Search results for: social sustainability

Authors: Luciane Lauffer

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Over the past decade, the expansion of women’s football as a competitive sport has gained more attention from the media and researchers. However, the practice of the sport is not new, and in Asia and Oceania, women’s football has emerged as a common physical activity in many countries since the 1970s. This study recovers the major occurrences that made women’s football possible in an international context, also resulting from the main achievements of the feminist movement in most Westernized countries. Using archival research, the author reviews documents that compose the history of the women’s game, marked by many imposed barriers imposed by social and gender norms. This materials present how women managed their sport in their respective countries and regions, mostly prompted by a spirit of cooperation and partnerships that allowed the staging of major international events. The findings point out that, despite the layers of gendered boundaries that attempted to contain the expansion of the sport, women from Asia and Oceania made the sport flourish and eventually achieving recognition at the international level.

Keywords: women’s football, gender norms, game development, Asia-pacific

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Authors: Nilam Bano, Uzma Iram

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Globally, the dilemma of undernutrition has become a notable concern for the researchers, academicians, and policymakers because of its severe consequences for many centuries. The nutritional deficiencies create hurdles for the people to achieve goals related to live a better lifestyle. Not only at micro level but also at the macro level, the consequences of undernutrition affect the economic progress of the country. The initial five years of a child’s life are considered critical for the physical growth and brain development. In this regard, children require special care and good quality food (nutrient intake) to fulfill their nutritional demand of the growing body. Having the sensitive stature and health, children specially under the age of 5 years are more vulnerable to the poor economic, housing, environmental and other social conditions. Beside confronting economic challenges and political upheavals, Pakistan is also going through from a rough patch in the context of social development. Majority of the children are facing serious health problems in the absence of required nutrition. The complexity of this issue is getting severe day by day and specially children are left behind with different type of immune problems and vitamins and mineral deficiencies. It is noted that children from the well-off background are less likely affected by the undernutrition. In order to underline this issue, the present study aims to highlight the existing nutritional inequalities among the children of under five years in Pakistan. Moreover, this study strives to decompose those factors that severely affect the existing nutritional inequality and standing in the queue to capture the consideration of concerned authorities. Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey 2012-13 was employed to assess the relevant indicators of undernutrition such as stunting, wasting, underweight and associated socioeconomic factors. The objectives were executed through the utilization of the relevant empirical techniques. Concentration indices were constructed to measure the nutritional inequalities by utilizing three measures of undernutrition; stunting, wasting and underweight. In addition to it, the decomposition analysis following the logistic regression was made to unfold the determinants that severely affect the nutritional inequalities. The negative values of concentration indices illustrate that children from the marginalized background are affected by the undernutrition more than their counterparts who belong from rich households. Furthermore, the result of decomposition analysis indicates that child age, size of a child at birth, wealth index, household size, parents’ education, mother’s health and place of residence are the most contributing factors in the prevalence of existing nutritional inequalities. Considering the result of the study, it is suggested to the policymakers to design policies in a way so that the health sector of Pakistan can stimulate in a productive manner. Increasing the number of effective health awareness programs for mothers would create a notable difference. Moreover, the education of the parents must be concerned by the policymakers as it has a significant association with the present research in terms of eradicating the nutritional inequalities among children.

Keywords: concentration index, decomposition analysis, inequalities, undernutrition, Pakistan

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Authors: Priya Nangia, Sanchita Bansal

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As fashion cycles become more rapid, some segments of the fashion industry have adopted increasingly unsustainable production processes to keep up with demand and enhance profit margins. The growing threat to environmental and social wellbeing posed by unethical fast fashion practices and the need to integrate the targets of SDGs into this industry necessitates a shift in the fashion industry's unsustainable nature, which can only be accomplished in the long run if consumers support sustainable fashion by purchasing it. Fast fashion is defined as low-cost, trendy apparel that takes inspiration from the catwalk or celebrity culture and rapidly transforms it into garments at high-street stores to meet consumer demand. Given the importance of identity formation to many consumers, the desire to be “fashionable” often outweighs the desire to be ethical or sustainable. This paradox exemplifies the tension between the human drive to consume and the will to do so in moderation. Previous research suggests that there is an attitude-behavior gap when it comes to determining consumer purchasing behavior, but to the best of our knowledge, no study has analysed how to encourage customers to shift from fast to slow fashion. Against this backdrop, the aim of this study is twofold: first, to identify and examine the factors that impact consumers' decisions to engage in sustainable fashion, and second, the authors develop a comprehensive framework for conceptualizing and encouraging researchers and practitioners to foster sustainable consumer behavior. This study used a systematic approach to collect data and analyse literature. The approach included three key steps: review planning, review execution, and findings reporting. Authors identified the keywords “sustainable consumption” and “sustainable fashion” and retrieved studies from the Web of Science (WoS) (126 records) and Scopus database (449 records). To make the study more specific, the authors refined the subject area to management, business, and economics in the second step, retrieving 265 records. In the third step, the authors removed the duplicate records and manually reviewed the articles to examine their relevance to the research issue. The final 96 research articles were used to develop this study's systematic scheme. The findings indicate that societal norms, demographics, positive emotions, self-efficacy, and awareness all have an effect on customers' decisions to purchase sustainable apparel. The authors propose a framework, denoted by the acronym SHIFT, in which consumers are more likely to engage in sustainable behaviors when the message or context leverages the following factors: (s)social influence, (h)habit formation, (i)individual self, (f)feelings, emotions, and cognition, and (t)tangibility. Furthermore, the authors identify five broad challenges that encourage sustainable consumer behavior and use them to develop novel propositions. Finally, the authors discuss how the SHIFT framework can be used in practice to drive sustainable consumer behaviors. This research sought to define the boundaries of existing research while also providing new perspectives on future research, with the goal of being useful for the development and discovery of new fields of study, thereby expanding knowledge.

