Search results for: communication between adult and children

Authors: R. P. Hewawasam, M. H. A. D. de Silva, M. A. G. Iresha

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Obesity is associated with an increased risk of developing insulin resistance. Insulin resistance often progresses to type-2 diabetes mellitus and is linked to a wide variety of other pathophysiological features including hypertension, hyperlipidemia, atherosclerosis (metabolic syndrome) and polycystic ovarian syndrome. Macrosomia is common in infants born to not only women with gestational diabetes mellitus but also non-diabetic obese women. During the past two decades, obesity in children and adolescents has risen significantly in Asian populations including Sri Lanka. There is increasing evidence to believe that infants who are born large for gestational age (LGA) are more likely to be obese in childhood. It is also established from previous studies that Asian populations have higher percentage body fat at a lower body mass index compared to Caucasians. High leptin levels in cord blood have been reported to correlate with fetal adiposity at birth. Previous studies have also shown that cord blood C-peptide and insulin levels are significantly and positively correlated with birth weight. Therefore, the objective of this preliminary study was to determine the relationship between parameters of fetal insulin resistance such as leptin, C-peptide and insulin and the birth weight of the newborn in a study population in Southern Sri Lanka. Umbilical cord blood was collected from 90 newborns and the concentration of insulin, leptin, and C-peptide were measured by ELISA technique. Birth weight, length, occipital frontal, chest, hip and calf circumferences of newborns were measured and characteristics of the mother such as age, height, weight before pregnancy and weight gain were collected. The relationship between insulin, leptin, C-peptide, and anthropometrics were assessed by Pearson’s correlation while the Mann-Whitney U test was used to assess the differences in cord blood leptin, C-peptide, and insulin levels between groups. A significant difference (p < 0.001) was observed between the insulin levels of infants born LGA (18.73 ± 0.64 µlU/ml) and AGA (13.08 ± 0.43 µlU/ml). Consistently, A significant increase in concentration (p < 0.001) was observed in C-peptide levels of infants born LGA (9.32 ± 0.77 ng/ml) compared to AGA (5.44 ± 0.19 ng/ml). Cord blood leptin concentration of LGA infants (12.67 ng/mL ± 1.62) was significantly higher (p < 0.001) compared to the AGA infants (7.10 ng/mL ± 0.97). Significant positive correlations (p < 0.05) were observed among cord leptin levels and the birth weight, pre-pregnancy maternal weight and BMI between the infants of AGA and LGA. Consistently, a significant positive correlation (p < 0.05) was observed between the birth weight and the C peptide concentration. Significantly high concentrations of leptin, C-peptide and insulin levels in the cord blood of LGA infants suggest that they may be involved in regulating fetal growth. Although previous studies suggest comparatively high levels of body fat in the Asian population, values obtained in this study are not significantly different from values previously reported from Caucasian populations. According to this preliminary study, maternal pre-pregnancy BMI and weight may contribute as significant indicators of cord blood parameters of insulin resistance and possibly the birth weight of the newborn.

Keywords: large for gestational age, leptin, C-peptide, insulin

Procedia PDF Downloads 157

Authors: Varsha Kheradiya, Ganga Prasad Pandey

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The use of wearable antennas is rising because wireless devices become small. The wearable antenna is part of clothes used in communication applications, including energy harvesting, medical application, navigation, and tracking. In current years, Antennas embroidered on clothes, conducting antennas based on fabric, polymer embedded antennas, and inkjet-printed antennas are all attractive ways. Also shows the analysis required for wearable antennas, such as wearable antennae interacting with the human body. The primary requirements for the antenna are small size, low profile minimizing radiation absorption by the human body, high efficiency, structural integrity to survive worst situations, and good gain. Therefore, research in energy harvesting, biomedicine, and military application design is increasingly favoring flexible wearable antennas. Textile materials that are effectively used for designing and developing wearable antennas for body area networks. The wireless body area network is primarily concerned with creating effective antenna systems. The antenna should reduce their size, be lightweight, and be adaptable when integrated into clothes. When antennas integrate into clothes, it provides a convenient alternative to those fabricated using rigid substrates. This paper presents a study of U slot loaded wearable textile antenna. U slot patch antenna design is illustrated for wideband from 1GHz to 6 GHz using textile material jeans as substrate and pure copper polyester taffeta fabric as conducting material. This antenna design exhibits dual band results for WLAN at 2.4 GHz and 3.6 GHz frequencies. Also, study U slot position horizontal and vertical shifting. Shifting the horizontal positive X-axis position of the U slot produces the third band at 5.8 GHz.

Keywords: microstrip patch antenna, textile material, U slot wearable antenna, wireless body area network

Procedia PDF Downloads 90

Authors: Yuet Wah Echo Yeung

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Practice learning is an important component of social work education. Practice educators are charged with the responsibility to support and enable learning while students are on placement. They also play a key role in teaching students to integrate theory and practice, as well as assessing their performance. Current literature highlights the structural factors that make it difficult for practice educators to create a positive learning environment for students. Practice educators find it difficult to give sufficient attention to their students because of the lack of workload relief, the increasing emphasis on managerialism and bureaucratisation, and a range of competing organisational and professional demands. This paper reports the challenges practice educators face and how they manage these challenges in this context. Semi-structured face-to-face interviews were conducted with thirteen practice educators who support students in statutory and voluntary social care settings in the Northwest of England. Interviews were conducted between April and July 2017 and each interview lasted about 40 minutes. All interviews were recorded and transcribed. All practice educators are experienced social work practitioners with practice experience ranging from 6 to 42 years. On average they have acted as practice educators for 13 years and all together have supported 386 students. Our findings reveal that apart from the structural factors that impact how practice educators perform their roles, they also faced other challenges when supporting students on placement. They include difficulty in engaging resistant students, complexity in managing power dynamics in the context of practice learning, and managing the dilemmas of fostering a positive relationship with students whilst giving critical feedback. Suggestions to enhance the practice educators’ role include support from organisations and social work teams; effective communication with university tutors, and a forum for practice educators to share good practice and discuss placement issues.

Keywords: social work education, placement challenges, practice educator, practice learning

Procedia PDF Downloads 191

Authors: Jia-Jane Shuai

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Purpose of this research aims to improve understanding of the nature of online religion by examining the religious social websites. What motivates individual users to use the online religious social websites, and which factors affect those motivations. We survey various online religious social websites provided by different religions, especially the Taiwanese folk religion. Based on the theory of the Content Analysis and Social Network Analysis, religious social websites and religious web activities are examined. This research examined the folk religion websites’ presentation and contents that promote the religious use of the Internet in Taiwan. The difference among different religions and religious websites also be compared. First, this study used keywords to examine what types of messages gained the most clicks of “Like”, “Share” and comments on Facebook. Dividing the messages into four media types, namely, text, link, video, and photo, reveal which category receive more likes and comments than the others. Meanwhile, this study analyzed the five dialogic principles of religious websites accessed from mobile phones and also assessed their mobile readiness. Using the five principles of dialogic theory as a basis, do a general survey on the websites with elements of online religion. Second, the project analyzed the characteristics of Taiwanese participants for online religious activities. Grounded by social network analysis and text mining, this study comparatively explores the network structure, interaction pattern, and geographic distribution of users involved in communication networks of the folk religion in social websites and mobile sites. We studied the linkage preference of different religious groups. The difference among different religions and religious websites also be compared. We examined the reasons for the success of these websites, as well as reasons why young users accept new religious media. The outcome of the research will be useful for online religious service providers and non-profit organizations to manage social websites and internet marketing.

