Search results for: Chinese literature
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 7853

Search results for: Chinese literature

6983 Observation of the Effect of Yingyangbao Intervention on Infants and Young Children Aged 6 to 23 Months in Poor Rural Areas of China

Authors: Jin Li, Jing Sun, Xiangkun Cai, Lijuanwang, Yanbin Tang, Junsheng Huo

Abstract:

In order to improve the malnutrition of infants and young children in poor rural areas of China, Chinese government implement a project on improvement of children's nutrition in poor rural areas. Each infant or young child aged 6 to 23 months in selected poor rural areas of China was provided a package of Yingyangbao (YYB) per day, which is a full fat soy powder mixed with multiple micronutrient powders. A technical direction to implement this project comprehensively in poor rural areas of China will be provided by assessing the nutritional status of infants and feeding practices of caregiver. The nutritional intervention was conducted using Yingyangbao for infants aged 6 to 23 months in six poor counties of Shanxi, Yunnan and Hubei Provinces. The caregiver or parents of infants were educated on feeding knowledge and practice. A total of 1840 infants were assessed before the intervention and 1789 infants one year later. The length, weight, hemoglobin concentration of infants were measured to evaluate nutritional status before and after the intervention respectively. The questionnaires were designed to collect data for the basic demographic information and feeding practices. The average weight of infants aged 6 to 23 months increased from 9.59 ± 1.54kg to 9.73 ± 1.61kg one years later (p<0.01), and the average length from 76.0±6.0 to 77.0±6.1(p<0.01). The weight and length of infants aged 12 to 17 months had most obviously improving effect among the three age groups. Before the intervention, the hemoglobin concentration value of infants was 11.7±1.2g/L, and the anemia prevalence was 32.9%. One year later, the hemoglobin concentration value of the infants was increased to 12.0±1.1g/dL, and the anemia prevalence was decreased to 26.0%. There were both statistically significant (p <0.01). The anemia prevalence of infants aged 18 to 23 months had most obviously improving effect,which decreased from 25.0% to 17.2%(p<0.01). The proportion of infants aged 6 to 8 months who received solid, semi-solid or soft foods in time was increased from 89.4% to 91.6%, while there was no statistically significant. The proportion of 6-23 month-old infants who received minimum dietary diversity increased from 55.6% to 60.3%(p <0.01). The differences of the proportion of infants who received minimum meal frequency was no statistically significant between before and after the intervention. The nutritional intervention using Yingyangbao showed the significant effect for improving infants aged 6 to 23 months anemia status, weight and length. The feeding practices were improved through education in the process of nutritional intervention, while the effect is not significant. It is need for Chinese government to explore new publicity pattern.

Keywords: nutritional intervention, infants, nutritional status, feeding practice

Procedia PDF Downloads 443
6982 Is School Misbehavior a Decision: Implications for School Guidance

Authors: Rachel C. F. Sun

Abstract:

This study examined the predictive effects of moral competence, prosocial norms and positive behavior recognition on school misbehavior among Chinese junior secondary school students. Results of multiple regression analysis showed that students were more likely to misbehave in school when they had lower levels of moral competence and prosocial norms, and when they perceived their positive behavior being less likely recognized. Practical implications were discussed on how to guide students to make the right choices to behave appropriately in school. Implications for future research were also discussed.

Keywords: moral competence, positive behavior recognition, prosocial norms, school misbehavior

Procedia PDF Downloads 383
6981 An Infinite Mixture Model for Modelling Stutter Ratio in Forensic Data Analysis

Authors: M. A. C. S. Sampath Fernando, James M. Curran, Renate Meyer

Abstract:

Forensic DNA analysis has received much attention over the last three decades, due to its incredible usefulness in human identification. The statistical interpretation of DNA evidence is recognised as one of the most mature fields in forensic science. Peak heights in an Electropherogram (EPG) are approximately proportional to the amount of template DNA in the original sample being tested. A stutter is a minor peak in an EPG, which is not masking as an allele of a potential contributor, and considered as an artefact that is presumed to be arisen due to miscopying or slippage during the PCR. Stutter peaks are mostly analysed in terms of stutter ratio that is calculated relative to the corresponding parent allele height. Analysis of mixture profiles has always been problematic in evidence interpretation, especially with the presence of PCR artefacts like stutters. Unlike binary and semi-continuous models; continuous models assign a probability (as a continuous weight) for each possible genotype combination, and significantly enhances the use of continuous peak height information resulting in more efficient reliable interpretations. Therefore, the presence of a sound methodology to distinguish between stutters and real alleles is essential for the accuracy of the interpretation. Sensibly, any such method has to be able to focus on modelling stutter peaks. Bayesian nonparametric methods provide increased flexibility in applied statistical modelling. Mixture models are frequently employed as fundamental data analysis tools in clustering and classification of data and assume unidentified heterogeneous sources for data. In model-based clustering, each unknown source is reflected by a cluster, and the clusters are modelled using parametric models. Specifying the number of components in finite mixture models, however, is practically difficult even though the calculations are relatively simple. Infinite mixture models, in contrast, do not require the user to specify the number of components. Instead, a Dirichlet process, which is an infinite-dimensional generalization of the Dirichlet distribution, is used to deal with the problem of a number of components. Chinese restaurant process (CRP), Stick-breaking process and Pólya urn scheme are frequently used as Dirichlet priors in Bayesian mixture models. In this study, we illustrate an infinite mixture of simple linear regression models for modelling stutter ratio and introduce some modifications to overcome weaknesses associated with CRP.