Keywords: consumer behavior, fast fashion, sustainable consumption, sustainable fashion, systematic literature review

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Authors: Silvia Baralla, Raffaella Zucaro, Romina Lorenzetti

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Water management needs to cope with economic, societal, and environmental changes. This could be guaranteed through 'shifting from government to governance'. In the last decades, it was applied in Europe through and within important legislative pillars (Water Framework Directive and Common Agricultural Policy) and their measures focused on resilience and adaptation to climate change, with particular attention to the creation of synergies among policies and all the actors involved at different levels. Within the climate change context, the agricultural sector can play, through sustainable water management, a leading role for climate-resilient growth and environmental integrity. A recent analysis on the water management governance of different countries identified some common gaps dealing with administrative, policy, information, capacity building, funding, objective, and accountability. The ability of a country to fill these gaps is an essential requirement to make some of the changes requested by Europe, in particular the improvement of the agro-ecosystem resilience to the effect of climatic change, supporting green and digital transitions, and sustainable water use. This research aims to contribute in sharing examples of water governances and related advantages useful to fill the highlighted gaps. Italy has developed a strong and exhaustive model of water governance in order to react with strategic and synergic actions since it is one of the European countries most threatened by climate change and its extreme events (drought, floods). In particular, the Italian water governance model was able to overcome several gaps, specifically as concerns the water use in agriculture, adopting strategies as a systemic/integrated approach, the stakeholder engagement, capacity building, the improvement of planning and monitoring ability, and an adaptive/resilient strategy for funding activities. They were carried out, putting in place regulatory, structural, and management actions. Regulatory actions include both the institution of technical committees grouping together water decision-makers and the elaboration of operative manuals and guidelines by means of a participative and cross-cutting approach. Structural actions deal with the funding of interventions within European and national funds according to the principles of coherence and complementarity. Finally, management actions regard the introduction of operational tools to support decision-makers in order to improve planning and monitoring ability. In particular, two cross-functional and interoperable web databases were introduced: SIGRIAN (National Information System for Water Resources Management in Agriculture) and DANIA (National Database of Investments for Irrigation and the Environment). Their interconnection allows to support sustainable investments, taking into account the compliance about irrigation volumes quantified in SIGRIAN, ensuring a high level of attention on water saving, and monitoring the efficiency of funding. Main positive results from the Italian water governance model deal with a synergic and coordinated work at the national, regional, and local level among institutions, the transparency on water use in agriculture, a deeper understanding from the stakeholder side of the importance of their roles and of their own potential benefits and the capacity to guarantee continuity to this model, through a sensitization process and the combined use of management operational tools.

Keywords: agricultural sustainability, governance model, water management, water policies

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Authors: Rosana Choy, Fabiola Henostroza

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Actual theory suggests social-ecological factors as the main framework of bullying. Most previous research in this phenomenon is focused on the identification of bullying attitudes and conducts in puberty and adolescence periods. For this reason, this study is considered as a contribution to the existing knowledge in measuring matters, because of its non-traditional way of evaluation (graphic items), and because of its approach to a distinctive age group, children from 7 to 9 years-old, not regularly examined in current studies in this field. The research used a transversal descriptive investigation design for the development of a graphic test for bullying predisposition. The process began with the operationalization of the variable bullying predisposition, the structuring of the factors and variable indicators of a pilot instrument, evaluation by experts of the items representation, and finally it continued with the test application to children of two types of regular school population in Lima-Peru: private and public schools. The reliability level was 0.85 and the validity of the test corroborated the three-factor structure proposed by the researchers.

Keywords: bullying, graphic test, reliability, validity

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Authors: Min Wei

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With the rapid development eco-tourism resources exploitation, the conflict between economy development and ecological environment is increasingly prominent. The environmental protection laws, however, are lack of necessary legal support to use market mechanism and economic means to carry out ecological compensation and promote the environmental protection. In order to protect the sustainable utilization of eco-tourism resources and the benign development of the interests of various stakeholders, protection of ecological compensation balance should be put on schedule. The main role of institutional guarantee in eco-tourism resources' value compensation mechanism is to solve the question 'how to guarantee compensation'. The evaluation of the game model in this paper reveals that interest balance of stakeholders is an important cornerstone to obtain the sustainable development. The findings result in constructing a sustainable development pattern of eco- tourism industry based on tripartite game equilibrium among government, tourism enterprises and tourists. It is important that the social, economic and ecological environment should be harmonious development during the pursuit of eco-tourism growth.