Keywords: content analysis, online religion, social network analysis, social websites

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Authors: Brian Bilich

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A typical global learning program is a two-week project based, culturally immersive and academically relevant experience built around a project with purpose and catered to student and business groups. Global Learning in Continuing Education at Austin Community College promotes global readiness through projects with purpose with special attention given to balancing learning, hospitality and travel. A recent project involved CommunityFirst! Village; a 51-acre planned community which provides affordable, permanent housing for men and women coming out of chronic homelessness. Global Learning students collaborated with residents and staff at the Community First! Village on a project to produce two-dimensional remodeling plans of residents’ tiny homes with a focus on but not limited to design improvements on elements related to accessibility, increased usability of living and storage space and esthetic upgrades to boost psychological and emotional appeal. The goal of project-based learning in the context of global learning in Continuing Educaiton at Austin Community Collegen general is two fold. One, in rapid fashion we develop a project which gives the learner a hands-on opportunity to exercise soft and technical skills, like creativity and communication and analytical thinking. Two, by basing projects on global social conflict issues, the project of purpose promotes the development of empathy for other people and fosters a sense of corporate social responsibility in future generations of business leadership. In the example provide above the project informed the student group on the topic of chronic homelessness and promoted awareness and empathy for this underserved segment of the community. Project-based global learning based on projects with purpose has the potential to cultivate global readiness by developing empathy and strengthening emotional intelligence for future generations.

Keywords: project-based learning, global learning, global readiness, globalization, international exchange, collaboration

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Authors: Yaxin Bi, Peter Nicholl

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The rapid advancement of Information and communication technologies (ICT) is extremely influencing every aspect of Higher Education. It has transformed traditional teaching, learning, assessment and feedback into a new era of Digital Education. This also introduces many challenges in capturing and understanding student engagement with their studies in Higher Education. The School of Computing at Ulster University has developed a Feedback And Notification (FAN) Online tool that has been used to send students links to personalized feedback on their submitted assessments and record students’ frequency of review of the shared feedback as well as the speed of collection. The feedback that the students initially receive is via a personal email directing them through to the feedback via a URL link that maps to the feedback created by the academic marker. This feedback is typically a Word or PDF report including comments and the final mark for the work submitted approximately three weeks before. When the student clicks on the link, the student’s personal feedback is viewable in the browser and they can view the contents. The FAN tool provides the academic marker with a report that includes when and how often a student viewed the feedback via the link. This paper presents an investigation into student engagement through analyzing the interaction timestamps and frequency of review by the student. We have proposed an approach to modeling interaction timestamps and use sentiment classification techniques to analyze the data collected over the last five years for a set of modules. The data studied is across a number of final years and second-year modules in the School of Computing. The paper presents the details of quantitative analysis methods and describes further their interactions with the feedback overtime on each module studied. We have projected the students into different groups of engagement based on sentiment analysis results and then provide a suggestion of early targeted intervention for the set of students seen to be under-performing via our proposed model.

Keywords: feedback, engagement, interaction modelling, sentiment analysis

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Authors: Magy Atef Awad Attia

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The objective of this study was to study the effect of social stories on social interaction of students with autism. The sample was at level 5 student with autism, Another University Demonstration School student, who was diagnosed by the Physician as High Functioning Autism since he was able to read, write, calculate and was studying in inclusive classroom. However, he still had disability in social interaction to participate in social activity group and communication. He could not learn how to develop friendship or create relationship. He had inappropriate behavior in social context. He did not understand complex social situations. In addition, he did seemed to not know time and place. He was not able to understand feeling of oneself as well as the others. Consequently, he could not express his emotion appropriately. He did not understand or express his non-verbal language for communicating with friends. He lacked of common interest or emotion with nearby persons. He greeted inappropriately or was not interested in greeting. In addition, he did not have eye contact. He used inadequate language etc. He was elected by Purposive Sampling. His parents were willing to allow them to participate in this study. The research instruments were the lesson plan of social stories, and the picture book of social stories. The instruments used for data collection, were the social interaction evaluation of autistic students. This research was Experimental Research as One Group Pre-test, Post-test Design. For the Pre-test, the experiment was conducted by social stories. Then, the Post-test was implemented. The statistic used for data analysis. The research results were shown by scale. The results revealed that the autistic students taught by social stories indicated better social reaction after being taught by social stories.

Keywords: autism, autistic behavior, stability, harsh environments, techniques, thermal, properties, materials, applications, brittleness, fragility, disadvantages, bank, branches, profitability, setting prediction, effective target, measurement, evaluation, performance, commercial, business, sustainability, financial, system.

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Authors: Shivani Thakur, Jasmin Dominguez Cervantes, Ahmed Zabiba, Fatima Zabiba, Sandhini Agarwal, Kamalpreet Kaur, Hussein Maatouk, Shae Chand, Omar Madriz, Tiffany Huang, Saloni Bansal