Keywords: Chinese restaurant process, Dirichlet prior, infinite mixture model, PCR stutter

Procedia PDF Downloads 328
6980 Money as Motivation Amongst Industrial Sales People in Nigeria

Authors: Mahmoud Rufai Mahmoud

Abstract:

A look at existing literature on sales force motivation reveals lack of consensus on the role monetary rewards play in motivating salespeople. In view of the apparent contradiction inherent in the literature, it follows perhaps, chat sales managers are faced with the dilemma of what role to assign to monetary incentives in the scheme of motivating salespeople. This study investigated the perception of industrial salespeople on the role of money as a motivator. The result shows that salespeople believe that money is an important motivator whose power of motivation is influenced by a complex function of economic, social and psychological variables. Based on the findings, if is recommended that managers need different types of rewards to achieve a given level of motivation.  

Keywords: motivation, salespeople, money, Nigeria

Procedia PDF Downloads 347
6979 Government (Big) Data Ecosystem: Definition, Classification of Actors, and Their Roles

Authors: Syed Iftikhar Hussain Shah, Vasilis Peristeras, Ioannis Magnisalis

Abstract:

Organizations, including governments, generate (big) data that are high in volume, velocity, veracity, and come from a variety of sources. Public Administrations are using (big) data, implementing base registries, and enforcing data sharing within the entire government to deliver (big) data related integrated services, provision of insights to users, and for good governance. Government (Big) data ecosystem actors represent distinct entities that provide data, consume data, manipulate data to offer paid services, and extend data services like data storage, hosting services to other actors. In this research work, we perform a systematic literature review. The key objectives of this paper are to propose a robust definition of government (big) data ecosystem and a classification of government (big) data ecosystem actors and their roles. We showcase a graphical view of actors, roles, and their relationship in the government (big) data ecosystem. We also discuss our research findings. We did not find too much published research articles about the government (big) data ecosystem, including its definition and classification of actors and their roles. Therefore, we lent ideas for the government (big) data ecosystem from numerous areas that include scientific research data, humanitarian data, open government data, industry data, in the literature.

Keywords: big data, big data ecosystem, classification of big data actors, big data actors roles, definition of government (big) data ecosystem, data-driven government, eGovernment, gaps in data ecosystems, government (big) data, public administration, systematic literature review

Procedia PDF Downloads 161
6978 A Literature Review of Emotional Labor and Emotional Labor Strategies

Authors: Yeong-Gyeong Choi, Kyoung-Seok Kim

Abstract:

This study, literature review research, intends to deal with the problem of conceptual ambiguity among research on emotional labor, and to look into the evolutionary trends and changing aspects of defining the concept of emotional labor. For this, it gropes for methods for reducing conceptual ambiguity. Further, it arranges the concept of emotional labor; and examines and reviews comparatively the currents of the existing studies and looks for the characteristics and correlations of their classification criteria. That is, this study intends to arrange systematically and examine theories on emotional labor suggested hitherto, and suggest a future direction of research on emotional labor on the basis thereof. In addition, it attempts to look for positive aspects of the results of emotional labor.

Keywords: emotion labor, dimensions of emotional labor, surface acting, deep acting

Procedia PDF Downloads 353
6977 A Predictive Model of Supply and Demand in the State of Jalisco, Mexico

Authors: M. Gil, R. Montalvo

Abstract:

Business Intelligence (BI) has become a major source of competitive advantages for firms around the world. BI has been defined as the process of data visualization and reporting for understanding what happened and what is happening. Moreover, BI has been studied for its predictive capabilities in the context of trade and financial transactions. The current literature has identified that BI permits managers to identify market trends, understand customer relations, and predict demand for their products and services. This last capability of BI has been of special concern to academics. Specifically, due to its power to build predictive models adaptable to specific time horizons and geographical regions. However, the current literature of BI focuses on predicting specific markets and industries because the impact of such predictive models was relevant to specific industries or organizations. Currently, the existing literature has not developed a predictive model of BI that takes into consideration the whole economy of a geographical area. This paper seeks to create a predictive model of BI that would show the bigger picture of a geographical area. This paper uses a data set from the Secretary of Economic Development of the state of Jalisco, Mexico. Such data set includes data from all the commercial transactions that occurred in the state in the last years. By analyzing such data set, it will be possible to generate a BI model that predicts supply and demand from specific industries around the state of Jalisco. This research has at least three contributions. Firstly, a methodological contribution to the BI literature by generating the predictive supply and demand model. Secondly, a theoretical contribution to BI current understanding. The model presented in this paper incorporates the whole picture of the economic field instead of focusing on a specific industry. Lastly, a practical contribution might be relevant to local governments that seek to improve their economic performance by implementing BI in their policy planning.

