment provided sense of comfort (we can assume that from the high scores on psychological health, personality resources, and emotional stability). Students with bicultural acculturation had higher level of psychological resources - they used Positive Reappraisal coping more often and had a higher level of psychological health. Lack of belonging to certain culture (marginality) leads to personality disintegration, social and psychological disadaptation: deaf and hard-of-hearing students with marginal identification had a lower self-estimation level, worse psychological health and personal resources, lower level of extroversion, self-confidence and life satisfaction. They, in fact, become 'risk group' (many of them dropped out of universities, divorced, and one even ended up in the ranks of ISIS). All these data argue the importance of cultural 'anchor' for people with hearing deprivation. Supported by the RFBR No 19-013-00406.

Keywords: acculturation, coping, deafness, marginality

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Authors: M. Roberts Masillamani

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There is a phenomenal difference, as regard to the teaching methodology adopted at the urban and the rural area colleges. However, bright and talented student may be from rural back ground even. But there is huge dearth of the digitization in the rural areas and lesser developed countries. Today’s students need new skills to compete and successful in the future. Education should be combination of practical, intellectual, and social skills. What does this mean for rural classrooms and how can it be achieved. Rural colleges are not able to hire the best resources, since the best teacher’s aim is to move towards the city. If city is provided everywhere, then there will be no rural area. This is possible by forming university clusters (UC). The University cluster is a group of renowned and accredited universities coming together to bridge this dearth. The UC will deliver the live lectures and allow the students’ from remote areas to actively participate in the classroom. This paper tries to present a plan of action of providing a better live classroom teaching and learning system from the city to the rural and the lesser developed countries. This paper titled “University Clusters using ICT for teaching and learning” provides a true concept of opening live digital classroom windows for rural colleges, where resources are not available, thus reducing the digital divide. This is different from pod casting a lecture or distance learning and eLearning. The live lecture can be streamed through digital equipment to another classroom. The rural students can collaborate with their peers and critiques, be assessed, collect information, acquire different techniques in assessment and learning process. This system will benefit rural students and teachers and develop socio economic status. This will also will increase the degree of confidence of the Rural students and teachers. Thus bringing about the concept of ‘Train the Trainee’ in reality. An educational university cloud for each cluster will be built remote infrastructure facilities (RIF) for the above program. The users may be informed, about the available lecture schedules, through the RIF service. RIF with an educational cloud can be set by the universities under one cluster. This paper talks a little more about University clusters and the methodology to be adopted as well as some extended features like, tutorial classes, library grids, remote laboratory login, research and development.

Keywords: lesser developed countries, digital divide, digital learning, education, e-learning, ICT, library grids, live classroom windows, RIF, rural, university clusters and urban

Procedia PDF Downloads 474