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Contraceptives are an effective public health achievement, allowing for family planning and reducing the risk of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). California’s rural Central Valley has high rates of teenage pregnancy and STDs. Factors affecting contraceptive usage here may include religious concerns, financial issues, and regional variations in the accessibility and availability of contraceptives. The increasing population and diversity of the Central Valley make the understanding of the determinants of unintended pregnancy and STDs increasingly nuanced. Patients in California’s Central Valley were surveyed at 6 surgical clinics to assess attitudes toward contraceptives. The questionnaire consisted of demographics and 14 Likert-scale statements investigating patients’ feelings regarding contraceptives. Parametric and non-parametric analysis was performed on the Likert statements. A correlation matrix for the Likert-scale statements was used to evaluate the strength of the relationship between each question. 76 patients aged 18-75 years completed the questionnaire. 90% of the participants were female, 76% Hispanic, 36% married, 44% with an income range between 30-60K, and 83% were between childbearing ages. 60% of participants stated they are currently using or had used some type of contraceptive. 25% of participants had at least one unplanned pregnancy. The most common type of contraceptives used were oral contraceptives(28%) and condoms(38%). The top reasons for patients’ contraceptive usage were: prevention of pregnancy (72%), safe sex/prevention of STDs (32%), and regulation of menstrual cycle (19%). Further analysis of Likert responses revealed that contraception usage increased due to approval of contraceptives (x̄=3.98, σ =1.02); partner approval of contraceptives (x̄=3.875, σ =1.16); and reduced anxiety about pregnancy (x̄=3.875, σ =1.23). Younger females (18-34 years old) agreed more with the statement that the cost of contraceptive supplies is too expensive than older females (35-75 years old), (x̄=3.2, σ = 1.4 vs x̄=2.8, σ =1.3, p<0.05). Younger females (44%) were also more likely to use short-acting contraceptive methods (oral and male condoms) compared to older females (64%) who use long-acting methods (implants/ intrauterine devices). 51% of Hispanic females were using some type of contraceptive. Of those Hispanic females who do not use contraceptives, 33% stated having no children, and all plan to have at least one child in the future. 35% of participants had a bachelor's degree. Those with bachelor’s degrees were more likely to use contraceptives, 58% vs 51%, p<0.05, and less likely to have unplanned pregnancy, 50% vs. 12%, p<0.01. There is increasing use and awareness among patients in rural settings concerning contraceptives. Our finding shows that younger women and women with higher educational attainment tend to have more positive attitudes towards the use of contraceptives. This work gives physicians an understanding of patients’ concerns about contraceptive methods and offers insight into culturally competent intervention programs that respect individual values.

Keywords: contraceptives, public health, rural california, women of child baring age

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Authors: Dessy Pinem, Rahmadian Sembiring, Adanil Bushra

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Medan Belawan is one of the subdistricts of 21 districts in Medan. Medan Belawan Sub-district is directly adjacent to the Malacca Strait in the North. Due to its direct border with the Malacca Strait, the problem in this sub-district, which has continued for many years, is a flood of rob. In 2015, rob floods inundated Sicanang urban village, Belawan I urban village, Belawan Bahagia urban village and Bagan Deli village. The extent of inundation in the flood of rob that occurred in September 2015 reached 540, 938 ha. Rob flood is a phenomenon where the sea water is overflowing into the mainland. Rob floods can also be interpreted as a puddle of water on the coastal land that occurs when the tidal waters. So this phenomenon will inundate parts of the coastal plain or lower place of high tide sea level. Rob flood is a daily disaster faced by the residents in the district of Medan Belawan. Rob floods can happen every month and last for a week. The flood is not only the residents' houses, the flood also soaked the main road to Belawan Port reaching 50 cm. To deal with the problems caused by the flood and to prepare coastal communities to face the character of coastal areas, it is necessary to know the vulnerability of the people who are always the victims of the rob flood. Are the people of Medan Belawan sub-district, especially in the flood-affected villages, able to cope with the consequences of the floods? To answer this question, it is necessary to assess the vulnerability of the Belawan District community in the face of the flood disaster. This research is descriptive, qualitative and quantitative. Data were collected by observation, interview and questionnaires in 4 urban villages often affected by rob flood. The vulnerabilities measured are physical, economic, social, environmental, organizational and motivational vulnerabilities. For vulnerability in the physical field, the data collected is the distance of the building, floor area ratio, drainage, and building materials. For economic vulnerability, data collected are income, employment, building ownership, and insurance ownership. For the vulnerability in the social field, the data collected is education, number of family members, children, the elderly, gender, training for disasters, and how to dispose of waste. For the vulnerability in the field of organizational data collected is the existence of organizations that advocate for the victims, their policies and laws governing the handling of tidal flooding. The motivational vulnerability is seen from the information center or question and answer about the rob flood, and the existence of an evacuation plan or path to avoid disaster or reduce the victim. The results of this study indicate that most people in Medan Belawan sub-district have a high-level vulnerability in physical, economic, social, environmental, organizational and motivational fields. They have no access to economic empowerment, no insurance, no motivation to solve problems and only hope to the government, not to have organizations that support and defend them, and have physical buildings that are easily destroyed by rob floods.

Keywords: disaster, rob flood, Medan Belawan, vulnerability

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Authors: Hyunjoo Park, Taehyun Kim, Taehyun Kim

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The government that declared 'de-nuclearization' pushes up renewable energy policies such as solar power and wind power as an alternative to nuclear power generation. However, local residents who are concerned about the development and natural disasters have been hit by opposition, and related businesses around the country are experiencing difficulties. There is also a voice saying that installing a large wind power generator will cause landslides, low frequencies and noise, which will have a bad influence. Renewal is only a harmful and disgusting facility for the residents. In this way, it is expected that extreme social conflicts will occur in the decision making process related to the locally unwanted land-use (LULU). The government's efforts to solve this problem have been steadily progressing, but the systematic methodology for bringing in active participation and opinion gathering of the residents has not yet been established except for the simple opinion poll or referendum. Therefore, it is time to identify the factors that concern the local residents about the wind power generation facilities, and to find ways to make policy decision-making possible. In this study, we analyze the perception of people about offshore and onshore wind power facilities through questionnaires or interviews, and examine quantitative and qualitative precedent studies to analyze them. In addition, the study evaluates what factors affect the local acceptance of wind power facilities. As a result of the factor analysis of the questionnaire items, factors affecting the residents' acceptance of the wind power facility were extracted from four factors such as environmental, economic, risk, social, and management factor. The study also found that the influence of the determinants of local acceptance on the regional acceptability differs according to the demographic characteristics such as gender and income level. This study will contribute to minimizing the conflict on the installation of wind power facilities through communication among the local residents.

Keywords: factor analysis, local acceptance, locally unwanted land-use, LULU, wind power generation facilities

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Authors: Qirat Naz

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The aim of this research study is to explore the perspectives of migrants and interpreters from diverse backgrounds on language barriers, their English language proficiency and access to health care facilities. A qualitative research methodology was used including in-depth interviews and focus group discussions. Data was collected from 20 migrants who have difficulty conversing in the English language and 12 interpreters including family members and friends who provide translation services as part of accessing health care. The findings seek to address three key research questions: how language is a barrier for non-national language speakers to access the health care facilities, what is the impact of various socio-cultural and linguistic backgrounds on health compliance, and what is the role of interpreters in providing access to, usage of, and satisfaction with health-care facilities. The most crucial component of providing care was found to be effective communication between patient and health care professionals. Language barrier was the major concern for healthcare professionals in providing and for migrants in accessing sufficient, suitable, and productive health care facilities. Language and sociocultural background play a significant role in health compliance as this research reported; respondents believe that patients who interact with the doctors who have same sociocultural and linguistic background benefit from receiving better medical care than those who do not. Language limitations and the socio-cultural gap make it difficult for patients and medical staff to communicate clearly with one another, which has a negative effect on quality of care and patient satisfaction. The use of qualified interpreters was found to be beneficial but there were also drawbacks such as accessibility and availability of them in a timely manner for patient needs. The findings of this research can help health care workers and policy makers working to improve health care delivery system and to create appropriate strategies to overcome this challenge.