Keywords: business intelligence, predictive model, supply and demand, Mexico

Procedia PDF Downloads 122
6976 Application of Non-Smoking Areas in Hospitals

Authors: Nur Inayah Ismaniar, Sukri Palutturi, Ansariadi, Atjo Wahyu

Abstract:

Background: In various countries in the world, the problem of smoking is now considered something serious because of the effects of smoking which can not only lead to addiction but also have the potential to harm health. Public health authorities have concluded that one solution that can be done to protect the public from active smokers is to issue a policy that requires public facilities to be completely smoke-free. The hospital is one of the public facilities that has been designated as a smoke-free area. However, the implementation and maintenance of a successful program based on a smoke-free hospital are still considered an ongoing challenge worldwide due to the very low level of adherence. The low level of compliance with this smoke-free policy is also seen in other public facilities. The purpose of the literature review is to review the level of compliance with the application of the Non-Smoking Area policy, how this policy has succeeded in reducing smoking activity in hospitals, and what factors lead to such compliance in each country in the world. Methods: A literature review of articles was carried out on all types of research methods, both qualitative and quantitative. The sample is all subjects who are in the research location, which includes patients, staff and hospital visitors. Results: Various variations in the level of compliance were found in various kinds of literature. The literature with the highest level of compliance is 88.4%. Furthermore, several determinants that are known to affect the compliance of the Non-Smoking Area policies in hospitals include communication, information, knowledge, perceptions, interventions, attitudes and support. Obstacles to its enforcement are the absence of sanctions against violators of the Non-Smoking Area policy, the ineffectiveness of the function of policymakers in hospitals, and negative perceptions of smoking related to mental health. Conclusion: Violations of the Non-Smoking Area policy are often committed by the hospital staff themselves, which makes it difficult for this policy to be fully enforced at various points in the hospital.

Keywords: health policy, non-smoking area, hospital, implementation

Procedia PDF Downloads 89
6975 Teacher Professional Development Programs on K-12 Engineering Education: A Systematic Review of the Literature

Authors: Canan Mesutoglu, Evrim Baran

Abstract:

Teachers have a prominent role in facilitating the place of engineering in K-12 classrooms. This study addresses the need to understand how teacher professional development programs focusing on K-12 engineering education can be designed and delivered more effectively. A systematic review of the literature on such programs can offer possible ideas and recommendations. The purpose of this study is to systematically synthesize the peer-reviewed articles published on K-12 engineering education teacher professional development programs. The methodology that guided the study was comprised of four phases: search, selection, coding, and synthesis. The search phase included articles published in the time period between 2000 and 2016. With a comprehensive search in databases, inclusion criteria were applied. This was followed by evaluation of the quality of articles with a checklist, and finally analysis of the results. The results revealed two categories of themes. These were 1) five themes related to the overarching agenda of the PD programs, and 2) five themes related to the instructional techniques of the PD programs. Finally, core elements were generated to guide the design and delivery of teacher PD programs for K-12 engineering education. The results aimed to provide a conceptual basis for future research and practice on teacher PD programs for K-12 engineering education.

Keywords: core elements, K-12 engineering education, systematic literature review, teacher professional development programs

Procedia PDF Downloads 322
6974 A Systematic Review for Promotion of Sustainable Fisheries and Aquaculture: A Global Perspective

Authors: Soma Gholamveisy, Vahid Mirghavameddin

Abstract:

Aquaculture activities face wide environmental, social, and economic problems today. To deal with these problems, the aquaculture business, which is already a highly significant agricultural activity, is influenced by sustainability, which can assure the rural community's safety and food health with minimal environmental damage. The objective of this study's systematic review of the literature (SLR) is to look into the use of global perspective Promotion of Sustainable Fisheries and Aquaculture. SLR aims to identify the goals of a promotional system, also one of its main components. This research seeks to empower, increase economic productivity, facilitate, pay more attention to the sustainability of the environment and inform the audience in this regard. A method used to assess hypotheses, condense the results of past studies or verify the consistency of studies. It presents a succinct analysis of original research using an unambiguous and verifiable approach. A thorough repository with a vast array of papers and effective exploration methods are frequently utilized in a systematic literature review, enabling the application of advanced logical statements. A comprehensive literature review was carried out to ensure that the most relevant studies were included. This type of review clarifies publication selection criteria and allows evaluation of the studies conducted and their repetition or extension.

Keywords: systematic review, sustainable, fisheries, aquaculture

Procedia PDF Downloads 93
6973 Students Reading and Viewing the American Novel in a University EFL/ESL Context: A Picture of Real Life

Authors: Nola Nahla Bacha

Abstract:

Research has indicated that ESL/EFL (nonnative students of English) students have difficulty in reading at the university as often times the requirements are long texts in which both cultural and linguistic factors impede their understanding and thus their motivation. This is especially the case in literature courses. It is the author’s view that if readings are selected according to the students’ interests and linguistic level, related to life situations and coupled with film study they will not only be motivated to read, but they will find reading interesting and exciting. They will view novels, and thus literature, as a picture of life. Students will also widen their vocabulary repertoire and overcome many of their linguistic problems. This study describes the procedure used in in a 20th Century American Novel class at one English medium university in Lebanon and explores students’ views on the novels assigned and their recommendations. Findings indicate that students significantly like to read novels, contrary to what some faculty claim and view the inclusion of novels as helping them with expanding their vocabulary repertoire and learning about real life which helps them linguistically, pedagogically, and above all personally during their life in and out of the university. Annotated texts, pictures and film will be used through technological aids to show how the class was conducted and how the students’ interacted with the novels assigned. Implications for teaching reading in the classroom are made.

