Search results for: geothermal resources

Authors: Eakarat Boonreang

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The past two decades, Thailand faced the natural disasters, for instance, Gay typhoon in 1989, tsunami in 2004, and huge flood in 2011. The disaster management in Thailand was improved both structure and mechanism for cope with the natural disaster since 2007. However, the natural disaster management in Thailand has various problems, for examples, cooperation between related an organizations have not unity, inadequate resources, the natural disaster management of public sectors not proactive, people has not awareness the risk of the natural disaster, and communities did not participate in the natural disaster management. Objective of this study is to find the methods for capacity building in the natural disaster management of Thailand. The concept and information about the capacity building and the natural disaster management of Thailand were reviewed and analyzed by classifying and organizing data. The result found that the methods for capacity building in the natural disaster management of Thailand should be consist of 1)link operation and information in the natural disaster management between nation, province, local and community levels, 2)enhance competency and resources of public sectors which relate to the natural disaster management, 3)establish proactive natural disaster management both planning and implementation, 4)decentralize the natural disaster management to local government organizations, 5)construct public awareness in the natural disaster management to community, 6)support Community Based Disaster Risk Management (CBDRM) seriously, and 7)emphasis on participation in the natural disaster management of all stakeholders.

Keywords: capacity building, Community Based Disaster Risk Management (CBDRM), Natural Disaster Management, Thailand

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Authors: Raneem O. Salem, Najwa Al-Mously, Nihal Mohamed Nabil, Abdulmohsen H. Al-Zalabani, Abeer F. Al-Dhawi, Nasser Al-Hamdan

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Objective: There are various demographic and educational factors that affect the academic performance of undergraduate medical students. The objective of this study is to identify these factors and correlate them to the GPA of the students. Methods: A cross-sectional study design utilizing grade point averages (GPAs) of two cohorts of students in both levels of the pre-clinical phase. In addition, self-administered questionnaire was used to evaluate the effect of these factors on students with poor and good cumulative GPA. Results: Among the various factors studied, gender, marital status, and the transportation used to reach the faculty significantly affected academic performance of students. Students with a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or greater significantly differed than those with a GPA of less than 3.0 being higher in female students, in married students, and type of transportation used to reach the college. Factors including age, educational factors, and type of transportation used have shown to create a significant difference in GPA between male and females. Conclusion: Factors such as age, gender, marital status, learning resources, study time, and the transportation used have been shown to significantly affect medical student GPA as a whole batch as well as when they are tested for gender.

Keywords: academic performance, educational factors, learning resources, study time, gender, socio-demographic factors

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Authors: Ayesha Akbar

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Pakistan is moving from a security state to a welfare state despite several security challenges both internal and external. Human security signifies a varied approach in different regions depending upon the leadership and policy priorities. The link between human development and economic growth is not automatic. It has to be created consciously by forward-looking policies and strategies by national governments. There are seven components or categories of human security these include: Economic Security, Personal Security, Health Security, Environmental Security, Food Security, Community Security and Political Security. The increasing interest of the international community to clearly understand the dimensions of human security provided the grounds to Pakistani scholars as well to ponder on the issue and delineate lines of human security. A great deal of work has been either done or in process to evaluate human security indicators in Pakistan. Notwithstanding, after having been done a great deal of work the human security in Pakistan is not satisfactory. A range of deteriorating indicators of human development that lies under the domain of human security leaves certain inquiries to be answered. What are the dimensions of human security in Pakistan? And how are they being dealt from the perspective of policy and institution in terms of its operationalization in Pakistan? Is the human security discourse reflects evidence-based policy changes. The methodology is broadly based on qualitative methods that include interviews, content analysis of policy documents. Pakistan is among the most populous countries in the world and faces high vulnerability to climate change. Literacy rate has gone down with the surge of youth bulge to accommodate in the job market. Increasing population is creating food problems as the resources have not been able to compete with the raising demands of food and other social amenities of life. Majority of the people are facing acute poverty. Health outcomes are also not satisfactory with the high infant and maternal mortality rate. Pakistan is on the verge of facing water crisis as the water resources are depleting so fast with the high demand in agriculture and energy sector. Pakistan is striving hard to deal with the declining state of human security but the dilemma is lack of resources that hinders in meeting up with the emerging demands. The government requires to bring about more change with scaling-up economic growth avenues with enhancing the capacity of human resources. A modern performance drive culture with the integration of technology is required to deliver efficient and effective service delivery. On an already fast track process of reforms; e-governance and evidence based policy mechanism is being instilled in the government process for better governance and evidence based decisions.

Keywords: governance, human development index, human security, Pakistan, policy

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Authors: S. Asplund, J. Åhlin, S. Åström, B. M. Lindgren

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The aim of this qualitative study was to describe experiences of work-related stress among highly stressed municipal employees in rural northern Sweden. We interviewed 15 employees in the municipal sector in rural northern Sweden using a semi-structured guide and subjected the interviews to qualitative content analysis. Under the main theme of Suffering Though Endless Chaos, we summarized four themes: facing incompatible interests and high demands due to lack of time and resources; feeling powerless, trapped, and ignored due to lack of control; feeling insufficient, insecure, and guilty due to challenging relations and high expectations; and struggling with consequences such as health problems, spillover effects on family life, and difficulty coping. Findings from this study suggest the importance of acknowledging suffering among municipal employees in a stressful work environment. An imbalance between job demands and resources is affecting both the health and family lives of employees and also their ability to work. It seems important to improve the work environment through supportive leadership, job control, and reasonable job demands to prevent stress, reduce suffering, and create a healthy organization.