Keywords: environmental protection, ecological compensation, eco-tourism, market mechanism

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Authors: Paulina Dwuznik

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For students of legal English, the skill of mediation is of special importance as it constitutes part of their everyday work. Developing the skill of mediation requires developing linguistic, communicative, textual, pragmatic, interactive, social, and intercultural competencies. The study conducted at the Open University of the University of Warsaw compared the results of a questionnaire concerning the needs of legal professionals relating to mediation tasks, which they perform at work with the analysis of the content of different legal English handbooks with special stress on the development of intercultural competence necessary in interlinguistic mediation. The study found that legal English handbooks focus mainly on terminology study, but some of them extend students' intercultural competence in a way which may help them to perform tasks of mediating concepts, texts, and communication. The author of the paper will present the correlation between intercultural competence and mediation skill and give some examples of mediation tasks which may be based on comparative intercultural content of some chosen academic legal English handbooks.

Keywords: intercultural competence, legal English, mediation skill, teaching

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Authors: Zunaidah Ab Hasan, Azhana Othman, Abd Halim Mohd Noor, Nor Shahrina Mohd Rafien

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This study highlights some of the factors of the poor in Malaysia by household and individual level. The discussion covers the demographic, economic and social aspects. The data is derived from the National Databank of Poverty Malaysia (eKasih) for the year of 2013. The explanatory analysis is used to analyse factor of poverty in Malaysia specifically in Malacca. The evidence confirms that male are prone to be poor. For the ethnic, majority of the poor are Malays. The number of dependency and unskilled head of household also contributes to the factors to be poor. Despite that health and physical condition condition does not affect the household head is likely to be poor. Outcome of this study hope to provide guideline that would beneficial to various stakeholders such as zakat institutions, policy makers, welfare department and other agencies related. This will lead to better standard of living as envisioned in the fourth National Key Result Areas (NKRAs).

Keywords: factors of poverty, eKasih, explanatory analysis, welfare department

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Authors: Dan Frederick Orcherton, Maria Orcherton, Matthew Kensen

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This study takes an in-depth look at how traditional healing practices (THPs) are perceived by the iTaukei people living in villages and periurban areas in Fiji Islands. The research used both qualitative and quantitative knowledge/data gathered from six villages in Viti Levu, Fiji Islands, to determine, first, the perception(s) of THPs among the iTaukei; second, what THPs successfully survive and are still important to the iTaukei way of life; and third, what factors influence the iTaukei’s health-seeking behavior or choices between Western and traditional medical systems in their villages. Results confirm that the knowledge healers used to hold to cure common illnesses is now more dispersed and shared with community members; healers/elders’ roles in iTaukei villages are important for cultural–spiritual–social causes of illnesses, and for more complex cases, there are specialized iTaukei healers. Recommendations in the form of categories of practices are offered for practitioners to work more effectively and affectively with the iTaukei.

Keywords: iTaukei peoples, traditional healing practices, traditional healers, categories of practice

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Authors: Angie Al Habib, Khalid Al Siyabi

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To measure or asses any government’s efficiency we need to measure the performance of this government in regards to the quality of the service it provides. Using a technological platform in service provision became a trend and a public demand. It is also a public need to make sure these services are aligned to values and to the whole government’s strategy, vision and goals as well. Providing services using technology tools and channels can enhance the internal business process and also help establish many essential values to government services like transparency and excellence, since in order to establish e-services many standards and policies must be put in place to enable the handing over of decision making to a mature system oriented mechanism. There was no doubt that the Sultanate of Oman wanted to enhance its services and move it towards automation and establishes a smart government as well as links its services to life events. Measuring government efficiency is very essential in achieving social security and economic growth, since it can provide a clear dashboard of all projects and improvements. Based on this data we can improve the strategies and align the country goals to them.

Keywords: government, maturity, Oman, performance, service

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Authors: Mariia Karizhenskaia, Tanvi Nandani, Ali Tafazoli Moghadam