Keywords: language, literature, novels, reading, university teaching

Procedia PDF Downloads 377
6972 Artificial Intelligence Techniques for Enhancing Supply Chain Resilience: A Systematic Literature Review, Holistic Framework, and Future Research

Authors: Adane Kassa Shikur

Abstract:

Today’s supply chains (SC) have become vulnerable to unexpected and ever-intensifying disruptions from myriad sources. Consequently, the concept of supply chain resilience (SCRes) has become crucial to complement the conventional risk management paradigm, which has failed to cope with unexpected SC disruptions, resulting in severe consequences affecting SC performances and making business continuity questionable. Advancements in cutting-edge technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) and their potential to enhance SCRes by improving critical antecedents in the different phases have attracted the attention of scholars and practitioners. The research from academia and the practical interest of the industry have yielded significant publications at the nexus of AI and SCRes during the last two decades. However, the applications and examinations have been primarily conducted independently, and the extant literature is dispersed into research streams despite the complex nature of SCRes. To close this research gap, this study conducts a systematic literature review of 106 peer-reviewed articles by curating, synthesizing, and consolidating up-to-date literature and presents the state-of-the-art development from 2010 to 2022. Bayesian networks are the most topical ones among the 13 AI techniques evaluated. Concerning the critical antecedents, visibility is the first ranking to be realized by the techniques. The study revealed that AI techniques support only the first 3 phases of SCRes (readiness, response, and recovery), and readiness is the most popular one, while no evidence has been found for the growth phase. The study proposed an AI-SCRes framework to inform research and practice to approach SCRes holistically. It also provided implications for practice, policy, and theory as well as gaps for impactful future research.

Keywords: ANNs, risk, Bauesian networks, vulnerability, resilience

Procedia PDF Downloads 94
6971 Toward a Coalitional Subject in Contemporary American Feminist Literature

Authors: Su-Lin Yu

Abstract:

Coalition politics has been one of feminists’ persistent concerns. Following recent feminist discussion on new modes of affiliation across difference, she will explore how the process of female subject formation depends on alliances across different cultural locations. First, she will examine how coalition politics is reformulated across difference in contemporary feminist literature. In particular, the paper will identify the particular contexts and locations in which coalition building both enables and constrains the female subject. She will attempt to explore how contemporary feminist literature highlights the possibilities and limitations for solidarity and affiliations. To understand coalition politics in contemporary feminist works, she will engage in close readings of two texts: Rebecca Walker’s Black, White and Jewish: Memoir of a Shifting Self and Danzy Senna’s Caucasia. Both Walker and Senna have articulated the complex nodes of identity that are staged by a politics of location as they refuse to be boxed into simplistic essentialist positions. Their texts are characterized by the characters’ racial ambiguity and their social and geographical mobility of life in the contemporary United States. Their experiences of living through conflictual and contradictory relationships never fully fit the boundaries of racial categorization. Each of these texts demonstrates the limits as well as the possibilities of working with diversity among and within persons and groups, thus, laying the ground for complex alliance formation. Because each of the protagonists must negotiate a set of contradictions, they will have to constantly shift their affiliations. Rather than construct a static alliance, they describe a process of moving ‘beyond boundaries,’ an embracing of multiple locations. As self-identified third wavers, Rebecca Walker and Danzy Senna have been identified and marked with the status of ‘leader’ by the feminist establishment and by mainstream U.S. media. Their texts have captured both mass popularity and critical attention in the feminist and, often, the non-feminist literary community. By analyzing these texts, she will show how contemporary American feminist literature reveals coalition politics which is fraught with complications and unintended consequences. Taken as a whole, then, these works provide an important examination not only of coalition politics of American feminism, but also a snapshot of a central debate among feminist critique of coalition politics as a whole.

Keywords: coalition politics, contemporary women’s literature, identity, female subject

Procedia PDF Downloads 288
6970 The Arabic Literary Text, between Proficiency and Pedagogy

Authors: Abdul Rahman M. Chamseddine, Mahmoud El-ashiri

Abstract:

In the field of language teaching, communication skills are essential for the learner to achieve, however, these skills, in general, might not support the comprehension of some texts of literary or artistic nature like poetry. Understanding sentences and expressions is not enough to understand a poem; other skills are needed in order to understand the special structure of a text which literary meaning is inapprehensible even when the lingual meaning is well comprehended. And then there is the need for many other components that surpass one text to other similar texts that can be understood through solid traditions, which do not form an obstacle in the face of change and progress. This is not exclusive to texts that are classified as a literary but it is also the same with some daily short phrases and indicatively charged expressions that can be classified as literary or bear a taste of literary nature.. it can be found in Newpapers’ titles, TV news reports, and maybe football commentaries… the need to understand this special lingual use – described as literary – is highly important to understand this discourse that can be generally classified as very far from literature. This work will try to explore the role of the literary text in the language class and the way it is being covered or dealt with throughout all levels of acquiring proficiency. It will also attempt to survery the position of the literary text in some of the most important books for teaching Arabic around the world. The same way grammar is needed to understand the language, another (literary) grammar is also needed for understanding literature.

Keywords: language teaching, Arabic, literature, pedagogy, language proficiency

Procedia PDF Downloads 270
6969 A Digital Representation of a Microstructure and Determining Its Mechanical Behavior

Authors: Burak Bal

Abstract:

Mechanical characterization tests might come with a remarkable cost of time and money for both companies and academics. The inquiry to transform laboratory experiments to the computational media is getting a trend; accordingly, the literature supplies many analytical ways to explain the mechanics of deformation. In our work, we focused on the crystal plasticity finite element modeling (CPFEM) analysis on various materials in various crystal structures to predict the stress-strain curve without tensile tests. For FEM analysis, which we used in this study was ABAQUS, a standard user-defined material subroutine (UMAT) was prepared. The geometry of a specimen was created via DREAM 3D software with the inputs of Euler angles taken by Electron Back-Scattered Diffraction (EBSD) technique as orientation, or misorientation angles. The synthetic crystal created with DREAM 3D is also meshed in a way the grains inside the crystal meshed separately, and the computer can realize interaction of inter, and intra grain structures. The mechanical deformation parameters obtained from the literature put into the Fortran based UMAT code to describe how material will response to the load applied from specific direction. The mechanical response of a synthetic crystal created with DREAM 3D agrees well with the material response in the literature.