Keywords: migration, migrants, language barrier, healthcare access

Procedia PDF Downloads 79

Authors: Ehsan Samimi, Mohammaa Ali Shahosseeni, Ali Abasltian, Shahriar Shafaghi

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Background/Objectives: Voluntary turnover and early retirement request by specialists and experienced people in project-based organizations (PBO) has caused many problems in finding suitable experts to execute the projects. Methods/Statistical analysis: The present study is a descriptive and applied research. Research population consists of KWs in oil and gas PBO. The engineers in these organizations were considered as research sample. Interviews and questionnaire were used to gather information. Interviews with experts were used to identify factors and questionnaires were utilized to identify the importance and prioritization. 72 factors were identified and categorized into 9 groups within organizational and HR initiative levels. Results: Results of the research indicate the priority of each group of factors according to the proposed model in the view of KWs in oil, gas and petrochemical industries. On this basis, the following factors have the highest effect ratio based on the respondents’ point of view: 1. knowledge management 2. Performance appraisal system 3. Communication 4.Training and development 5.Job design and analysis 6. Employment policies 7. Career planning 8. Project/organizational factors 9. Salary and rewards. Additionally, in each group the priority of effective sub-factors has been identified as the result of the research .The results support the definitions of KWs and influence of factors examined and specified by similar studies in retention and development of KWs. The high importance of knowledge management and low rank for salary and rewards can be mentioned as example in this regard. Despite the priority of each group of factors the uniqueness of the result is due to identification of effective factors in the specific industry (oil and gas) and type of organization (PBO). Conclusion/Application: The findings of present study can be used to devise plans for retaining and developing KWs in PBO especially in oil and gas industry.

Keywords: project–based organizations, knowledge workers, HR management, turnover, retaining and developing employees

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Authors: Fei Peng, Jun Yuan, Chen Fan, Fan Jiang, Qian Sun, Yudi Liu

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Although Earth Station in Motion (ESIM) services are widely used and there is a huge market demand around the world, International Telecommunication Union (ITU) does not have unified conclusion for the use of ESIM yet. ESIM are Mobile Satellite Services (MSS) due to its mobile-based attributes, while multiple administrations want to use ESIM in Fixed Satellite Service (FSS). However, Radio Regulations (RR) have strict distinction between MSS and FSS. In this case, ITU has been very controversial because this kind of application will violate the RR Article and the conflict will bring risks to the global deployment. Thus, this paper illustrates the development of rules, regulations, standards concerning ESIM and the radio spectrum usage of ESIM in different regions around the world. Firstly, the basic rules, standard and definition of ITU’s Radiocommunication Sector (ITU-R) is introduced. Secondly, the World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC) agenda item on radio spectrum allocation for ESIM, e.g. in C/Ku/Ka band, is introduced and multi-view on the radio spectrum allocation is elaborated, especially on 19.7-20.2 GHz & 29.5-30.0 GHz. Then, some ITU-R Recommendations and Reports are analyzed on the specific technique to enable these ESIM to communicate with Geostationary Earth Orbit Satellite (GSO) space stations in the FSS without causing interference at levels in excess of that caused by conventional FSS earth stations. Meanwhile, the opposite opinion on not allocating EISM service in FSS frequency band is also elaborated. Finally, based on the ESIM’s future application, the ITU-R standards development trend is forecasted. In conclusion, using radio spectrum resource in an equitable, rational and efficient manner is the basic guideline of ITU. Although it is not a good approach to obstruct the revise of RR when there is a large demand for radio spectrum resource in satellite industry, still the propulsion and global demand of the whole industry may face difficulties on the unclear application in modify rules of RR.

Keywords: earth station in motion, ITU standards, radio regulations, radio spectrum, satellite communication

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Authors: Yongyi Chen, Li Qin, Peng Jia, Yongqiang Ning, Yun Liu, Lijun Wang

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The distributed feedback (DFB) lasers are indispensable in optical phase array (OPA) used for light detection and ranging (LIDAR) techniques, laser communication systems and integrated optics, thanks to their stable single longitudinal mode and narrow linewidth properties. Traditional index-coupled (IC) DFB lasers with uniform gratings have an inherent problem of lasing two degenerated modes. Phase shifts are usually required to eliminate the mode degeneration, making the grating structure complex and expensive. High-quality antireflection (AR) coatings on both lasing facets are also essential owing to the random facet phases introduced by the chip cleavage process, which means half of the lasing energy is wasted. Gain-coupled DFB (GC-DFB) lasers based on the periodic gain (or loss) are announced to have single longitudinal mode as well as capable of the unsymmetrical coating to increase lasing power and efficiency thanks to facet immunity. However, expensive and time-consuming technologies such as epitaxial regrowth and nanoscale grating processing are still required just as IC-DFB lasers, preventing them from practical applications and commercial markets. In this research, we propose a low-cost, single-mode regrowth-free GC-DFB laser based on periodic surface p-contacts. The gain coupling effect is achieved simply by periodic current distribution in the quantum well caused by periodic surface p-contacts, introducing very little index-coupling effect that can be omitted. It is prepared by i-line lithography, without nanoscale grating fabrication or secondary epitaxy. Due to easy fabrication techniques, it provides a method to fabricate practical low cost GC-DFB lasers for widespread practical applications.

Keywords: DFB laser, gain-coupled, low cost, periodic p-contacts

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Authors: June-Jei Kuo, Yi-Chuan Hsieh

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Because of the rapid growth of information technology, more and more libraries introduce the new information retrieval systems to enhance the users’ experience, improve the retrieval efficiency, and increase the applicability of the library resources. Nevertheless, few of them are discussed the usability from the users’ aspect. The aims of this study are to understand that the scenario of the information retrieval system utilization, and to know why users are willing to continuously use the web-scale discovery system to improve the web-scale discovery system and promote their use of university libraries. Besides of questionnaires, observations and interviews, this study employs both Information System Success Model introduced by DeLone and McLean in 2003 and the flow theory to evaluate the system quality, information quality, service quality, use, user satisfaction, flow, and continuing to use web-scale discovery system of students from National Chung Hsing University. Then, the results are analyzed through descriptive statistics and structural equation modeling using AMOS. The results reveal that in web-scale discovery system, the user’s evaluation of system quality, information quality, and service quality is positively related to the use and satisfaction; however, the service quality only affects user satisfaction. User satisfaction and the flow show a significant impact on continuing to use. Moreover, user satisfaction has a significant impact on user flow. According to the results of this study, to maintain the stability of the information retrieval system, to improve the information content quality, and to enhance the relationship between subject librarians and students are recommended for the academic libraries. Meanwhile, to improve the system user interface, to minimize layer from system-level, to strengthen the data accuracy and relevance, to modify the sorting criteria of the data, and to support the auto-correct function are required for system provider. Finally, to establish better communication with librariana commended for all users.