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Hospice palliative care (HPC) is one of the most complicated philosophies of care in which physical, social/cultural, and spiritual aspects of human life are intermingled with an undeniably significant role in every aspect. Among these dimensions of care, culture possesses an outstanding position in the process and goal determination of HPC. This study shows the importance of cultural elements in the establishment of effective and optimized structures of HPC in the Canadian healthcare environment. Our systematic search included Medline, Google Scholar, and St. Lawrence College Library, considering original, peer-reviewed research papers published from 1998 to 2023 to identify recent national literature connecting culture and palliative care delivery. The most frequently presented feature among the articles is the role of culture in the efficiency of the HPC. It has been shown frequently that including the culturespecific parameters of each nation in this system of care is vital for its success. On the other hand, ignorance about the exclusive cultural trends in a specific location has been accompanied by significant failure rates. Accordingly, implementing a culture-wise adaptable approach is mandatory for multicultural societies. The following outcome of research studies in this field underscores the importance of culture-oriented education for healthcare staff. Thus, all the practitioners involved in HPC will recognize the importance of traditions, religions, and social habits for processing the care requirements. Cultural competency training is a telling sample of the establishment of this strategy in health care that has come to the aid of HPC in recent years. Another complexity of the culturized HPC nowadays is the long-standing issue of racialization. Systematic and subconscious deprivation of minorities has always been an adversity of advanced levels of care. The last part of the constellation of our research outcomes is comprised of the ethical considerations of culturally driven HPC. This part is the most sophisticated aspect of our topic because almost all the analyses, arguments, and justifications are subjective. While there was no standard measure for ethical elements in clinical studies with palliative interventions, many research teams endorsed applying ethical principles for all the involved patients. Notably, interpretations and projections of ethics differ in varying cultural backgrounds. Therefore, healthcare providers should always be aware of the most respectable methodologies of HPC on a case-by-case basis. Cultural training programs have been utilized as one of the main tactics to improve the ability of healthcare providers to address the cultural needs and preferences of diverse patients and families. In this way, most of the involved health care practitioners will be equipped with cultural competence. Considerations for ethical and racial specifications of the clients of this service will boost the effectiveness and fruitfulness of the HPC. Canadian society is a colorful compilation of multiple nationalities; accordingly, healthcare clients are diverse, and this divergence is also translated into HPC patients. This fact justifies the importance of studying all the cultural aspects of HPC to provide optimal care on this enormous land.

Keywords: cultural competence, end-of-life care, hospice, palliative care

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Authors: Ibtisam Mohammed Salim Al Quraini

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This paper examines how introducing Omani literature in foreign language classrooms can influence the students' motivation in learning the language. The data was collected through the questionnaire which was administered to two samples (A and B) of the participants. Sample A was comprised of 30 female students from English department who are specialist in English literature in college of Arts and Social Science. Sample B in contrast was comprised of 10 female students who their major is English from college of Education. Results show that each genre in literature has different influence on the students' motivation in learning the language which proves that literacy texts are powerful. Generally, Omani English teachers tend to avoid teaching literature because they think that it is a difficult method to use in teaching field. However, the advantages and the influences of teaching poetries, short stories, and plays are discussed. Recommendations for current research and further research are also discussed at the end.

Keywords: education, plays, short stories, poems

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Authors: Alfred Kamate Siviri, Angelus Mafikiri Tsongo, Jean Robert Kala Kamdjoug

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Digitalization and information systems well organized have been selected as relevant measures to mitigate operational risks within organizations. Unfortunately, information system comes with new threats that can cause severe damage and quick organization lockout. This study aims to measure perceived information system risks and their effects on operational risks within the microfinance institution in D.R. Congo. Also, the factors influencing the operational risk are identified, and the link between operational risk with other risks and performance is to be assessed. The study proposes a research model drawn on the combination of Resources-Based-View, dynamic capabilities, the agency theory, the Information System Security Model, and social theories of risk. Therefore, we suggest adopting a mixed methods research with the sole aim of increasing the literature that already exists on perceived operational risk assessment and its link with other risk and performance, a focus on IT risk.

Keywords: Democratic Republic Congo, information system risk, microfinance performance, operational risk

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Authors: Hassan S. Naeini, Hashem Mosaddad

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Industrial design as a multidisciplinary science has a vast field in which some different aspects are involved. In this regard, aspects of art, technology and engineering, social and economics are known as the main related fields. Also, state of the art scientific areas and also art based files have been making the new conditions for industrial design discipline. Furthermore, there are some new approaches and branches of industrial design. However, there is not any categorized style for these industrial design sub-groups. Undoubtedly, if there is an appropriate chart for the main industrial design approaches and branches, the related groups such as industrial designers, manufacturers, and industrial design students will have practical ideas to categorize their activities. In this case study, we developed a scientific umbrella for industrial design in which most of current approaches and branches and related association are introduced. For data gathering, some interviews were done among volunteer industrial design lecturers who are teaching at some well-known universities in Iran. Also, according to the inventory of industrial design, theses which are in university libraries, thesis approaches, and titles were assessed. Based on gathered data, we introduced a scientific umbrella for industrial design in which most of related branches and approaches are categorized. In this umbrella, the hierarchy of related branches is highlighted as well.