Keywords: manager, municipal sector, occupational health, qualitative content analysis

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Authors: Md Mizanur Rahman, M. Aslam Alam, Muhammad Abu Yusuf

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The abundance of Jellyfish across the coasts of the Bay of Bengal is increasing sharply due to marine pollution, increased sea acidification and climate change. Jellyfish draws our attention to address the local and global stressors. This also indicates that something wrong is happening in this bay behind the scenes. This study aimed to investigate how the policy framework governing the sea can be reformed. To do so, this study evaluated the existing policy, regulatory and institutional framework. Empirical data were collected from the middle coastal zone of Bangladesh. The secondary literature on policy, legal documents, and institutional arrangements were reviewed. The causes of poor coordination among different public sectors and non-compliance of laws were identified. The key findings show that despite the existing of Department of Environment, poor coordination with other departments, and lack of logistics and technical staffs have resulted in severe marine pollution and degradation of coastal and marine living resources. The existing policies had no monitoring and evaluation mechanisms. Non-compliance of the existing laws has been fueling the problems. This study provides an integrated policy and a guideline for updating the legal and institutional mechanism to manage coastal and marine living resources sustainably in Bangladesh to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 14.

Keywords: legal, institutional, framework, jellyfish

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Authors: Muna Mohamed Omer Mirghani

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This paper responds to one of the key national development strategies and a typical challenge in the Gash Basin as well as in different parts of Sudan, namely managing water scarcity in view of climate change impacts in minor water systems sustaining over 50% of the Sudan population. While now focusing on the Gash river basin, the ultimate aim is to replicate the same approach in similar water systems in central and west Sudan. The key objective of the paper is the identification of outcome-based water governance interventions in Gash Basin, guided by the global Sustainable Development Goal six (SDG 6 on water and sanitation) and the Sudan water resource policy framework. The paper concluded that improved water resources management of the Gash Basin is a prerequisite for ensuring desired policy outcomes of groundwater use and flood risk management purposes. Analysis of various water governance dimensions in the Gash indicated that the operationalization of a Basin-level institutional reform is critically focused on informed actors and adapted practices through knowledge and technologies along with the technical data and capacity needed to make that. Adapting the devolved Institutional structure at state level is recommended to strengthen the Gash basin regulatory function and improve compliance of groundwater users.

Keywords: water governance, Gash Basin, integrated groundwater management, Sudan

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Authors: Emma Serwaa Obobisa, Winifred Essaah

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Significant worldwide trends including urbanization, industrialization, globalization, and the impending digitization have all contributed to human prosperity. However, the majority of these advancements fail to take sustainability into account, which caused the earth to manifest its retaliation in many forms. Since the world is already well-advanced, mankind needs a mature development that instills sustainability in its acts. As a result, the United Nations established the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which set forth guidelines for human behavior to ensure that the ecosystem and mankind coexist as a unified, autonomous system. The study investigates the role of eco-innovation, renewable energy consumption, human capital, environmental tax, and natural resources in achieving European Union countries' sustainable development goals. The results show that eco-innovation, renewable energy consumption, human capital, and environmental tax have a negative relationship with consumption-based CO₂ emissions but a positive relationship with natural resources. These findings suggest that governments in European Union countries commit to encouraging environmentally friendly technology advances and green investment. It also stresses the need to enforce regulations that regulate the activities of polluting firms in the region with strictness.

Keywords: sustainable development, Eco-innovation, renewable energy, CO₂ emissions

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Authors: Heike Pintor Pirzkall

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The positive economic evolution of many countries in the Latin American Continent, mainly in South America, has changed the geopolitical position of the region in the world. It is no longer the Hinterland or backyard of the United States, now it has become the Heartland for Europe and Asia. This position has favored the interest of countries like China or India, who are combining trade agreements with special assistance and aid agreements in many fields like agriculture, alternative energy resources, defense and mining. As many countries in the region are no longer low income countries, a more equal relationship in development aid has been created were the donor and the recipient have become partners and where new actors intervene in a triangular relationship that promotes new alternative aid structures. Triangular co-operation brings together the best of different actors who are providers of development co-operation, partners in SouthSouth co-operation and international organizations. The objective is to share knowledge and implement projects that support the common goal of reducing poverty and promoting development. The intention of this paper is to explain the reasons for Latin America´s “virage” to the east and to give examples of projects and agreements between Latin American countries, China and India which will help to understand the intensification of south-east relations in recent years.

Keywords: development cooperation, China, Latin America, triangular cooperation, natural resources, partnership