Keywords: web-scale discovery system, discovery system, information system success model, flow theory, academic library

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Authors: Garima Singh

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Objectives: Behavioral Crisis Center (BCC) is a community solution to a community problem. There has been an exponential increase in the incidence and prevalence of mental health crises around the world. The effects of the crisis negatively impact our patients and their families and strain the law enforcement and emergency room. The goal of the multi-disciplinary care model is to break the crisis cycle and provide 24-7 rapid access to an acre and crisis stabilization. We initiated our first BCC care center in 2020 in the midst of the COVID pandemic and have seen a remarkable improvement in patient ‘care and positive financial outcome. Background: Mental illnesses are common in the United States. Nearly one in five U.S. adults live with a mental illness (52.9 million in 2020). This number represented 21.0% of all U.S. adults. To address some of these challenges and help our community, In May 2020, we opened our first Behavioral crisis center (BCC). Since then, we have served more than 2500 patients and is the first southwest Missouri’s first 24/7 facility for crisis–level behavioral health and substance use needs. It has been proven to be a more effective place than emergency departments, jails, or local law enforcement. Methods: BCC was started in 2020 to serve the unmet need of the community and provide access to behavioral health and substance use services identified in the community. Funding was possible with significant investment from the county and Missouri Foundation for Health, with contributions from medical partners. It is a multi-disciplinary care center consisting of Physicians, nurse practitioners, nurses, behavioral technicians, peer support specialists, clinical intake specialists, and clinical coordinators and hospitality specialists. The center provides services including psychiatry care, outpatient therapy, community support services, primary care, peer support and engagement. It is connected to a residential treatment facility for substance use treatment for continuity of care and bridging the gap, which has resulted in the completion of treatment and better outcomes. Results: BCC has proven to be a great resource to the community and the Missouri Health Coalition is providing funding to replicate the model in other regions and work on a similar model for children and adolescents. Overall, 29% of the patients seen at BCC are stabilized and discharged with outpatient care. 50% needed acute stabilization in a hospital setting and 21% required long-term admission, mostly for substance use treatment. The local emergency room had a 42% reduction in behavioral health encounters compared to the previous 3 years. Also, by a quick transfer to BCC, the average stay in ER was reduced by 10 hours and time to follow up behavioral health assessment decreased by an average of 4 hours. Uninsured patients are also provided Medicaid application assistance which has benefited 55% of individuals receiving care at BCC. Conclusions: BCC is impacting community health and improving access to quality care and substance use treatment. It is a great investment for our patients and families.

Keywords: BCC, behvaioral health, community health care, addiction treatment

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Authors: Melissa Houston

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Political pressures, financial restraints, and recent legislation has led to administrators’ at academic institutions to rely upon online education as a viable means for delivering education to students anytime and anywhere. Administrators at academic institutions have utilized online education as a way to ensure that academic continuity takes place while campuses are physically closed or are recovering from damages during and after disaster. There is a gap in the research as to how to best train faculty for academic continuity during and after disasters occur. The lack of available research regarding how faculty members at academic institutions prepared themselves prior to a disaster served as a major rationale for this study. The problem that was addressed in this phenomenological study was to identify the training needed by faculty to provide academic continuity during and after times of disaster. The purpose of the phenomenological study was to provide further knowledge and understanding of the training needed by faculty to provide academic continuity after a disaster. Data collection from this study will help human resource professionals as well as administrators of academic institutions to better prepare faculty to provide academic continuity in the future. Participants were recruited on LinkedIn and were qualified as having been faculty who taught traditional courses during or after a disaster. Faculty members were asked a series of open-ended questions to gain understanding of their experiences of how they acquired training for themselves for academic continuity during and after a disaster. The findings from this study showed that faculty members identified assistance needed including professional development in the form of training and support, communication, and technological resources in order to provide academic continuity. The first conclusion from this study was that academic institutions need to support their students, staff and faculty with disaster training and the resources needed to provide academic continuity during and after disasters. The second conclusion from this study is that while disasters and other academic institution incidents are occurring more frequently, limited funding and the push for online education has created limited resources for academic institutions. The need to create partnerships and consortiums with other academic institutions and communities is crucial for the success and sustainability of academic institutions. Through these partnerships and consortiums academic institutions can share resources, knowledge, and training.

Keywords: training, faculty, disaster, academic continuity

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Authors: Rehana Khan

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Background: The study investigates the experiences of Tiger Teams within the Sydney Local Health District during the COVID-19 pandemic. Aim: The aims were to understand the experiences of the Tiger Team members, to evaluate the effectiveness of Tiger Teams, and to elicit any learnings for future implementation of Tiger Teams in a similar context. Methods: Tiger Team members who worked from March 2020 to January 2022 were approached, with 23 members agreeing to participate in the study. Individual interviews were undertaken by a researcher on a virtual platform. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data. Saturation was deemed to have been reached when no new themes or subthemes arose within the final three interviews. Results: Four themes emerged: diversity worked well in Tiger Teams; fear of the unknown and challenging conversations were the main challenges of Tiger Teams; improved use of resources and more structure around the strategy of the Tiger Team model would help in future implementations; and Sydney Local Health District’s response to the pandemic was uniformly considered effective in keeping the community safe. In relation to Sydney Local Health District’s response in future pandemics, participants suggested having a pool of staff in readiness to undertake Tiger Team duties when required; prioritise staff welfare at all levels of involvement during a pandemic; maintaining transparent communication and relationship building between Executive level, Tiger Team members and clinical floor level in relation to decision making; and improve documentation, including evaluations of the COVID-19 pandemic response. Implications: The study provides constructive insights into the experiences of Tiger Team members, and these findings will help inform future planning for surge and secondment of staff in public health emergencies.

Keywords: Tiger Team, pandemic response, future planning, COVID-19

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Authors: B. Karabuluter, O. Karaduman

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Traffic management and traffic planning are important issues, especially in big cities. Due to the increase of personal vehicles and the physical constraints of urban roads, the problem of transportation especially in crowded cities over time is revealed. This situation reduces the living standards, and it can put human life at risk because the vehicles such as ambulance, fire department are prevented from reaching their targets. Even if the city planners take these problems into account, emergency planning and traffic management are needed to avoid cases such as traffic congestion, intersections, traffic jams caused by traffic accidents or roadworks. In this study, in smart traffic management issues, proposed solutions using intelligent vehicles acting in cooperation with urban roads are examined. Traffic management is becoming more difficult due to factors such as fatigue, carelessness, sleeplessness, social behavior patterns, and lack of education. However, autonomous vehicles, which remove the problems caused by human weaknesses by providing driving control, are increasing the success of practicing the algorithms developed in city traffic management. Such intelligent vehicles have become an important solution in urban life by using 'swarm intelligence' algorithms and cooperative driving methods to provide traffic flow, prevent traffic accidents, and increase living standards. In this study, studies conducted in this area have been dealt with in terms of traffic jam, intersections, regulation of traffic flow, signaling, prevention of traffic accidents, cooperation and communication techniques of vehicles, fleet management, transportation of emergency vehicles. From these concepts, some taxonomies were made out of the way. This work helps to develop new solutions and algorithms for cities where intelligent vehicles that can perform cooperative driving can take place, and at the same time emphasize the trend in this area.

