Search results for: government enterprise relationship

Authors: Sara Santos, Cristina Saraiva, Sónia Saraiva

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The objective of this study was to evaluate the welfare of reared broilers using scoring systems at the slaughterhouse. The welfare of broilers from 70 different flocks was assessed in three different slaughterhouses, regarding 373043 animals, although not in equal proportions in each slaughterhouse due to the difference in the amount of flocks slaughtered per day because of different company size. Twenty-one flocks were evaluated in slaughterhouse A (30%), thirty in slaughterhouse B (42,9%) and nineteen in slaughterhouse C (27,1%). The parameters evaluated were feather cleanness, foot pad dermatitis, hock burn, breast burn and causes of carcass condemnation. Feather cleanness was scored into three classes: 0=clean; 1=moderately dirty and 2=dirty feathers. Foot pad dermatitis, hock burn and breast ulcer were graded in three classes: 0=no lesions, 1=moderate lesions and 2=severe lesions. Causes of carcass condemnation were divided into emaciation, ascites, colour alteration and febrile state, arthritis, aerosaculitis, dermatitis, peritonitis, myositis, cellulitis, extensive trauma and technopathies as mechanical trauma, insufficient bleeding and deficient plucking. Broilers evaluated had a body weight ranging between 0,909kg and 2,588kg (median 1,522kg) and age between 25 days and 45 days (median 33 days). Rejection rate of flocks ranged between 0,1% and 10,48% (median 1,4029%) and footpad dermatitis total score between 2 and 197, resulting in 20 flocks presenting moderate lesions and 15 flocks with severe lesions. Moderate hock burn was associated with severe foot pad dermatitis and with breast burn. The associations between these lesions suggest that the development of contact dermatitis is caused by a common cause, the prolonged contact with litter of poor quality. In conclusion, contact dermatitis lesions, mostly foot pad dermatitis, feather hygiene conditions and rejection rate were the main restrictions of good welfare and considered important indicators for the follow-up on the farm conditions.

Keywords: broiler, dermatitis, welfare, slaughterhouse

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Authors: Shyam lamsal

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Introduction: Karnali Academy of Health Sciences (KAHS) has been established in 2011, by an Act of parliament of Nepal, in Jumla, to provide health services in easy way in backward areas, to produce skilled health professionals & conduct research. The backward areas mentioned in act of KAHS are Humla, Jumla, Kalikot, Dolpa, Mugu districts of Karnali zone, Jajarkot district of Bheri zone & Bajura, Baghang & Achham districts of Seti zone in Nepal occupying around 25 % of the total national geography. Backward area of Nepal is specific to having worst health indicators with life expectancy (47 years), HDI (0.35), Literacy rate (58%), global acute malnutrition (13%), crude birth rate (33.6), crude death rate (9.6), Total fertility rate (4.2), infant mortality rate (61.5 per 1000 live births), under five mortality rate (59 per 1000 live births) and maternal mortality ratio (400 per 1000 live births). History of health facilities in backward region: All the nine districts of this region have a district hospital with very few grass root level health manpower. Government of Nepal regularly deploys one or two medical officers to each district who generally are not regular to their care. Jumla district itself was having one medical officer before the establishment of KAHS. Development activities: Establishment of 100 bedded specialty teaching hospital with 10 medical officers and five specialists, accredited its own nursing school for running diploma nursing programme, started “Karnali health survey” which covers 55 thousand households of backward region, started community care and school health camps, planning phase completed for 300 bedded teaching hospital construction. Future Plan: Expansion of the teaching hospital to 300 beds within 3 years, start health assistant and bachelor midwifery course in 2015 AD, start bachelor in laboratory and bachelor in public health course in 2016 AD and start MBBS course in 2018 AD. Deploy the medical officers and family physicians to all the district hospitals within 3 years. KAHS provides reservation up to 45% students from backward region with the commitment to stay for at least five years of their service period. Conclusion: This institution may be the example for the rest of the world in providing nursing care, education in remote areas as well as the best model for nursing manpower retention in remote areas of developing countries.