Keywords: industrial design, art, industrial design approaches, scientific umbrella

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Authors: Atefeh Salehipoor

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Textiles play a vital role in human life, particularly in the form of clothing. However, the alarming rate at which textiles end up in landfills presents a significant environmental risk. With approximately one garbage truck per second being filled with discarded textiles, urgent measures are required to mitigate this trend. Governments and responsible organizations are calling upon various stakeholders to shift from a linear economy to a circular economy model in the textile industry. This article highlights several key approaches that can be undertaken to address this pressing issue. These approaches include the creation of renewable raw material sources, rethinking production processes, maximizing the use and reuse of textile products, implementing reproduction and recycling strategies, exploring redistribution to new markets, and finding innovative means to extend the lifespan of textiles. However, the rapid accumulation of textiles in landfills poses a significant threat to the environment. This article explores the urgent need for the textile industry to transition from a linear economy model to a circular economy model. The linear model, characterized by the creation, use, and disposal of textiles, is unsustainable in the long term. By adopting a circular economy approach, the industry can minimize waste, reduce environmental impact, and promote sustainable practices. This article outlines key approaches that can be undertaken to drive this transition. Approaches to Address Environmental Challenges: 1. Creation of Renewable Raw Materials Sources: Exploring and promoting the use of renewable and sustainable raw materials, such as organic cotton, hemp, and recycled fibers, can significantly reduce the environmental footprint of textile production. 2. Rethinking Production Processes: Implementing cleaner production techniques, optimizing resource utilization, and minimizing waste generation are crucial steps in reducing the environmental impact of textile manufacturing. 3. Maximizing Use and Reuse of Textile Products: Encouraging consumers to prolong the lifespan of textile products through proper care, maintenance, and repair services can reduce the frequency of disposal and promote a culture of sustainability. 4. Reproduction and Recycling Strategies: Investing in innovative technologies and infrastructure to enable efficient reproduction and recycling of textiles can close the loop and minimize waste generation. 5. Redistribution of Textiles to New Markets: Exploring opportunities to redistribute textiles to new and parallel markets, such as resale platforms, can extend their lifecycle and prevent premature disposal. 6. Improvising Means to Extend Textile Lifespan: Encouraging design practices that prioritize durability, versatility, and timeless aesthetics can contribute to prolonging the lifespan of textiles. Conclusion The textile industry must urgently transition from a linear economy to a circular economy model to mitigate the adverse environmental impact caused by textile waste. By implementing the outlined approaches, such as sourcing renewable raw materials, rethinking production processes, promoting reuse and recycling, exploring new markets, and extending the lifespan of textiles, stakeholders can work together to create a more sustainable and environmentally friendly textile industry. These measures require collective action and collaboration between governments, organizations, manufacturers, and consumers to drive positive change and safeguard the planet for future generations.

Keywords: textiles, circular economy, environmental challenges, renewable raw materials, production processes, reuse, recycling, redistribution, textile lifespan extension

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Authors: Morakinyo Akintolu, Moeketsi Letseka

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In the year 2015, the United Nation member states, through the representative of all heads of states present, adopted the 17 Global goals known as the Sustainable Development Goals in their capacity to bring about social, economic, and cultural development to the world. Therefore, the need to accommodate equitable development one of the major goals is to achieve equitable and quality education for all to bring about international development. In this light, the study investigates the role of open distance learning in achieving sustainable development goals. Open distance learning comes as a second chance to individuals in disseminating educational content to students who missed the opportunity of attending the traditional school setting. Therefore, this study investigates if the SDGs reflect this type of learning (ODL) in creating Education for all according to the 2030 agenda by the United Nations. It further ascertains the role of ODL in achieving SDGs, the challenges encountered as well as the way forward.

Keywords: open distance learning, sustainable development goals, distance education, achieving, 2030 agenda

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Authors: Yuqing Sun

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Nowadays, English has been taught in many countries as a second language. One of the major ways to learn this language is through the class teaching. As in the field of second language acquisition, there are many factors to affect its acquisition processes, such as the target language itself, a learner’s personality, cognitive factor, language transfer, and the outward factors (teaching method, classroom, environmental factor, teaching policy, social environment and so on). Flipped Classroom as a newly developed classroom model has been widely used in language teaching classroom, which was, to some extent, accepted by teachers and students for its effect. It distinguishes itself from the traditional classroom for its focus on the learner and its great importance attaching to the personal learning process and the application of technology. The class becomes discussion-targeted, and the class order is somewhat inverted since the teaching process is carried out outside the class, while the class is only for knowledge-internalization. This paper will concentrate on the influences of the flipped classroom, as a classroom affecting factor, on the the process of English acquisition by the way of case studies (English teaching class in China), and the analysis of the mechanism of the flipped classroom itself to propose some feasible advice of promoting the the effectiveness of English acquisition.