Keywords: intelligent traffic management, cooperative driving, smart driving, urban road, swarm intelligence, connected vehicles

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Authors: Taoues Hadour

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Twitter has become a popular means of communication used in a variety of fields, such as politics, journalism, and academia. This widely used online platform has an impact on the way people express themselves and is changing language usage worldwide at an unprecedented pace. The language used online reflects the linguistic battle that has been going on for several decades in French society. This study enables a deeper understanding of users' linguistic behavior online. The implications are important and allow for a rise in awareness of intercultural and cross-language exchanges. This project investigates the mixing of French-English language usage among French users of Twitter using a topic analysis approach. This analysis draws on Gumperz's theory of conversational switching. In order to collect tweets at a large scale, the data was collected in R using the rtweet package to access and retrieve French tweets data through Twitter’s REST and stream APIs (Application Program Interface) using the software RStudio, the integrated development environment for R. The dataset was filtered manually and certain repetitions of themes were observed. A total of nine topic categories were identified and analyzed in this study: entertainment, internet/social media, events/community, politics/news, sports, sex/pornography, innovation/technology, fashion/make up, and business. The study reveals that entertainment is the most frequent topic discussed on Twitter. Entertainment includes movies, music, games, and books. Anglicisms such as trailer, spoil, and live are identified in the data. Change in language usage is inevitable and is a natural result of linguistic interactions. The use of different languages online is just an example of what the real world would look like without linguistic regulations. Social media reveals a multicultural and multilinguistic richness which can deepen and expand our understanding of contemporary human attitudes.

Keywords: code-switching, French, sociolinguistics, Twitter

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Authors: Gift Udoh, Diane S. Rohlman, Benjamin Sindt

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BACKGROUND: There is concern regarding the widespread use of pesticides and impacts on public health. Farmers in Nigeria frequently apply pesticides, including organophosphate pesticides which are known neurotoxicants. They receive little guidance on how much to apply or information about safe handling practices. Pesticide poisoning is one of the major hazards that farmers face in Nigeria. Farmers continue to use highly neurotoxic pesticides for agricultural activities. Because farmers receive little or no information on safe handling and how much to apply, they continue to develop severe and mild illnesses caused by high exposures to pesticides. The project aimed to reduce pesticide exposure among rural farmers in Nigeria by identifying hazards associated with pesticide use and developing and pilot testing training to reduce exposures to pesticides utilizing the hierarchy of controls system. METHODS: Information on pesticide knowledge, behaviors, barriers to safety, and prevention methods was collected from farmers in Nigeria through workplace observations, questionnaires, and interviews. Pre and post-surveys were used to measure farmer’s knowledge before and after the delivery of pesticide safety training. Training topics included the benefits and risks of using pesticides, routes of exposure and health effects, pesticide label activity, use and selection of PPE, ways to prevent exposure and information on local resources. The training was evaluated among farmers and changes in knowledge, attitudes and behaviors were collected prior to and following the training. RESULTS: The training was administered to 60 farmers, a mean age of 35, with a range of farming experience (<1 year to > 50 years). There was an overall increase in knowledge after the training. In addition, farmers perceived a greater immediate risk from exposure to pesticides and their perception of their personal risk increased. For example, farmers believed that pesticide risk is greater to children than to adults, recognized that just because a pesticide is put on the market doesn’t mean it is safe, and they were more confident that they could get advice about handling pesticides. Also, there was greater awareness about behaviors that can increase their exposure (mixing pesticides with bare hands, eating food in the field, not washing hands before eating after applying pesticides, walking in fields recently sprayed, splashing pesticides on their clothes, pesticide storage). CONCLUSION: These results build on existing evidence from a 2022 article highlighting the need for pesticide safety training in Nigeria which suggested that pesticide safety educational programs should focus on community-based, grassroots-style, and involve a family-oriented approach. Educating farmers on agricultural safety while letting them share their experiences with their peers is an effective way of creating awareness on the dangers associated with handling pesticides. Also, for rural communities, especially in Nigeria, pesticide safety pieces of training may not be able to reach some locations, so intentional scouting of rural farming communities and delivering pesticide safety training will improve knowledge of pesticide hazards. There is a need for pesticide information centers to be situated in rural farming communities or agro supply stores, which gives rural farmers information.

Keywords: pesticide exposure, pesticide safety, nigeria, rural farming, pesticide education

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Authors: Alexandra-Monica Toma

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Internet memes are an element of computer mediated communication and an important part of online culture that combines text and image in order to generate meaning. This term coined by Richard Dawkings refers to more than a mere way to briefly communicate ideas or emotions, thus naming a complex and an intensely perpetuated phenomenon in the virtual environment. This paper approaches memes as a cultural artefact and a virtual trope that mirrors societal concerns and issues, and analyses the pragmatics of their use. Memes have to be analysed in series, usually relating to some image macros, which is proof of the interplay between imitation and creativity in the memes’ writing process. We believe that their potential to become viral relates to three key elements: adaptation to context, reference to a successful meme series, and humour (jokes, irony, sarcasm), with various pragmatic functions. The study also uses the concept of multimodality and stresses how the memes’ text interacts with the image, discussing three types of relations: symmetry, amplification, and contradiction. Moreover, the paper proves that memes could be employed as speech acts with illocutionary force, when the interaction between text and image is enriched through the connection to a specific situation. The features mentioned above are analysed in a corpus that consists of memes related to the COVID-19 pandemic. This corpus shows them to be highly adaptable to context, which helps build the feeling of connection and belonging in an otherwise tremendously fragmented world. Some of them are created based on well-known image macros, and their humour results from an intricate dialogue between texts and contexts. Memes created in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic can be considered speech acts and are often used as such, as proven in the paper. Consequently, this paper tackles the key features of memes, makes a thorough analysis of the memes sociocultural, linguistic, and situational context, and emphasizes their intertextuality, with special accent on their illocutionary potential.