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Authors: Ourvashi Bissoon

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Sub-Saharan Africa in addition to being resource rich is increasingly being seen as having a huge growth potential and as a result, is increasingly attracting MNEs on its soil. To empirically assess the effectiveness of GDP in tracking sustainable resource use and the role played by MNEs in Sub-Saharan Africa, a panel data analysis has been undertaken for 32 countries over thirty-five years. The time horizon spans the period 1980-2014 to reflect the evolution from before the publication of the pioneering Brundtland report on sustainable development to date. Multinationals’ presence is proxied by the level of FDI stocks. The empirical investigation first focuses on the impact of trade openness and MNE presence on the traditional measure of economic growth namely the GDP growth rate, and then on the genuine savings (GS) rate, a measure of weak sustainability developed by the World Bank, which assumes the substitutability between different forms of capital and finally, the impact on the adjusted Net National Income (aNNI), a measure of green growth which caters for the depletion of natural resources is examined. For countries with significant exhaustible natural resources and important foreign investor presence, the adjusted net national income (aNNI) can be a better indicator of economic performance than GDP growth (World Bank, 2010). The issue of potential endogeneity and reverse causality is also addressed in addition to robustness tests. The findings indicate that FDI and openness contribute significantly and positively to the GDP growth of the countries in the sample; however there is a threshold level of institutional quality below which FDI has a negative impact on growth. When the GDP growth rate is substituted for the GS rate, a natural resource curse becomes evident. The rents being generated from the exploitation of natural resources are not being re-invested into other forms of capital namely human and physical capital. FDI and trade patterns may be setting the economies in the sample on a unsustainable path of resource depletion. The resource curse is confirmed when utilising the aNNI as well, thus implying that GDP growth measure may not be a reliable to capture sustainable development.

Keywords: FDI, sustainable development, genuine savings, sub-Saharan Africa

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Authors: Hussain Darraj

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Background: Healthcare workers, especially nurses, are subjected to a great risk of psychological stress, mostly moral distress. Therefore, it is crucial to address moral distress in nurses. Objectives: The aim of this study is to study the extent of moral distress among hospital nurses in Jazan. Methods: This study used a cross-sectional study design, which included 419 nurses from Jazan hospitals. A questionnaire was used to measure moral distress and its related factors. Results: The average total score for moral distress among the study participants is 134.14, with a standard deviation of 53.94. Moreover, the current study findings indicate that those over the age of 35 years who work as nurse managers, working in critical departments, have the intention to leave a position, have received ethical training or workshops, have provided care for COVID-19 cases, or work in a department with staff shortages are associated with the experience of higher-level moral stress. Conclusion: Nurses are recommended to be provided with ongoing education and resources in order to reduce moral distress and create a positive work atmosphere for nurses. Moreover, the current study sheds light on the importance of organizational support to provide enough resources and staffing in order to reduce moral distress among nurses. Further research is needed to focus on other health professionals and moral distress. Moreover, future studies are also required to explore the strategies to reduce moral distress levels among nurses.

Keywords: moral distress, Jazan, nurses, hospital

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Authors: Fereshteh Pashaei Kamali, Elham Kazemi, Shokooh Neshani Fam

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The subject of sustainable development is a reformist revision of modernism and tradition, proposing reconciliatory strategies between these two. Sustainability in architecture cannot only be interpreted as the construction’s physical stability, but also as stability, the preserving of the continuous totality of earth and its energy resources as well, whose available resources and materials should be employed more efficiently. In other words, by referring to the building ecology, emphasizing the combinatory capacity of the building with the environmental factors (existence context), the aim of sustainability is to achieve spatial quality and comfort, as well as proper design in the architectural composition. To achieve these traditional Iranian architecture objectives, it is essential to plan on protecting the environment, maintaining aesthetic measures and responding to the needs of each climatic region. This study was conducted based on the descriptive-analytical method, and aimed to express the design patterns compatible with the climate of the Tabriz residential fabric. The present article attempts to express the techniques and patterns used in traditional Iranian architecture, especially the Tabriz Sharbatoglu houses and Ghadaki houses, which are supposed to be in accordance with modern concepts of sustainable architecture.

Keywords: sustainable architecture, climate, Tabriz, Sharbatoglu house, Ghadaki house

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Authors: Zainab Yahaya Suleiman

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Physical fitness, as one of the most important keys to a healthy wellbeing, is the basis of dynamic and creative intellectual activity. As a result, the fitness world is expanding every day. It is believed that a fitness centre is a place of healing and also the natural environment is vital to speedy recovery. The aim of this paper is to propose and designs a suitable location for a fitness centre in Batagarawa metropolis. Batagarawa city is enriched with four tertiary institutions with diverse commerce and culture but lacks the facility of a well-equipped fitness centre. The proposed fitness centre intends to be an organically sound centre that will make use of principles of organic architecture to create a new pleasant environment between man and his environments. Organic architecture is the science of designing a building within pleasant natural resources and features surrounding the environment. It is regarded as visual poetry and reinterpretation of nature’s principles; as well as embodies a settlement of person, place, and materials. Using organic architecture, the design was interlaced with the dynamic, organic and monumental features surrounding the environment. The city has inadequate/no facility that is considered organic where one can keep fit in a friendly, conducive and adequate location. Thus, the need for establishing a fitness centre to cater for this need cannot be over-emphasised. Conclusively, a fitness centre will be an added advantage to this fast growing centre of learning.

Keywords: organic architecture, fitness center, environment, natural resources, natural features, building design

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Authors: Bohsiu Wu

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This study compares the differences in social dynamics between rural and urban areas in California to explain homicides involving family members. It is hypothesized that rural homicides are better explained by social isolation and lack of intervention resources, whereas urban homicides are attributed to social disadvantage factors. Several critical social dynamics including social isolation, social disadvantages, acculturation, and intervention resources were entered in a hierarchical linear model (HLM) to examine whether county-level factors affect how each specific dynamic performs at the ZIP code level, a proxy measure for communities. Homicide data are from the Supplementary Homicide Report for all 58 counties in California from 1997 to 1999. Predictors at both the county and ZIP code levels are derived from the 2000 US census. Preliminary results from a HLM analysis show that social isolation is a significant but moderate predictor to explain rural family homicide and various social disadvantage factors are significant factors accounting for urban family homicide. Acculturation has little impact. Rurality and urbanity appear to interact with various social dynamics in explaining family homicide. The implications for prevention at both the county and community level as well as directions for future study on the differences between rural and urban locales are explored in the paper.