Keywords: second language acquisition, English, flipped classroom, case

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Authors: Léa Chawki, Émilie Cappe

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Context: Nowadays, supporting parents of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and helping them adjust to their child’s condition represents a core clinical and scientific necessity and is encouraged by the French National Strategy for Autism (2018). In France, ASD remains a challenging condition, causing distress, segregation and social stigma to concerned family members concerned by this handicap. The literature highlights that neurodevelopmental disorders in children, such as ASD, influence parental well-being. This impact could be different according to parents’ culture and the child’s particular disorder manifestation, such as developmental coordination disorder (DCC), for instance. Objectives: This present study aims to explore parental stress, anxiety and depressive symptoms, as well as the quality of life in parents of children with ASD or DCD, as well as the explicit individual, psychosocial and cultural factors of parental well-being. Methods: Participants will be recruited through diagnostic centers, child and specialized adolescent units, and organizations representing families with ASD and DCD. Our sample will include five groups of 150 parents: four groups of parents having children with ASD – one living in France, one in the US, one in Canada and the other in Lebanon – and one group of French parents of children with DCD. Self-evaluation measures will be filled directly by parents in order to measure parental stress, anxiety and depressive symptoms, quality of life, coping and emotional regulation strategies, internalized stigma, perceived social support, the child’s problem behaviors severity, as well as motor coordination deficits in children with ASD and DCD. A sociodemographic questionnaire will help collect additional useful data regarding participants and their children. Individual and semi-structured research interviews will be conducted to complete quantitative data by further exploring participants’ distinct experiences related to parenting a child with a neurodevelopmental disorder. An interview grid, specially designed for the needs of this study, will strengthen the comparison between the experiences of parents of children with ASD with those of parents of children with DCD. It will also help investigate cultural differences regarding parent support policies in the context of raising a child with ASD. Moreover, interviews will help clarify the link between certain research variables (behavioral differences between ASD and DCD, family leisure activities, family and children’s extracurricular life, etc.) and parental well-being. Research perspectives: Results of this study will provide a more holistic understanding of the roles of individual, psychosocial and cultural variables related to parental well-being. Thus, this study will help direct the implementation of support services offered to families of children with neurodevelopmental disorders (ASD and DCD). Also, the implications of this study are essential in order to guide families through changes related to public policies assisting neurodevelopmental disorders and other disabilities. The between-group comparison (ASD and DCD) is also expected to help clarify the origins of all the different challenges encountered by those families. Hence, it will be interesting to investigate whether complications perceived by parents are more likely to arise from child-symptom severity, or from the lack of support obtained from health and educational systems.

Keywords: Autism spectrum disorder, cross-cultural, cross-disorder, developmental coordination delay, well-being

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Authors: Alondra Balbuena Medina, Carlos Diaz Delgado, Aleida Yadira Vilchis Fránces

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In Mexico, each year news is disseminated about the ravages of floods, such as the total loss of housing, damage to the fields; the increase of the costs of the food, derived from the losses of the harvests, coupled with health problems such as skin infection, etc. In addition to social problems such as delinquency, damage in education institutions and the population in general. The flooding is a consequence of heavy rains, tropical storms and or hurricanes that generate excess water in drainage systems that exceed its capacity. In urban areas, heavy rains can be one of the main factors in causing flooding, in addition to excessive precipitation, dam breakage, and human activities, for example, excessive garbage in the strainers. In agricultural areas, these can hardly achieve large areas of cultivation. It should be mentioned that for both areas, one of the significant impacts of floods is that they can permanently affect the livelihoods of many families, cause damage, for example in their workplaces such as farmlands, commercial or industry areas and where services are provided. In recent years, Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) have had an accelerated development, being reflected in the growth and the exponential evolution of the innovation giving; as a result, the daily generation of new technologies, updates, and applications. Innovation in the development of Information Technology applications has impacted on all areas of human activity. They influence all the orders of life of individuals, reconfiguring the way of perceiving and analyzing the world such as, for instance, interrelating with people as individuals and as a society, in the economic, political, social, cultural, educational, environmental, etc. Therefore the present work describes the creation of a system of calculation of flood costs for housing areas, retail establishments and agricultural areas from the Mexican Republic, based on the use and application of geotechnical tools being able to be useful for the benefit of the sectors of public, education and private. To generate analysis of hydrometereologic affections and with the obtained results to realize the Geoinformatics tool was constructed from two different points of view: the geoinformatic (design and development of GIS software) and the methodology of flood damage validation in order to integrate a tool that provides the user the monetary estimate of the effects caused by the floods. With information from the period 2000-2014, the functionality of the application was corroborated. For the years 2000 to 2009 only the analysis of the agricultural and housing areas was carried out, incorporating for the commercial establishment's information of the period 2010 - 2014. The method proposed for the resolution of this research project is a fundamental contribution to society, in addition to the tool itself. Therefore, it can be summarized that the problems that are in the physical-geographical environment, conceiving them from the point of view of the spatial analysis, allow to offer different alternatives of solution and also to open up slopes towards academia and research.

Keywords: floods, technological innovation, monetary estimation, spatial analysis

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Authors: Adinarayana Badveeti, Mohammad Shafi Mir

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In Srinagar city, in India, road safety is an important aspect that creates ecological balance and social well being. A road accident creates a situation that leaves behind distress, sorrow, and sufferings. Therefore identification of causes of road accidents becomes highly essential for adopting necessary preventive measures against a critical event. The damage created by road accidents to large extent is unrepairable and therefore needs attention to eradicate this continuously increasing trend of awful 'epidemic'. Road accident in India is among the highest in the world, with at least approximately 142.000 people killed each year on the road. Kashmir region is an ecologically sensitive place but lacks necessary facilities and infrastructure regarding road transportation, ultimately resulting in the critical event-road accidents creating a major problem for common people in the region. The objective of this project is to study the safety aspect of Srinagar City and also model the accidents with different aspect that causes accidents and also to suggest the possible remedies for lessening/eliminating the road accidents.