Keywords: context, memes, multimodality, speech acts

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Authors: Chung Danbi, Linton Oliver, Whang Yoon-Jae

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Supermodularity, or complementarity, is a popular concept in economics which can characterize many objective functions such as utility, social welfare, and production functions. Further, supermodular dominance captures a preference for greater interdependence among inputs of those functions, and it can be applied to examine which input set would produce higher expected utility, social welfare, or production. Therefore, we propose and justify a consistent testing for a useful implication of supermodular dominance. We also conduct Monte Carlo simulations to explore the finite sample performance of our test, with critical values obtained from the recentered bootstrap method, with and without the selective recentering, and the subsampling method. Under various parameter settings, we confirmed that our test has reasonably good size and power performance. Finally, we apply our test to compare the geographic and distant knowledge spillover in terms of their effects on social welfare using the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) patent data. We expect localized citing to supermodularly dominate distant citing if the geographic knowledge spillover engenders greater social welfare than distant knowledge spillover. Taking subgroups based on firm and patent characteristics, we found that there is industry-wise and patent subclass-wise difference in the pattern of supermodular dominance between localized and distant citing. We also compare the results from analyzing different time periods to see if the development of Internet and communication technology has changed the pattern of the dominance. In addition, to appropriately deal with the sparse nature of the data, we apply high-dimensional methods to efficiently select relevant data.

Keywords: supermodularity, supermodular dominance, stochastic dominance, Monte Carlo simulation, bootstrap, subsampling

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Authors: Gayatri Mahajan

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Modern Construction Technology (CT) includes a broad range of advanced techniques and practices that bound the recent developments in material technology, design methods, quantity surveying, facility management, services, structural analysis and design, and other management education. Adoption of recent digital transformation technology is the need of today to speed up the business and is also the basis of construction improvement. Incorporating and practicing the technologies such as cloud-based communication and collaboration solution, Mobile Apps and 5G,3D printing, BIM and Digital Twins, CAD / CAM, AR/ VR, Big Data, IoT, Wearables, Blockchain, Modular Construction, Offsite Manifesting, Prefabrication, Robotic, Drones and GPS controlled equipment expedite the progress in the Construction industry (CI). Resources used are journaled research articles, web/net surfing, books, thesis, reports/surveys, magazines, etc. The outline of the research organization for this study is framed at four distinct levels in context to conceptualization, resources, innovative and emerging trends in CI, and better methods for completion of the construction projects. The present study conducted during 2020-2022 reveals that implementing these technologies improves the level of standards, planning, security, well-being, sustainability, and economics too. Application uses, benefits, impact, advantages/disadvantages, limitations and challenges, and policies are dealt with to provide information to architects and builders for smooth completion of the project. Results explain that construction technology trends vary from 4 to 15 for CI, and eventually, it reaches 27 for Civil Engineering (CE). The perspective of the most recent innovations, trends, tools, challenges, and solutions is highly embraced in the field of construction. The incorporation of the above said technologies in the pandemic Covid -19 and post-pandemic might lead to a focus on finding out effective ways to adopt new-age technologies for CI.

Keywords: BIM, drones, GPS, mobile apps, 5G, modular construction, robotics, 3D printing

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Authors: Nádia Pereira, Paula Ferreira, Sofia Francisco, Sofia Oliveira, Sidclay Souza, Paula Paulino, Ana Margarida Veiga Simão

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Social media has progressed into a platform for hate speech among its users, and thus, there is an increasing need to develop automatic detection classifiers of offense and conflicts to help decrease the prevalence of such incidents. Online communication can be used to intentionally harm someone, which is why such classifiers could be essential in social networks. A possible application of these classifiers is the automatic detection of cyberbullying. Even though identifying the aggressive language used in online interactions could be important to build cyberbullying datasets, there are other criteria that must be considered. Being able to capture the language, which is indicative of the intent to harm others in a specific context of online interaction is fundamental. Offense and hate speech may be the foundation of online conflicts, which have become commonly used in social media and are an emergent research focus in machine learning and natural language processing. This study presents two Portuguese language offense-related datasets which serve as examples for future research and extend the study of the topic. The first is similar to other offense detection related datasets and is entitled Aggressiveness dataset. The second is a novelty because of the use of the history of the interaction between users and is entitled the Conflicts/Attacks dataset. Both datasets were developed in different phases. Firstly, we performed a content analysis of verbal aggression witnessed by adolescents in situations of cyberbullying. Secondly, we computed frequency analyses from the previous phase to gather lexical and linguistic cues used to identify potentially aggressive conflicts and attacks which were posted on Twitter. Thirdly, thorough annotation of real tweets was performed byindependent postgraduate educational psychologists with experience in cyberbullying research. Lastly, we benchmarked these datasets with other machine learning classifiers.

Keywords: aggression, classifiers, cyberbullying, datasets, hate speech, machine learning

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Authors: Marko Kolakovic, Mihaela Mikic, Martina Taborin

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Women entrepreneurship is often regarded as the unused economical potential in many countries, including Republic of Croatia. Although women represent a majority in the population, they are still a minority in the field of entrepreneurship and face many challenges in fulfilling their entrepreneurship potential. The reasons are often hided in historical distorted perceptions about value, credibility, competitiveness, responsibility and knowledge which women have, or can have. This is significant for at least two reasons. First, in terms of global economic crisis, the economy needs more quality, more skilled and educated people willing to face entrepreneurial challenges and create new jobs, new opportunities and higher living standards. Second, in the entrepreneurial activity, women finally have a chance to highlight their own abilities, such as knowledge, relentless work, organizational skills, communication and negotiation skills, responsibility, flexibility, etc., in order to insure their economic independence, for a better social position, and to increase confidence and faith in their own abilities. This paper empirically analyses characteristics of women entrepreneurship in Croatia and conducted policies for it improvement. An empirical research was conducted with the goal of discovering real life experiences and attitudes of Croatian women entrepreneurs. Results show that Croatian women entrepreneurs are usually highly educated, have previous work experience and operate in service sector, due to lower need for start-up capital. The biggest obstacle on their entrepreneurial path represents government bureaucracy. Although the number of women entrepreneurs is rising today and the gap between male and women entrepreneurs in Croatia, as well as women entrepreneurship levels lower than the European average, we believe that there is still a long way to reach potential and successful women entrepreneurship development. Research showed that by breaking down the barriers as access to finance, education investments, knowledge, skills and confidence development, women will be able to accomplish more significant and more efficient entrepreneurial outcome.