Keywords: communities, family, HLM, homicide, rural, urban

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Authors: Fazilet Alachaher (Benzerdjeb)

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From the chalkboard to the abacus and beyond, technology has always played an important role in education. Educational technology refers to any teaching tool that helps supports learning, and given the rapid advancements in Information Technology and multimedia applications, the potential to support the teaching of foreign languages in our universities is ever greater. In language teaching and learning, we have a lot of to choose from the world of technology: TV, CDs, DVDs, Computers, the Internet, Email, and Blogs. The use of modern technologies can enrich the experience of learning a foreign language because they provide features that are not present in traditional technology. They can offer a wide range of multimedia resources, opportunities for intensive one-to-one learning in language labs and resources for authentic materials, which can be motivating to both students and teachers. The advent of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and online interaction can also open up new range of self-access and distance learning opportunities The two last decades have witnessed a revolution due to the onset of technology, and has changed the dynamics of various industries, and has also influenced the way people live and work in society. That is why using the multimedia to create a certain context to teach English has its unique advantages. This paper tries then to analyse the necessity of multimedia technology to language teaching and brings out the problems faced by using these technologies. It also aims at making English teachers aware of the strategies to use it in an effective manner.

Keywords: strategies English teaching, multimedia technology, advantages, disadvantages, English learning

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Authors: Davidson E. Egirani, Nanfe R. Poyi, Napoleon Wessey

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This paper would report the environmental challenges faced by stakeholders in the development and management of mineral resources in Mindanao mining region of the Philippines. The paper would proffer solutions via the development and management of integrated mineral resource framework. This is by interfacing the views of government, operating mining companies and the mining host communities. The project methods involved the desktop review of existing local, regional, national environmental and mining legislation. This was followed up with visits to mining sites and discussions were held with stakeholders in the mineral sector. The findings from a 2-year investigation would reveal lack of information, education, and communication campaign by stakeholders on environmental, health, political, and social issues in the mining industry. Small-scale miners lack the professional muscles for a balance shift of emphasis to sustainable and responsible mining to avoid environmental degradation and human health effect. Therefore, there is a need to balance ecological requirements, sustainability of the environment and development of mineral resources. This paper would provide an environmentally friendly mineral resource development framework.

Keywords: ecological requirements, environmental degradation, human health, mining legislation, responsible mining

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Authors: Ana Fonseca, Ana Gouveia, Edgar Ramalho, Rita Henriques, Filipa Figueiredo, João Nunes

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Due to persistent climate pressures, there is a need to find a resilient economic system that is regenerative in nature. Bioeconomy offers the possibility of replacing non-renewable and non-biodegradable materials derived from fossil fuels with ones that are renewable and biodegradable, while a Circular Economy aims at sustainable and resource-efficient operations. The term "Circular Bioeconomy", which can be summarized as all activities that transform biomass for its use in various product streams, expresses the interaction between these two ideas. Portugal has a very favourable context to promote a Circular Bioeconomy due to its variety of climates and ecosystems, availability of biologically based resources, location, and geomorphology. Recently, there have been political and legislative efforts to develop the Portuguese Circular Bioeconomy. The Action Plan for a Sustainable Bioeconomy, approved in 2021, is composed of five axes of intervention, ranging from sustainable production and the use of regionally based biological resources to the development of a circular and sustainable bioindustry through research and innovation. However, as some statistics show, Portugal is still far from achieving circularity. According to Eurostat, Portugal has circularity rates of 2.8%, which is the second lowest among the member states of the European Union. Some challenges contribute to this scenario, including sectorial heterogeneity and fragmentation, prevalence of small producers, lack of attractiveness for younger generations, and absence of implementation of collaborative solutions amongst producers and along value chains.Regarding the Portuguese industrial sector, there is a tendency towards complex bureaucratic processes, which leads to economic and financial obstacles and an unclear national strategy. Together with the limited number of incentives the country has to offer to those that pretend to abandon the linear economic model, many entrepreneurs are hesitant to invest the capital needed to make their companies more circular. Absence of disaggregated, georeferenced, and reliable information regarding the actual availability of biological resources is also a major issue. Low literacy on bioeconomy among many of the sectoral agents and in society in general directly impacts the decisions of production and final consumption. The WinBio project seeks to outline a strategic approach for the management of weaknesses/opportunities in the technology transfer process, given the reality of the territory, through road mapping and national and international benchmarking. The developed work included the identification and analysis of agents in the interior region of Portugal, natural endogenous resources, products, and processes associated with potential development. Specific flow of biological wastes, possible value chains, and the potential for replacing critical raw materials with bio-based products was accessed, taking into consideration other countries with a matured bioeconomy. The study found food industry, agriculture, forestry, and fisheries generate huge amounts of waste streams, which in turn provide an opportunity for the establishment of local bio-industries powered by this biomass. The project identified biological resources with potential for replication and applicability in the Portuguese context. The richness of natural resources and potentials known in the interior region of Portugal is a major key to developing the Circular Economy and sustainability of the country.