Keywords: road safety, road accident, road infrastructure, accident modeling

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Authors: Mukunda Bastola, Frank Nyame-Asiamah

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Economics explanation for privatisation, drawing on neo-liberal market structures and technical efficiency principles has failed to address social imbalance and, distribute the efficiency benefits accrued from privatisation equitably among service users and different classes of people in society. Stakeholders’ interest, which cover ethical values and changing human needs are ignored due to shareholders’ profit maximising strategy with higher service charges. The consequence of these is that, the existing justifications for privatisation have fallen short of customer quality expectations because the underlying plan-based models fail to account for the nuances of customer expectations. We draw on the theory of deferred action to develop a context-based privatisation model, the deferred-based privatisation model, to explain how privatisation could be strategised for the emergent reality of the wider stakeholders’ interests and everyday quality demands of customers which are unpredictable.

Keywords: privatisation, service quality, shareholders, deferred action, deferred-based privatisation model

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Authors: Qin Luofeng, Shen Siqi

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For the 58 years since the first video game came into being, the video game industry is getting through an explosive evolution from then on. Video games exert great influence on society and become a reflection of public life to some extent. Video game virtual spaces are where activities are taking place like real spaces. And that’s the reason why some architects pay attention to video games. However, compared to the researches on the appearance of games, we observe a lack of theoretical comprehensive on the construction of video game virtual spaces. The research method of this paper is to collect literature and conduct theoretical research about the virtual space in video games firstly. And then analogizing the opinions on the space phenomena from the theory of literature and films. Finally, this paper proposes a three-layer framework for the construction of video game virtual spaces: “algorithmic space-narrative space players space”, which correspond to the exterior, expressive, affective parts of the game space. Also, we illustrate each sub-space according to numerous instances of published video games. Hoping this writing could promote the interactive development of video games and architecture.

Keywords: video game, virtual space, narrativity, social space, emotional connection

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Authors: Avinash Kharel

Abstract:

Recreational soccer (RS) as a medium of small-sided soccer game (SSG) has an immense positive effect on physical health, mental health and wellbeing. The RS has reflected both acute responses and long-term effects of training on sedentary, trained and clinical population on any age, gender or health status. The enjoyable mode of training elicits greater adherence by optimising intrinsic motivation while offering health benefits that match those achieved by treadmill and cycle ergometer programmes both as continuous and interval forms of training. Additionally, recreational soccer is effective and efficient regimens with highlighted social, motivational and competitive components overcoming the barriers such as cost-efficiency, time-efficiency, assess to facilities and intrinsic motivation. Further, it can be applied as an effective broad-spectrum non-pharmacological treatment of lifestyle diseases producing a positive physiological response in healthy subjects, patients and elderly people regardless of age, gender or training experience.

Keywords: recreational soccer, health benefits, diseases prevention, physiology

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Authors: Muriel Canas-Walker

Abstract:

The 2012 TV series "The Legend of Zhen Huan" is one of the most popular and influential historical dramas on Chinese television and is regularly discussed on Chinese social media such as Weibo. Set in the Qing dynasty, the 76 episodes series features palace intrigues focused on female characters. In the Forbidden City, concubines must survive the cruelty of an extreme polygamy system, constantly competing against each other. The patriarchal oppression of the women sequestred in the harem relies on fierce female competition and does not leave much room for compassion. Using Michel Foucault’s theory of power, feminist theories, and visual anthropology, this paper analyzes the complex relationships between the female characters, from their rise to power to their fall from grace, from alliances to betrayals, from sorority to sororicide. This analysis aims to understand what makes this series particularly popular with young female audiences in China and explain its importance in Chinese media.

Keywords: Chinese TV Drama, feminism, popular culture, Theory of Power

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Authors: Ibtisam Mohammed Al-Quraini

Abstract:

This paper examines how introducing Omani literature in foreign language classrooms can influence the students' motivation in learning the language. The data was collected through the questionnaire which was administered to two samples (A and B) of the participants. Sample A was comprised of 30 female students from English department who are specialist in English literature in college of Arts and Social Science. Sample B in contrast was comprised of 10 female students who their major is English from college of Education. Results show that each genre in literature has different influence on the students' motivation in learning the language which proves that literacy texts are powerful. Generally, Omani English teachers tend to avoid teaching literature because they think that it is a difficult method to use in teaching field. However, the advantages and the influences of teaching poetries, short stories, and plays are discussed. Recommendations for current research and further research are also discussed at the end.