Keywords: crystal plasticity finite element modeling, ABAQUS, Dream.3D, microstructure

Procedia PDF Downloads 152
6968 Prostitution in Colonial Bengal: Autobiographical Articulations and Fictional Representations

Authors: Aparna Bandyopadhyay

Abstract:

The proposed paper will examine how prostitution produced a vast corpus of literature in colonial Bengal. This corpus included autobiographical accounts by prostitutes themselves. While the authenticity of some of these has, at times, been doubted by contemporary observers, the sheer magnitude of such narrative prose demands critical attention. Many of these autobiographical narratives focused on the prostitute’s early life within respectable society and then proceeded to delineate the transgressions and the inescapable chain of circumstances that eventually rendered her a prostitute. Significantly, these serve to corroborate the findings of official investigations regarding the circumstances that led upper-caste Hindu women in Bengal to embrace prostitution in this period. The literary corpus that dwelt on prostitution also included a vast volume of fiction penned by celebrated writers. These foregrounded a prostitute as the central protagonist, telling the life-stories of prostitutes and the circumstances that made them what they were. Novels and short stories often represented the prostitute as an affective being – an individual capable of deep emotions despite her profession. She was seldom a person who had voluntarily embraced prostitution. She was always a figure of helplessness and suffering, a woman whose desire to love and be loved transcended the carnality of her livelihood. She was an outcast, but she experienced the entire repertoire of emotions experienced by her respectable counterparts. The proposed paper will examine the trends and characteristics of the available repertoire of prostitute-oriented literature in late colonial Bengal. It will begin by focusing on the existing perspectives on the origins of prostitution in late colonial Bengal. It will proceed to discuss the literary corpus supposedly penned by prostitutes themselves and then focus on the manner in which some of the stalwarts of high literature represented the prostitute in their literary creations.

Keywords: emotions, literature, prostitution, transgression

Procedia PDF Downloads 111
6967 Life-Narratives and Human Rights: Reflections about the Women's Rights and State of Exception

Authors: Luana Mathias Souto

Abstract:

The situation about women’s rights it’s a sensitive issue when it’s talking about human rights. More difficult its find a way to protect these rights. Aware of this problem, this article aims to analyze the women’s rights in the Brazilian context, mainly, the reproductive rights. So, to achieve this purpose, this paper through the combination of Law, philosophy, and Literature tries to rethinking why women can’t have a voice when the decisions about their rights are taken. Methodologically, it was used as an interdisciplinary bibliographical revision between Law, philosophy, and Literature. From Literature it brings the contributions from the life-narratives as an instrument to promote human rights. Besides the life-narratives theory, it’s also used the novel The Handmaid’s tale from Margaret Atwood, which became a symbol to reflect about reproductive rights. From philosophy, it’s adopted the concepts of Homo sacer and state of exception developed by the philosopher Giorgio Agamben. The contributions of these different researches fields made possible to conclude that women are Homo sacer because governments ignore their voices and opinions when they talk about abortion. The control of the human body, mainly, women bodies it’s more important than preserving some fundamental rights and because of this, it’s so difficult to preserve and promote the human rights. Based on these conclusions, it is understood that when the state is incapable or does not want to guarantee the adequate protection of human rights, it is up to society through its various means to find ways to protect them, and this is the main proposal sought by this article.

Keywords: dystopian fiction, human rights, life-narratives, state of exception

Procedia PDF Downloads 206
6966 Ethnic and National Determinants in the Process of Building Peace in Afghanistan After the Withdrawal of Western Forces in 2021

Authors: Małgorzata Cichy

Abstract:

Afghanistan is a source of conflicts that affect security on a global scale. The role of ethnic and national determinants in the peacebuilding process in this country remains an extremely important factor in this respect. Research methods include literature and data analysis (scientific literature, documents of governmental and non-governmental organizations, statistical data and media reports), institutional and legal analysis, as well as decision-making method. The main objective of the research is a comprehensive answer to the question of how ethnic and national factors affect the process of building peace in Afghanistan after 2021 and what impact it has on international security.

Keywords: Afghanistan, pashtuns, peace, taliban

Procedia PDF Downloads 94
6965 Exploring Reading into Writing: A Corpus-Based Analysis of Postgraduate Students’ Literature Review Essays

Authors: Tanzeela Anbreen, Ammara Maqsood

Abstract:

Reading into writing is one of university students' most required academic skills. The current study explored postgraduate university students’ writing quality using a corpus-based approach. Twelve postgraduate students’ literature review essays were chosen for the corpus-based analysis. These essays were chosen because students had to incorporate multiple reading sources in these essays, which was a new writing exercise for them. The students were provided feedback at least two times which comprised of the written comments by the tutor highlighting the areas of improvement and also by using the ‘track changes’ function. This exercise was repeated two times, and students submitted two drafts. This investigation included only the finally submitted work of the students. A corpus-based approach was adopted to analyse the essays because it promotes autonomous discovery and personalised learning. The aim of this analysis was to understand the existing level of students’ writing before the start of their postgraduate thesis. Text Inspector was used to analyse the quality of essays. With the help of the Text Inspector tool, the vocabulary used in the essays was compared to the English Vocabulary Profile (EVP), which describes what learners know and can do at each Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) level. Writing quality was also measured for the Flesch reading ease score, which is a standard to describe the ease of understanding the writing content. The results reflected that students found writing essays using multiple sources challenging. In most essays, the vocabulary level achieved was between B1-B2 of the CEFL level. The study recommends that students need extensive training in developing academic writing skills, particularly in writing the literature review type assignment, which requires multiple sources citations.