Keywords: Croatia, policy, SMEs, women entrepreneurial strategy, women entrepreneurship

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Authors: Madhura Bandyopadhyay

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Teaching writing within multicultural and multiethnic communities poses many unique challenges not the least of which is that of intercultural communication. When the writing is in English, pedagogical imperatives often encounter the universalizing tendencies of standardization of both language use and structural parameters which are often at odds with maintaining local practices which preserve cultural pluralism. English often becomes the contact zone within which individual identities of students play out against the standardization imperatives of the larger world. Writing classes can serve as places which become instruments of assimilation of ethnic minorities to a larger globalizing or nationalistic agenda. Hence, for those outside of the standard practices of writing English, adaptability towards a mastery of those practices valued as standard become the focus of teaching taking away from diversity of local English use and other modes of critical thinking. In a very multicultural and multiethnic context such as the US or Singapore, these dynamics become very important. This paper will argue that multiethnic writing classrooms can greatly benefit from taking up a cultural studies approach whereby the students’ lived environments and experiences are analyzed as cultural texts to produce writing. Such an approach eliminates limitations of using both literary texts as foci of discussion as in traditional approaches to teaching writing and the current trend in teaching composition without using texts at all. By bringing in students’ lived experiences into the classroom and analyzing them as cultural compositions stressing the ability to communicate across cultures, cultural competency is valued rather than adaptability while privileging pluralistic experiences as valuable even as universal shared experience are found. Specifically, while teaching writing in English in a multicultural classroom, a cultural studies approach makes both teacher and student aware of the diversity of the English language as it exists in our global context in the students’ experience while making space for diversity in critical thinking, structure and organization of writing effective in an intercultural context.

Keywords: English, multicultural, teaching, writing

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Authors: Lakhoua Najeh

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Introduction: In most situations, an industrial system already existing, conditioned by its history, its culture and its context are in difficulty facing the necessity to restructure itself in an organizational and technological environment in perpetual evolution. This is why all operations of restructuring first of all require a diagnosis based on a functional analysis. After a presentation of the functionality of a supervisory system for complex processes, we present the concepts of industrial automation and supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA). Methods: This global analysis exploits the various available documents on the one hand and takes on the other hand in consideration the various testimonies through investigations, the interviews or the collective workshops; otherwise, it also takes observations through visits as a basis and even of the specific operations. The exploitation of this diagnosis enables us to elaborate the project of restructuring thereafter. Leaving from the system analysis for the restructuring of industrial systems, and after a technical diagnosis based on visits, an analysis of the various technical documents and management as well as on targeted interviews, a focusing retailing the various levels of analysis has been done according a general methodology. Results: The methodology adopted in order to contribute to the restructuring of industrial systems by its participative and systemic character and leaning on a large consultation a lot of human resources that of the documentary resources, various innovating actions has been proposed. These actions appear in the setting of the TQM gait requiring applicable parameter quantification and a treatment valorising some information. The new management environment will enable us to institute an information and communication system possibility of migration toward an ERP system. Conclusion: Technological advancements in process monitoring, control and industrial automation over the past decades have contributed greatly to improve the productivity of virtually all industrial systems throughout the world. This paper tries to identify the principles characteristics of a process monitoring, control and industrial automation in order to provide tools to help in the decision-making process.

Keywords: automation, supervision, SCADA, TQM

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Authors: J. J. Lloyd, J. S. Phillips

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Background: HIV/AIDS has made a huge impact on human development and sexual reproductive habits in this century in the world and especially in sub-Saharan Africa. It has only recently been acknowledged that HIV/AIDS has an equal if not greater effect on or threat to people with disabilities. Survivors of traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI) with resultant disability are incorrectly believed to be sexually inactive, unlikely to use drugs or alcohol and at less risk of violence or rape than their non-disabled peers. This group can thus be described as economically, educationally and socially disadvantaged, which in itself, suggest that they are a high-risk group for HIV infection. Objectives: Thus, the overall objective of this study was to assess the factors that exacerbate the risk and vulnerability of individuals with spinal cord injuries to HIV infection in order to develop a more effective HIV intervention. Methodology: This paper reports on the cross-sectional data gathered from individuals with a traumatic spinal cord injury in 4 conveniently selected provinces in South Africa. Data was collected by means of self-administered questionnaires. The questionnaire consisted of various sections requesting for information on Demographics; HIV-Knowledge (HIV- KQ-18); Sexual behaviours; sexual communication, and negotiation skills and Self-efficacy to refuse sex. Results: The majority of the study sample was males (72.7%) with a mean age of 34.6 years. The majority reported lifetime sexual intercourse (92.4%) but only 31.8% reported condom use with last sexual intercourse. Low level of HIV knowledge, and being male were the strongest predictor of risky sexual behaviours in this sample. Conclusion: Significant numbers of individuals with spinal cord injuries are thus engaging in risky sexual behaviours pointing to a need to strengthen comprehensive sexual health education to increase access to HIV testing, promote safe sex and condom use among this group.

Keywords: Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), individuals with spinal cord injuries, risky sexual behaviours, HIV risk factors, sub-saharan Africa

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Authors: Peninah Agaba, Monica Magadi, Bev Orton

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Uganda is one of the countries with high maternal mortality (336/100,000) where adolescents account for 24 percent of the total maternal deaths. Research shows that use of maternal health services may prevent some of these deaths and good provider attitudes attract adolescents to use the services. However, poor health provider’s attitudes discourage adolescents from seeking the services during the maternity period. This study explores the experiences of unmarried female adolescents at the health facilities during the maternity period. The study population is unmarried adolescent girls aged 10-19 years who were pregnant or had given birth within three years before the interview. This is a special interest group that requires attention throughout this period. Most of the pregnancies among unmarried adolescents are unwanted; as a result, many of them have been abused and neglected by parents and close family members including partners who deny fatherhood of the pregnancy/child. These adolescents hope to find comfort from health providers like being listened to during counseling, not abused and judged; unfortunately this is not the case always. The research was approved by the University of Hull, School of Education and Social Sciences ethics review committee, Mildmay Uganda Research Ethics Committee and Uganda National Council of Science and Technology. The study was carried out in Bushenyi and Kibale districts in Western Uganda. Fourteen in-depth interviews and seven focus group discussions were completed in the local languages and later transcribed to English language. Thematic analysis to identify the themes was done. Adolescents were aged 16-19 years, two had become pregnant before 15 years. Most had not completed secondary education; none had tertiary education and three of the 14 IDI adolescent participants wanted to get pregnant. Analysis shows varied experiences; most adolescents were abused verbally and physically by the health providers due to their young age of pregnancy, lack of essential items during this period (maternity dresses, children clothes, delivery kit) and fear of labour pains. Another cause for abuse was these adolescents coming for antenatal care with no partners yet the implementation of a policy on increasing male involvement in reproductive health in Uganda requires them to attend antenatal care with their partners and most of these unmarried adolescents have no partners to accompany them. Despite the above challenges, the study also identified the care some of these unmarried adolescents received during the maternity visits for example they were not abused, were provided with appropriate information and supported with child care. The study identified abuse and support the unmarried adolescents received during the maternity period. Efforts to provide adolescents with adequate information including what to expect during labour by providers and provision of basic needs are essential. Health providers should have trainings on client care especially how to embrace unmarried adolescents when they come to access maternity services. More so, the policy on improving male involvement in RH issues need to be considerate of unmarried adolescents who in most cases do not have the partners to go with to access maternity care.

Keywords: abuse, maternity care, Uganda, unmarried, adolescents

Procedia PDF Downloads 131