Keywords: circular bioeconomy, interior region of portugal, regional development., public policy

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Authors: Samira Mahmoudkelayeh, Katayoun Taghizade, Mitra Pourvaziri, Elnaz Asadian

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Over the recent decades, depletion of resources and environmental concerns made researchers and practitioners present sustainable approaches. Since construction process consumes a great deal of both renewable and non-renewable resources, it is of great significance regarding environmental impacts. Choosing sustainable construction materials is a remarkable strategy presented in many researches and has a significant effect on building’s environmental footprint. This paper represents an assessment framework for selecting best sustainable materials for exterior enclosure in the city of Tehran based on sustainability principles (eco-friendly, cost effective and socio-cultural viable solutions). To perform a comprehensive analysis of environmental impacts, life cycle assessment, a cradle to grave approach is used. A questionnaire survey of construction experts has been conducted to determine the relative importance of criteria. Analytic Network Process (ANP) is applied as a multi-criteria decision-making method to choose sustainable material which consider interdependencies of criteria and sub-criteria. Finally, it prioritizes and aggregates relevant criteria into ultimate assessed score.

Keywords: sustainable materials, building, analytic network process, life cycle assessment

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Authors: Kiran Kumar Gellaboina, Padmaja Kaja

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Agricultural Education and Research in India needs a transformation to serve the needs of the farmers and that of the nation. The fact that Agriculture and allied activities act as main source of livelihood for more than 70% population of rural India reinforces its importance in administrative and policy arena. As per Census 2011 of India it provides employment to approximately 56.6 % of labour. India has achieved significant growth in agriculture, milk, fish, oilseeds and fruits and vegetables owing to green, white, blue and yellow revolutions which have brought prosperity to farmers. Many factors are responsible for these achievement viz conducive government policies, receptivity of the farmers and also establishment of higher agricultural education institutions. The new breed of skilled human resources were instrumental in generating new technologies, and in its assessment, refinement and finally its dissemination to the farming community through extension methods. In order to sustain, diversify and realize the potential of agriculture sectors, it is necessary to develop skilled human resources. Agricultural human resource development is a continuous process undertaken by agricultural universities. The Department of Agricultural Research and Education (DARE) coordinates and promotes agricultural research & education in India. In India, agricultural universities were established on ‘land grant’ pattern of USA which helped incorporation of a number of diverse subjects in the courses as also provision of hands-on practical exposure to the student. The State Agricultural Universities (SAUs) established through the legislative acts of the respective states and with major financial support from them leading to administrative and policy controls. It has been observed that pace and quality of technology generation and human resource development in many of the SAUs has gone down. The reason for this slackening are inadequate state funding, reduced faculty strength, inadequate faculty development programmes, lack of modern infrastructure for education and research etc. Establishment of new state agricultural universities and new faculties/colleges without providing necessary financial and faculty support has aggrieved the problem. The present work highlights some of the key issues affecting agricultural education and research in India and the impact it would have on farm productivity and sustainability. Secondary data pertaining to budgetary spend on agricultural education and research will be analyzed. This paper will study the trends in public spending on agricultural education and research and the per capita income of farmers in India. This paper tries to suggest that agricultural education and research has a key role in equipping the human resources for enhanced agricultural productivity and sustainable use of natural resources. Further, a total re-orientation of agricultural education with emphasis on other agricultural related social sciences is needed for effective agricultural policy research.

Keywords: agriculture, challenges, education, research

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Authors: Sumaya Ismail, Aijaz Ahmad Reshi

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The advances in sensor and embedded technologies have led to rapid developments in Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs). Presently researchers focus on the integration of WSNs to the Internet for their pervasive availability to access these network resources as the interoperable subsystems. The recent computing technologies like cloud computing has made resource sharing as a converged infrastructure with required service interfaces for the shared resources over the Internet. This paper presents application architecture for wireless Sensor and Actuator Networks (WSANS) following web of things, which allows easy integration of each node to the Internet in order to provide them with web accessibility. The architecture enables the sensors and actuator nodes accessed and controlled using cloud interface on WWW. The application architecture was implemented using existing web and its emerging technologies. In particular, the Representational State Transfer protocol (REST) was extended for the specific requirements of the application. The Cloud computing environment has been used as a development platform for the application to assess the possibility of integrating the WSAN nodes to Cloud services. The mushroom farm environment monitoring and control using WSANs has been taken as a research use case.

Keywords: WSAN, REST, web of things, ZigBee, cloud interface, PaaS, sensor gateway

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Authors: Ben-Caleb Egbide, Iyoha Francis, Egharevba Mathew, Oduntan Emmanuel

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The prosperity of any nation is determined not just by the availability of resources, but also by the discipline exercised in the management of those resources. This paper examines the functional association between adherence to budgetary estimates or budget discipline (BDISC) and national prosperity proxied by Real Gross Domestic Product (RGDP) and Relative Poverty Index (RPI)/Human Development Index (HDI). Adopting a longitudinal retrospective research strategy, time series data relating to both the endogenous and exogenous variables were extracted from official government publications for 36 years’ (1980-2015 in the case of RGDP and RPI), and for 26 years (1990-2015 in the case of HDI). Ordinary Least Square (OLS), as well as cointegration regressions, were employed to gauge both the short term and long term impact of BDISC on RPI/HDI and RGDP. The results indicated that BDISC is directly related with RGDP but indirectly related with RPI. The implication is that while adherence to budgetary estimate can enhance economic growth, it has the capacity to slow down the rate of poverty in the long run. The paper, therefore, recommend stricter adherence to budgets as a way out of economic under performance in Nigeria and engender the process of promoting human development and national prosperity.