Keywords: literature review essays, postgraduate students, corpus-based analysis, vocabulary proficiency

Procedia PDF Downloads 71
6964 Content Analysis of Depictions of Terrorism in U.S. Major Motion Pictures: A Social Constructionist Perspective

Authors: Raleigh Blasdell, Amanda M. Sharp Parker, Lauren Waldrop, Brigid Toney

Abstract:

It has been demonstrated that fictional media sources have persuasive effects on public beliefs; this study contributes to the social constructionist literature by conducting a content analysis of U.S. major motion pictures involving terrorism. Using the Unified Film Population Sampling Methodology, the top-grossing films were identified to examine the frequency and context of several constructs of terrorism, including terrorist demographics, type of terrorism, country of origin, organizational affiliation, crime typology, and victim demographics. Comparisons of these constructs, as depicted in the films, were then made with the extant academic literature on terrorism. The data provide notable information regarding the representation of terrorism by the film industry, as well the discrepancies between the scholarly literature and depictions in popular films. The results indicate vast differences between fiction and reality, emphasizing a 'Middle Eastern Islamic male' terrorist stereotype. Using the theoretical foundation of social constructionism, the findings provide insight into how inaccurate depictions in film can influence society’s beliefs about terrorism and terrorists, which subsequently can translate into public support for legislation and policies that are often fueled by misinformation.

Keywords: film, media, social constructionism, terrorism

Procedia PDF Downloads 168
6963 The Impact of Market Orientation on the Adoption of E-Marketing and Value Co-Creation

Authors: Shu-Hui Chuang, Shao-Chun Chiu, Shu-Hsin Chuang

Abstract:

While the marketing management literature is regarding the direct benefits of market orientation (MO) on firm value, the impact of such MO-based value co-creation remains largely an unexplored area of research. Thus, the primary objective of this study is to provide some new perspectives in examining how MO can enhance value co-creation for customers and sellers. In particular, drawing from the relational view of the firm and IT literature, we propose that the chain of MO-based co-creation of value and how adopt e-marketing systems between partners can facilitate this chain. Using data on use of the e-marketing system, we empirically validate that the sellers’ integrated MO is critical in increasing the e-marketing adoption, which in turn helps to creation co-creation value for both parties.

Keywords: market orientation, value co-creation, e-marketing system, relational view of the firm

Procedia PDF Downloads 525
6962 Dental Education in Brazil: A Systematic Literature Review

Authors: Fabiane Alves Farias Guimarães, Rodrigo Otávio Moretti-Pires, Ana Lúcia Schaefer Ferreira de Mello

Abstract:

Introduction: Considering the last changes in Brazilian Health and Higher Educational Systems, the production of scientific knowledge regarding dental education and training has been increasing. The National Curriculum Guidelines for undergraduate courses in Dentistry established in 2002 the principles and procedures to perform a more generalist dental professional profile. Objectives: To perform a systematic review of the Brazilian scientific literature about dental education and training. Methods: The systematic review was conducted considering the Lilacs - Latin American Literature in Health Sciences and SciELO - Scientific Electronic Library Online data bases, using the combination of key words dentistry, education, teaching or training. It was select original research articles, published between 2010 and 2013, in Portuguese. Results: Based on the selection criteria, it was found 23 articles. In order to organize the outcomes, the analysis was separated in three themes: Ethical aspects of education (3 articles), integrating dental service with training (10 articles) and Dental education and the Brazilian curriculum guidelines (10 articles). Most of the studies were published between 2011 and 2012 (35% each) and were held in public universities. The studied populations included dental students, teachers, universities directors, health managers and dentists. The qualitative methodological approach was predominant. Conclusion: It was possible to identify a transience time in Brazilian undergraduate courses in Dentistry after curricular changes. The produced literature shows some advances, as the incorporation of ethical values on dental education and the inclusion of new practices environments for students by integrating education and training in diversified dental services scenarios.

Keywords: Teaching, Dental Students, Human resources in dentistry

Procedia PDF Downloads 531
6961 Integrating a Six Thinking Hats Approach Into the Prewriting Stage of Argumentative Writing In English as a Foreign Language: A Chinese Case Study of Generating Ideas in Action

Authors: Mei Lin, Chang Liu

Abstract:

Argumentative writing is the most prevalent genre in diverse writing tests. How to construct academic arguments is often regarded as a difficult task by most English as a foreign language (EFL) learners. A failure to generate enough ideas and organise them coherently and logically as well as a lack of competence in supporting their arguments with relevant evidence are frequent problems faced by EFL learners when approaching an English argumentative writing task. Overall, these problems are closely related to planning, and planning an argumentative writing at pre-writing stage plays a vital role in a good academic essay. However, how teachers can effectively guide students to generate ideas is rarely discussed in planning English argumentative writing, apart from brainstorming. Brainstorming has been a common practice used by teachers to help students generate ideas. However, some limitations of brainstorming suggest that it can help students generate many ideas, but ideas might not necessarily be coherent and logic, and could sometimes impede production. It calls for a need to explore effective instructional strategies at pre-writing stage of English argumentative writing. This paper will first examine how a Six Thinking Hats approach can be used to provide a dialogic space for EFL learners to experience and collaboratively generate ideas from multiple perspectives at pre-writing stage. Part of the findings of the impact of a twelve-week intervention (from March to July 2021) on students learning to generate ideas through engaging in group discussions of using Six Thinking Hats will then be reported. The research design is based on the sociocultural theory. The findings present evidence from a mixed-methods approach and fifty-nine participants from two first-year undergraduate natural classes in a Chinese university. Analysis of pre- and post- questionnaires suggests that participants had a positive attitude toward the Six Thinking Hats approach. It fosters their understanding of prewriting and argumentative writing, helps them to generate more ideas not only from multiple perspectives but also in a systematic way. A comparison of participants writing plans confirms an improvement in generating counterarguments and rebuttals to support their arguments. Above all, visual and transcripts data of group discussion collected from different weeks throughout the intervention enable teachers and researchers to ‘see’ the hidden process of learning to generate ideas in action.