Keywords: backward area, nursing school

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Authors: M. Borgie, Z. Dagher, F. Ledoux, A. Verdin, F. Cazier, H. Greige, P. Shirali, D. Courcot

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In October 2013, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classified outdoor air pollution and fine particulate matter (PM2.5) as carcinogenic to humans. Despite the clearly relationship established by epidemiological studies between PM exposure and the onset of respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, uncertainties remain about the physiopathological mechanisms responsible for these diseases. The aim of this work was to evaluate the toxicological effects of two samples of atmospheric PM2.5 collected at urban and rural sites on human bronchial epithelial cells, BEAS-2B, especially to investigate the metabolic activation of organic compounds, the alteration of epigenetic mechanisms (i.e. microRNAs genes expression), the phosphorylation of H2AX and the telomerase activity. Our results showed a significant increase in CYP1A1, CYP1B1, and AhRR genes expression, miR-21 gene expression, H2AX phosphorylation and telomerase activity in BEAS-2B cells after their exposure to PM2.5, both in a dose and site-dependent manner. These results showed that PM2.5, especially urban PM, are able to induce the expression of metabolizing enzymes which can provide metabolic biotransformation of organic compounds into more toxic and carcinogenic metabolites, and to induce the expression of the oncomiR miR-21 which promotes cell growth and enhances tumor invasion and metastasis in lung cancer. In addition, our results have highlighted the role of PM2.5 in the activation of telomerase, which can maintain the telomeres length and subsequently preventing cell death, and have also demonstrated the ability of PM2.5 to induce DNA breaks and thus to increase the risk of mutations or chromosomal translocations that lead to genomic instability. All these factors may contribute to cell abnormalities, and thus the development of cancer.

Keywords: BEAS-2B cells, carcinogenesis, epigenetic alterations and genotoxicity, PM2.5

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Authors: Farida Ibrahim

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Right to information is the public's right to know through having access to public information held by state bodies. Recognized as a cornerstone in transparent, participatory and open democracies, the right to information is increasingly perceived today as an emerging human right on the international level. While this right is conceptualized in a range of different contexts, the paper focuses on its conceptualization as a force for socio-economic change for disadvantaged groups. The paper's goal is study the instrumental capacity of this right in empowering the public to access state-held information pertinent to their socio-economic rights. In this regard, the paper views the right to information as an inclusionary tool that is capable of spurring inclusion for individuals excluded from the ambits of both: public participation and social justice. For exploring this, the paper examines the advocacy role played by civil society groups in furthering this instrumental capacity. In particular, the paper presents a focused account on the Egyptian case. While Egypt has recently adopted its constitutional provision on access to information, doubts arise on Egyptian citizens' genuine ability to access information held by state bodies. The politico-economic environment, long term culture of bureaucratic secrecy, and legal framework do not provide promising outcomes on access to public information. Within the particular context of the Egyptian case, this paper questions the extent to which civil society in Egypt is capable of instrumentally employing the political opportunity offered by the constitutional entitlement to information access for pressuring public authorities to disclose information. Through four lawsuits brought by civil society groups in Egypt, the paper argues that the right to information has instrumentally provided civil society actors with new domains of mobilization for furthering the realization of social and economic rights, and ultimately, for renegotiating a new social order lining the relationship between the Egyptian state and its citizens marginalized by socio-economic imbalances.