Keywords: budget discipline, human development index, national prosperity, Nigeria

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Authors: Elena Carcano, James Ball, Betty Tiko

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Carrying capacity refers to the maximum population that a given level of resources can sustain over a specific period. In undisturbed environments, the maximum population is determined by the availability and distribution of resources, as well as the competition for their utilization. This information is typically obtained through long-term data collection. In regulated environments, where resources are artificially modified, populations must adapt to changing conditions, which can lead to additional challenges due to fluctuations in resource availability over time and throughout development. An example of this is observed in hydropower plants, which alter water flow and impact fish migration patterns and behaviors. To assess how fish species can adapt to these changes, specialized surveys are conducted, which provide valuable information on fish populations, sample sizes, and density before and after flow modifications. In such situations, it is highly recommended to conduct hydrological and biological monitoring to gain insight into how flow reductions affect species adaptability and to prevent unfavorable exploitation conditions. This analysis involves several planned steps that help design appropriate hydropower production while simultaneously addressing environmental needs. Consequently, the study aims to strike a balance between technical assessment, biological requirements, and societal expectations. Beginning with a small hydro project that requires restoration, this analysis focuses on the lower tail of the Flow Duration Curve (FDC), where both hydrological and environmental goals can be met. The proposed approach involves determining the threshold condition that is tolerable for the most vulnerable species sampled (Telestes Muticellus) by identifying a low flow value from the long-term FDC. The results establish a practical connection between hydrological and environmental information and simplify the process by establishing a single reference flow value that represents the minimum environmental flow that should be maintained.

Keywords: carrying capacity, fish bypass ladder, long-term streamflow duration curve, eta-beta method, environmental flow

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Authors: Zabeehullah, Fahim Arif, Yawar Abbas

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Software Defined Network (SDN) is a next genera-tion networking model which simplifies the traditional network complexities and improve the utilization of constrained resources. Currently, most of the SDN based Internet of Things(IoT) environments use traditional network routing strategies which work on the basis of max or min metric value. However, IoT network heterogeneity, dynamic traffic flow and complexity demands intelligent and self-adaptive routing algorithms because traditional routing algorithms lack the self-adaptions, intelligence and efficient utilization of resources. To some extent, SDN, due its flexibility, and centralized control has managed the IoT complexity and heterogeneity but still Software Defined IoT (SDIoT) lacks intelligence. To address this challenge, we proposed a model called Deep Routing Strategy (DRS) which uses Deep Learning algorithm to perform routing in SDIoT intelligently and efficiently. Our model uses real-time traffic for training and learning. Results demonstrate that proposed model has achieved high accuracy and low packet loss rate during path selection. Proposed model has also outperformed benchmark routing algorithm (OSPF). Moreover, proposed model provided encouraging results during high dynamic traffic flow.

Keywords: SDN, IoT, DL, ML, DRS

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Authors: Rendani Mercy Makhwathana

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This paper intends to explore the experiences and views of Foundation Phase teachers when teaching English First Additional Language in rural public schools. Teachers all over the world are pillars of any education system. Consequently, any education transformation should start with teachers as critical role players in the education system. As a result, teachers’ experiences and views are worth consideration, for they impact on learners learning and the wellbeing of education in general. An exploratory qualitative approach with the use of phenomenological research design was used in this paper. The population for this paper comprised all Foundation Phase teachers in the district. Purposive sampling technique was used to select a sample of 15 Foundation Phase teachers from five rural-based schools. Data was collected through classroom observation and individual face-to-face interviews. Data were categorised, analysed and interpreted. The findings revealed that from time-to-time teachers experiences one or more challenging situations, learners’ low participation in the classroom to lack of resources. This paper recommends that teachers should be provided with relevant resources and support to effectively teach English First Additional Language.

Keywords: the education system, first additional language, foundation phase, intermediate phase, language of learning and teaching, medium of instruction, teacher professional development

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Authors: R. Kenova, K. Anguelov, R. Nikolova

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The human factor plays a major role in boosting the competitive capacity of logistic enterprises. This is of particular importance when it comes to logistic companies. On the one hand they should be strictly compliant with legislation; on the other hand, they should be competitive in terms of pricing and of delivery timelines. Moreover, their policies should allow them to be as flexible as possible. All these circumstances are reason for very serious challenges for the qualification, motivation and experience of the human resources, working in logistic companies or in logistic departments of trade and industrial enterprises. The geographic place of Bulgaria puts it in position of a country with some specific competitive advantages in the goods transport from Europe to Asia and back. Along with it, there is a number of logistic companies, that operate in this sphere in Bulgaria. In the current paper, the authors aim to establish the condition of the administrative capacity and human resources in the logistic companies and logistic departments of trade and industrial companies in Bulgaria in order to propose some guidelines for improving of their effectiveness. Due to independent empirical research, conducted in Bulgarian logistic, trade and industrial enterprises, the authors investigate both the impact degree and the interdependence of various factors that characterize the administrative capacity. The study is conducted with a prepared questionnaire, in format of direct interview with the respondents. The volume of the poll is 50 respondents, representatives of: general managers of industrial or trade enterprises; logistic managers of industrial or trade enterprises; general managers of forwarding companies – either with own or with hired transport; experts from Bulgarian association of logistics; logistic lobbyist and scientists of the relevant area. The data are gathered for 3 months, then arranged by a specialized software program and analyzed by preset criteria. Based on the results of this methodological toolbox, it can be claimed that there is a correlation between the individual criteria. Also, a commitment between the administrative capacity and other factors that determine the competitiveness of the studied companies is established. In this paper, the authors present results of the empirical research that concerns the number and the workload in the logistic departments of the enterprises. Also, what is commented is the experience, related to logistic processes management and human resources competence. Moreover, the overload level of the logistic specialists is analyzed as one of the main threats for making mistakes and losing clients. The paper stands behind the thesis that there is indispensability of forming an effective and efficient administrative capacity, based on the number, qualification, experience and motivation of the staff in the logistic companies. The paper ends with recommendations about the qualification and experience of the specialists in logistic departments; providing effective and efficient administrative capacity in the logistic departments; interdependence of the human factor and the other factors that influence the enterprise competitiveness.