Keywords: education, foreign language, English, Omani literature, poetry, story, play

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Authors: Irina Rönnqvist

Abstract:

The world is constantly changing; therefore previous views or cultural patterns and programs formed by the “old world” cannot be suitable for solving actual problems. Indeed, reformation of an education system is unlikely to be effective without understanding of the processes that emerge in the field of employment. There is a problem in overcoming of the negative trends that determine imbalance of needs of the qualified work force and preparation of professionals by an education system. At the contemporary stage of economics the processes occurring in the field of labor and employment reproduce the picture of economic development of the country that cannot be imagined without the factor of labor mobility (e.g. migration). On the one hand, adult education has a significant impact on multifaceted development of economy. On the other hand, Sweden has one of the world's most generous asylum reception systems and the most liberal labor migration policy among the OECD countries. This effect affects the increased productivity. The focus of this essay is on problems of education and employment concerning social inclusion of migrants in working life in Sweden.

Keywords: migration, adaptation, formal learning, informal learning, Sweden

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Authors: Esmaeil Khodadad

Abstract:

The environment is one of the hotbeds of global politics. It is only necessary to emphasize the human being on this word, and to take it as a serious political-social debate, so as to prevent the collapse of the harmony of the system of nature governing the earth, the landlord and its creatures. Earth, water and humans are three interconnected arms that should be kept in balance and harmony. The collapse of one of these arms disrupts the entire framework of the philosophy of life on earth. Environmental issues were found worldwide in the late 20th century and were given serious attention by experts. At the same time, international environmental issues have brought to the forefront the challenges of international relations. These ideas have introduced environmental issues and some of the main features of the causes and consequences of global environmental change, as well as ways to deal with this change Has been discussed. The objectives of this study are environmental issues in the world and in Iran, and it shows what factors contribute to the formation of spatial systems and its supporting systems, and finally what the goals should be about the ideal state of the future of the global environment and its issues. The information required for this research is a combination of documentary, descriptive-analytical and library methods.

Keywords: environment, environmental issues, flower, oeacen

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Authors: Vasudev Das

Abstract:

In a global survey of more than 5,000 participants in 99 territories, PwC found a loss of $42 billion through fraud in the last 24 months. The specific problem is that private and public organizational leaders often do not understand the importance of sonic therapeutic intervention in preventing financial fraud. The study aimed to explore sonic therapeutic intervention practitioners' lived experiences regarding the value of sonic therapeutic intervention in preventing financial fraud. The data collection methods were semi-structured interviews of purposeful samples and documentary reviews, which were analyzed thematically. Four themes emerged from the analysis of interview transcription data: Sonic therapeutic intervention enabled self-control, pro-spiritual values, consequentiality mindset, and post-conventional consciousness. The itemized four themes helped non-engagement in financial fraud. Implications for positive social change include enhanced financial fraud management, more significant financial leadership, and result-oriented decision-taking in the financial market. Also, the study results can improve the increased de-escalation of anxiety/stress associated with defrauding.

Keywords: consciousness, consequentiality, rehabilitation, reintegration

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Authors: Banazzouz Halima

Abstract:

Throughout the ages, language has been viewed not only as a simple code of communicating information but rather as the most powerful and versatile medium of maintaining relationships with other people. While,by the end of the 18th century, such matters of scientific investigation concerning the study of human language began to occur under the scope of “Linguistics” generally defined as the scientific study of language. Linguistics, thus, provides a growing body of scientific knowledge about language which can guide the activity of the language teacher and student as well. Moreover,as times passed, the linguistic development engaged language in a broadly practiced academic discipline having relationship with other sciences such as: psychology, sociology, anthropology etc. Therefore, “Sociolinguistics” was given birth during the 1960’s. In fact, the given abstract is mainly linguistic, inserted under the scope of “Sociolinguistics” and by far it highlights on the process of linguistic variation and language change to show that all languages change through time and linguistic systems may vary from one speech community to another providing there is a sense of vitality where people of different parts of the globe may mutually and intelligibly communicate and comprehend each other.

Keywords: language change-sociolinguistics, social context-speech community, vitality of language, linguistic variation, urban dialectology, urban dialectology

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Authors: Bassey Odiong Akan

Abstract:

In recent decades potentially significant changes have taken place in the world of work and these have led to the emergence of new challenges in occupational safety and health. The working environment is now not only wroth with concerns about physical, biological and chemical risks but also emerging risks which are completely new risks that have never been seen before or previously known risks that are evolving in unexpected ways with unanticipated consequences. Psychosocial risk factors and its attendant hazards happen to be one of them and can impact health directly or indirectly, mediated by work-related stress. These risks are related to the way work is designed, organised and managed, as well as the economic and social contexts of work. It has become necessary to identify, explore and anticipate the dynamics of these risks factors and hazards with regards to how it affects women. This presentation is a review of information gathered from books of distinguished authors, research work and scientific/professional journals on the psychosocial work environment intended as a guide to stimulate discussion, raise awareness and encourage research and action at different levels.

Keywords: emerging risks, psychosocial hazards, psychosocial risk factors, work related stress

Procedia PDF Downloads 276