Keywords: argumentative writing, innovative pedagogy, six thinking hats, dialogic space, prewriting, higher education

Procedia PDF Downloads 86
6960 Creating Knowledge Networks: Comparative Analysis of Reference Cases

Authors: Sylvia Villarreal, Edna Bravo

Abstract:

Knowledge management focuses on coordinating technologies, people, processes, and structures to generate a competitive advantage and considering that networks are perceived as mechanisms for knowledge creation and transfer, this research presents the stages and practices related to the creation of knowledge networks. The methodology started with a literature review adapted from the systematic literature review (SLR). The descriptive analysis includes variables such as approach (conceptual or practical), industry, knowledge management processes and mythologies (qualitative or quantitative), etc. The content analysis includes identification of reference cases. These cases were characterized based on variables as scope, creation goal, years, network approach, actors and creation methodology. It was possible to do a comparative analysis to determinate similarities and differences in these cases documented in knowledge network scientific literature. Consequently, it was shown that even the need and impact of knowledge networks in organizations, the initial guidelines for their creation are not documented, so there is not a guide of good practices and lessons learned. The reference cases are from industries as energy, education, creative, automotive and textile. Their common points are the human approach; it is oriented to interactions to facilitate the appropriation of knowledge, explicit and tacit. The stages of every case are analyzed to propose the main successful elements.

Keywords: creation, knowledge management, network, stages

Procedia PDF Downloads 300
6959 Health Information Technology in Developing Countries: A Structured Literature Review with Reference to the Case of Libya

Authors: Haythem A. Nakkas, Philip J. Scott, Jim S. Briggs

Abstract:

This paper reports a structured literature review of the application of Health Information Technology in developing countries, defined as the World Bank categories Low-income countries, Lower-middle-income, and Upper-middle-income countries. The aim was to identify and classify the various applications of health information technology to assess its current state in developing countries and explore potential areas of research. We offer specific analysis and application of HIT in Libya as one of the developing countries. Method: A structured literature review was conducted using the following online databases: IEEE, Science Direct, PubMed, and Google Scholar. Publication dates were set for 2000-2013. For the PubMed search, publications in English, French, and Arabic were specified. Using a content analysis approach, 159 papers were analyzed and a total number of 26 factors were identified that affect the adoption of health information technology. Results: Of the 2681 retrieved articles, 159 met the inclusion criteria which were carefully analyzed and classified. Conclusion: The implementation of health information technology across developing countries is varied. Whilst it was initially expected financial constraints would have severely limited health information technology implementation, some developing countries like India have nevertheless dominated the literature and taken the lead in conducting scientific research. Comparing the number of studies to the number of countries in each category, we found that Low-income countries and Lower-middle-income had more studies carried out than Upper-middle-income countries. However, whilst IT has been used in various sectors of the economy, the healthcare sector in developing countries is still failing to benefit fully from the potential advantages that IT can offer.

Keywords: developing countries, developed countries, factors, failure, health information technology, implementation, libya, success

Procedia PDF Downloads 357
6958 A Review on Cyberchondria Based on Bibliometric Analysis

Authors: Xiaoqing Peng, Aijing Luo, Yang Chen

Abstract:

Background: Cyberchondria, as an "emerging risk" accompanied by the information era, is a new abnormal pattern characterized by excessive or repeated online searches for health-related information and escalating health anxiety, which endangers people's physical and mental health and poses a huge threat to public health. Objective: To explore and discuss the research status, hotspots and trends of Cyberchondria. Methods: Based on a total of 77 articles regarding "Cyberchondria" extracted from Web of Science from the beginning till October 2019, the literature trends, countries, institutions, hotspots are analyzed by bibliometric analysis, the concept definition of Cyberchondria, instruments, relevant factors, treatment and intervention are discussed as well. Results: Since "Cyberchondria" was put forward for the first time in 2001, the last two decades witnessed a noticeable increase in the amount of literature, especially during 2014-2019, it quadrupled dramatically at 62 compared with that before 2014 only at 15, which shows that Cyberchondria has become a new theme and hot topic in recent years. The United States was the most active contributor with the largest publication (23), followed by England (11) and Australia (11), while the leading institutions were Baylor University(7) and University of Sydney(7), followed by Florida State University(4) and University of Manchester(4). The WoS categories "Psychiatry/Psychology " and "Computer/ Information Science "were the areas of greatest influence. The concept definition of Cyberchondria is not completely unified in the world, but it is generally considered as an abnormal behavioral pattern and emotional state and has been invoked to refer to the anxiety-amplifying effects of online health-related searches. The first and the most frequently cited scale for measuring the severity of Cyberchondria called “The Cyberchondria Severity Scale (CSS) ”was developed in 2014, which conceptualized Cyberchondria as a multidimensional construct consisting of compulsion, distress, excessiveness, reassurance, and mistrust of medical professionals which was proved to be not necessary for this construct later. Since then, the Brazilian, German, Turkish, Polish and Chinese versions were subsequently developed, improved and culturally adjusted, while CSS was optimized to a simplified version (CSS-12) in 2019, all of which should be worthy of further verification. The hotspots of Cyberchondria mainly focuses on relevant factors as follows: intolerance of uncertainty, anxiety sensitivity, obsessive-compulsive disorder, internet addition, abnormal illness behavior, Whiteley index, problematic internet use, trying to make clear the role played by “associated factors” and “anxiety-amplifying factors” in the development of Cyberchondria, to better understand the aetiological links and pathways in the relationships between hypochondriasis, health anxiety and online health-related searches. Although the treatment and intervention of Cyberchondria are still in the initial stage of exploration, there are kinds of meaningful attempts to seek effective strategies from different aspects such as online psychological treatment, network technology management, health information literacy improvement and public health service. Conclusion: Research on Cyberchondria is in its infancy but should be deserved more attention. A conceptual consensus on Cyberchondria, a refined assessment tool, prospective studies conducted in various populations, targeted treatments for it would be the main research direction in the near future.