Keywords: administrative capacity, human resources, logistic competitiveness, staff qualification

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Authors: Diana F. Lopes, Jorge Simoes, José Martins, Eduardo Castro

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Health professionals are the keystone of any health system, by delivering health services to the population. Given the time and cost involved in training new health professionals, the planning process of the health workforce is particularly important as it ensures a proper balance between the supply and demand of these professionals and it plays a central role on the Health 2020 policy. In the past 40 years, the planning of the health workforce in Portugal has been conducted in a reactive way lacking a prospective vision based on an integrated, comprehensive and valid analysis. This situation may compromise not only the productivity and the overall socio-economic development but the quality of the healthcare services delivered to patients. This is even more critical given the expected shortage of the health workforce in the future. Furthermore, Portugal is facing an aging context of some professional classes (physicians and nurses). In 2015, 54% of physicians in Portugal were over 50 years old, and 30% of all members were over 60 years old. This phenomenon associated to an increasing emigration of young health professionals and a change in the citizens’ illness profiles and expectations must be considered when planning resources in healthcare. The perspective of sudden retirement of large groups of professionals in a short time is also a major problem to address. Another challenge to embrace is the health workforce imbalances, in which Portugal has one of the lowest nurse to physician ratio, 1.5, below the European Region and the OECD averages (2.2 and 2.8, respectively). Within the scope of the HEALTH 2040 project – which aims to estimate the ‘Future needs of human health resources in Portugal till 2040’ – the present study intends to get a comprehensive dynamic approach of the problem, by (i) estimating the needs of physicians and nurses in Portugal, by specialties and by quinquenium till 2040; (ii) identifying the training needs of physicians and nurses, in medium and long term, till 2040, and (iii) estimating the number of students that must be admitted into medicine and nursing training systems, each year, considering the different categories of specialties. The development of such approach is significantly more critical in the context of limited budget resources and changing health care needs. In this context, this study presents the drivers of the healthcare needs’ evolution (such as the demographic and technological evolution, the future expectations of the users of the health systems) and it proposes a Bayesian methodology, combining the best available data with experts opinion, to model such evolution. Preliminary results considering different plausible scenarios are presented. The proposed methodology will be integrated in a user-friendly decision support system so it can be used by politicians, with the potential to measure the impact of health policies, both at the regional and the national level.

Keywords: bayesian estimation, health economics, health workforce planning, human health resources planning

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Authors: Young Sik Kim, Tae Kwon Ha

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Russia was one of the world’s leading mineral- producing countries. In 2012, Russia was ranked among the world’s leading producers or was a leading regional producer of such mineral commodities as aluminum, arsenic, asbestos, bauxite, boron, cadmium, cement, coal, cobalt, copper, diamond, fluorspar, gold, iron ore, lime, magnesium compounds and metals, mica (flake, scrap, and sheet), natural gas, nickel, nitrogen, oil shale, palladium, peat, petroleum, phosphate, pig iron, platinum, potash, rhenium, silicon, steel, sulfur, titanium sponge, tungsten, and vanadium. Russia has large reserves of a variety of mineral resources and undoubtedly will continue to be one of the world’s leading mineral producers. Although the country’s economy is expected to grow in 2012, some problems are likely to remain. In 2011, the Russian economy returned to economic growth after the significant decline in 2010. According to some analysts, however, the recovery of 2011 did not appear sufficiently vigorous to carry the country’s strong economic growth into the next decade. Even in the sectors of the economy where the country is among the world leaders (ferrous metals, gas, petroleum), Russian industry has obsolete plants and equipment, a slow rate of innovation, and low labor productivity.

Keywords: Russia, energy resources, economic growth, strategy, oil complex

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Authors: Masoud Swalehe, Semra Günay

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Developed countries are losing many lives to non-communicable diseases as compared to their developing counterparts. The effects of these diseases are mostly sudden and manifest at a very short time prior to death or a dangerous attack and this has consolidated the significance of emergency medical system (EMS) as one of the vital areas of healthcare service delivery. The primary objective of this research is to reduce ambulance response times (RT) of Eskişehir province EMS since a number of studies have established a relationship between ambulance response times and survival chances of patients especially out of hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) victims. It has been found out that patients who receive out of hospital medical attention in few (4) minutes after cardiac arrest because of low ambulance response times stand higher chances of survival than their counterparts who take longer times (more than 12 minutes) to receive out of hospital medical care because of higher ambulance response times. The study will make use of geographic information systems (GIS) technology to dynamically reallocate ambulance resources according to demand and time so as to reduce ambulance response times. Geospatial-time distribution of ambulance calls (demand) will be used as a basis for optimal ambulance deployment using system status management (SSM) strategy to achieve much demand coverage with the same number of ambulance resources to cause response time reduction. Drive-time polygons will be used to come up with time specific facility coverage areas and suggesting additional facility candidate sites where ambulance resources can be moved to serve higher demands making use of network analysis techniques. Emergency Ambulance calls’ data from 1st January 2014 to 31st December 2014 obtained from Eskişehir province health directorate will be used in this study. This study will focus on the reduction of ambulance response times which is a key Emergency Medical Services performance indicator.

Keywords: emergency medical services, system status management, ambulance response times, geographic information system, geospatial-time distribution, out of hospital cardiac arrest

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Authors: Soheila Sadeghi

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— The growing integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) into Human Resources (HR) processes has transformed the way organizations manage recruitment, performance evaluation, and employee engagement. While AI offers numerous advantages—such as improved efficiency, reduced bias, and hyper-personalization—it raises significant concerns about employee well-being, job security, fairness, and transparency. The study examines how AI shapes employee perceptions, job satisfaction, mental health, and retention. Key findings reveal that: (a) while AI can enhance efficiency and reduce bias, it also raises concerns about job security, fairness, and privacy; (b) transparency in AI systems emerges as a critical factor in fostering trust and positive employee attitudes; and (c) AI systems can both support and undermine employee well-being, depending on how they are implemented and perceived. The research introduces an AI-employee well-being Interaction Framework, illustrating how AI influences employee perceptions, behaviors, and outcomes. Organizational strategies, such as (a) clear communication, (b) upskilling programs, and (c) employee involvement in AI implementation, are identified as crucial for mitigating negative impacts and enhancing positive outcomes. The study concludes that the successful integration of AI in HR requires a balanced approach that (a) prioritizes employee well-being, (b) facilitates human-AI collaboration, and (c) ensures ethical and transparent AI practices alongside technological advancement.

Keywords: artificial intelligence, human resources, employee well-being, job satisfaction, organizational support, transparency in AI

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Authors: Rachel S. Chang, Samuel P. Massion, Alan Z. Grusky, Heather A. Ridinger

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Introduction Health advocacy is defined as activities that improve access to care, utilize resources, address health disparities, and influence health policy. Advocacy is increasingly being recognized as a critical component of a physician’s role, as understanding social determinants of health and improving patient care are important aspects within the American Medical Association’s Health Systems Science framework. However, despite this growing prominence, educational interventions that address advocacy topics are limited and variable across medical school curricula. Furthermore, few recent studies have evaluated attitudes toward health advocacy among physicians-in-training in the United States. This study examines medical student attitudes towards health advocacy, along with perceived knowledge, ability, and current level of engagement with health advocacy during their clerkships. Methods This study employed a cross-sectional survey design using a single anonymous, self-report questionnaire to all second-year medical students at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine (n=96) in December 2020 during clerkship rotations. The survey had 27 items with 5-point Likert scale (15), multiple choice (11), and free response questions (1). Descriptive statistics and thematic analysis were utilized to analyze responses. The study was approved by the Vanderbilt University Institutional Review Board. Results There was an 88% response rate among second-year clerkship medical students. A majority (83%) agreed that formal training in health advocacy should be a mandatory part of the medical student curriculum Likewise, 83% of respondents felt that acting as a health advocate or patients should be part of their role as a clerkship student. However, a minority (25%) felt adequately prepared. While 72% of respondents felt able to identify a psychosocial need, 18% felt confident navigating the healthcare system and only 9% felt able to connect a patient to a psychosocial resource to fill that gap. 44% of respondents regularly contributed to conversations with their medical teams when discussing patients’ social needs, such as housing insecurity, financial insecurity, or legal needs. On average, respondents reported successfully connecting patients to psychosocial resources 1-2 times per 8-week clerkship block. Barriers to participating in health advocacy included perceived time constraints, lack of awareness of resources, lower emphasis among medical teams, and scarce involvement with social work teams. Conclusions In this single-institutional study, second-year medical students on clerkships recognize the importance of advocating for patients and support advocacy training within their medical school curriculum. However, their perceived lack of ability to navigate the healthcare system and connect patients to psychosocial resources, result in students feeling unprepared to advocate as effectively as they hoped during their clerkship rotations. Our results support the ongoing need to equip medical students with training and resources necessary for them to effectively act as advocates for patients.

Keywords: clerkships, medical students, patient advocacy, social medicine

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Authors: Fuling Deng

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Today’s children are frequently exposed to multimodal texts that adopt diverse modes to communicate myriad meanings within different cultural contexts. To respond to the new textual landscape, scholars have considered new literacy theories which propose picturebooks as important educational resources. Picturebooks are multimodal, with their meaning conveyed through the synchronisation of multiple modes, including linguistic, visual, spatial, and gestural acting as access to multimodal literacy. Picturebooks have been popular reading materials in primary educational settings in China. However, often viewed as “easy” texts directed at the youngest readers, picturebooks remain on the margins of Chinese upper primary classrooms, where they are predominantly used for linguistic tasks, with little value placed on their multimodal affordances. Practices with picturebooks in the upper grades in Chinese primary schools also encounter many challenges associated with the curation of texts for use, designing curriculum, and assessment. To respond to these issues, a qualitative study was conducted with a community of Chinese primary teachers using multi-methods such as interviews, focus groups, and documents. The findings showed the impact of the teachers’ increased awareness of picturebooks' multimodal affordances on their pedagogical decisions in using picturebooks as educational resources in upper primary classrooms.

Keywords: picturebook education, multimodal literacy, teachers' response to contemporary picturebooks, community of practice

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