Keywords: cyberchondria, hypochondriasis, health anxiety, online health-related searches

Procedia PDF Downloads 122
6957 A Metacognitive Strategy to Improve Saudi EFL Learners’ Lecture Comprehension

Authors: Abdul Wahed Al Zumor

Abstract:

Saudi EFL Students majoring in English face difficulties in academic lectures listening comprehension in content courses like linguistics, applied linguistics or literature theories. To validate this assumption, a questionnaire assessing students' lecture comprehension experience was administered. The findings have shown that Saudi EFL learners face a great challenge in lecture comprehension at advanced levels. Literature has suggested a myriad of techniques which can enhance academic lecture comprehension. This study has used "reciprocal peer-questioning and responding technique" as an integral part of the academic lecture occupying the last ten minutes. Improvement in experimental students' scores in these courses has been noticed.

Keywords: EFL learners, lecture comprehension, content courses, peer questioning

Procedia PDF Downloads 595
6956 User’s Susceptibility Factors to Malware Attacks: A Systematic Literature Review

Authors: Awad A. Younis, Elise Stronberg, Shifa Noor

Abstract:

Malware attacks due to end-user vulnerabilities have been noticeably increased in the past few years. Investigating the factors that make an end-user vulnerable to those attacks is critical because they can be utilized to set up proactive strategies such as awareness and education to mitigate the impacts of those attacks. Some existing studies investigated demographic, behavioral, and cultural factors that make an end-user susceptible to malware attacks. However, it has been challenging to draw more general conclusions from individual studies due to the varieties in the type of end-users and different types of malware. Therefore, we conducted a systematic literature review (SLR) of the existing research for end-user susceptibility factors to malware attacks. The results showed while some demographic factors are mostly associated with malware infection regardless of the end users' type, age, and gender are not consistent among the same and different types of end-users. Besides, the association of culture and personality factors with malware infection are consistent in most of the selected studies and for all type of end-users. Moreover, malware infection varies based on age, geographic location, and host types. We propose that future studies should carefully take into consideration the type of end-users because different end users may be exposed to different threats or be targeted based on their user domains’ characteristics. Additionally, as different types of malware use different tactics to trick end-users, taking the malware types into consideration is important.

Keywords: cybersecurity, malware, end-users, demographics, personality, culture, systematic literature review

Procedia PDF Downloads 229
6955 China’s Hotel m-Bookers’ Perceptions of their Booking Experiences

Authors: Weiqi Xia

Abstract:

We assess the perceptions of China’s hotel m-bookers using the E-SERVQUAL model and technology affordance assessment metrics. The data analysis provides insight into Chinese hotel m-bookers’ perceptions of information quality items, system quality items, and functional quality items. Respondents’ perceived value of such items is greatly enhanced via mini-program support and self-service innovation, which are predicted to be of increasing importance in the future. The findings of this study help close the gap between hotel operators’ understanding and customers’ perceptions. Our findings may also provide valuable insights into the functioning of China’s hotel industry.

Keywords: mobile hotel booking, hotel m-bookers, user perception, China’s WeChat mini program, hotel booking apps.

Procedia PDF Downloads 43
6954 Comparison of Sourcing Process in Supply Chain Operation References Model and Business Information Systems

Authors: Batuhan Kocaoglu

Abstract:

Although using powerful systems like ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning), companies still cannot benchmark their processes and measure their process performance easily based on predefined SCOR (Supply Chain Operation References) terms. The purpose of this research is to identify common and corresponding processes to present a conceptual model to model and measure the purchasing process of an organization. The main steps for the research study are: Literature review related to 'procure to pay' process in ERP system; Literature review related to 'sourcing' process in SCOR model; To develop a conceptual model integrating 'sourcing' of SCOR model and 'procure to pay' of ERP model. In this study, we examined the similarities and differences between these two models. The proposed framework is based on the assumptions that are drawn from (1) the body of literature, (2) the authors’ experience by working in the field of enterprise and logistics information systems. The modeling framework provides a structured and systematic way to model and decompose necessary information from conceptual representation to process element specification. This conceptual model will help the organizations to make quality purchasing system measurement instruments and tools. And offered adaptation issues for ERP systems and SCOR model will provide a more benchmarkable and worldwide standard business process.

Keywords: SCOR, ERP, procure to pay, sourcing, reference model

Procedia PDF Downloads 362