Keywords: civil society, Egypt, right to information, socio-economic rights

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Authors: Pei-Chen Wu

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Both preexisting cross-sectional and longitudinal studies of personality-depression relationship have suffered from one main limitation: they ignored the stability of the construct of interest (e.g., personality and depression) can be expected to influence the estimate of the association between personality and depression. To address this limitation, the Trait-State-Occasion (TSO) modeling was adopted to analyze the sources of variance of the focused constructs. A TSO modeling was operated by partitioning a state variance into time-invariant (trait) and time-variant (occasion) components. Within a TSO framework, it is possible to predict change on the part of construct that really changes (i.e., time-variant variance), when controlling the trait variances. 750 high school students were followed for 4 waves over six-month intervals. The baseline data (T1) were collected from the senior high schools (aged 14 to 15 years). Participants were given Beck Depression Inventory and Big Five Inventory at each assessment. TSO modeling revealed that 70~78% of the variance in personality (five constructs) was stable over follow-up period; however, 57~61% of the variance in depression was stable. For personality construct, there were 7.6% to 8.4% of the total variance from the autoregressive occasion factors; for depression construct there were 15.2% to 18.1% of the total variance from the autoregressive occasion factors. Additionally, results showed that when controlling initial symptom severity, the time-invariant components of all five dimensions of personality were predictive of change in depression (Extraversion: B= .32, Openness: B = -.21, Agreeableness: B = -.27, Conscientious: B = -.36, Neuroticism: B = .39). Because five dimensions of personality shared some variance, the models in which all five dimensions of personality were simultaneous to predict change in depression were investigated. The time-invariant components of five dimensions were still significant predictors for change in depression (Extraversion: B = .30, Openness: B = -.24, Agreeableness: B = -.28, Conscientious: B = -.35, Neuroticism: B = .42). In sum, the majority of the variability of personality was stable over 2 years. Individuals with the greater tendency of Extraversion and Neuroticism have higher degrees of depression; individuals with the greater tendency of Openness, Agreeableness and Conscientious have lower degrees of depression.

Keywords: assessment, depression, personality, trait-state-occasion model

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Authors: Mohd Hassan Abdullah, Mohd Azam Sulong, Mohd Nizam Nasrifan, Nor Azman Mohd Ramli, Suflan Faidzal Arshad

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The Bajau Samah is a maritime ethnic community that inhabits the west coast of Sabah, Malaysia. The majority of these ethnicities embrace Islam and practice their own culture. Bertitik music ensemble is one of the musical practices performed in various social events, especially weddings. The ensemble, which combines several musical instruments including gongs, drums and kulintangan is played by six musicians to accompany various social events in the community. The position of the Bajau Samah in a multi-ethnic community such as Kadazandusun, Rungus, Suluk, Malay, Iranun and others exposes to the cultural activities with various artistic elements of the surrounding community. Western influences have also played an important role in the process of hybridity and acculturation in this society. Cultural change and the influx of foreign cultures have threatened the sustainability of this musical practice. This study aims to musicologically analyze the elements of bertitik ensemble that form the uniqueness of the cultural identity of the Bajau Samah Ethnic group. An ethnomusicological approach has been used to parse the essence of the bertitik music repertoire in depth. Ethnographic study design which comprises fieldwork, interviews, observations and document analysis as the main methods were utilized to collect data. Music recordings were transcribed in the form of musical notation and then analyzed based on the theory of "the norms of musical styles". This study reveals that musical elements featured in the ensemble represent the symbol and cultural identity to this ethnic group. The findings of the study were documented in the form of musicological analysis, audio and video as well as transcriptions of the musical notation of the repertoire of the music ensemble. This study is in line with the National cultural policy gazetted by the government, which is "Conservation, preservation and development of culture towards strengthening the foundations of National Culture through joint research, development, education, expansion and cultural relations" It will benefit various parties including students, teachers, academics, cultural arts activists and so on towards preserving the nation's cultural heritage as well as strengthening the spirit of nationhood among the people of various races and ethnic group in Malaysia.

Keywords: ethnomusicology, ethnic music, Malaysian music, cultural identity

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Authors: Anita Singh, Richa Naula, Manoj Raghav

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India is a leading producer and consumer of fenugreek for its culinary uses and medicinal application. In India, most of the people are of vegetarian class. In such a situation, a leafy vegetable, such as fenugreek is of chief concern due to its high nutritional property, medicinal values and industrial uses. One of the most important factors restricting their large scale production and development of superior varieties is that very scanty knowledge about their genetic diversity, inter and intraspecific variability and genetic relationship among the species. Improvement of the crop depends upon the magnitude of genetic variability for economic characters. Therefore, the present research work was carried out to analyse the variability parameters for growth and yield character in twenty-eight fenugreek genotypes along with two standard checks Pant Ragini and Pusa Early Bunching. The experiment was laid out in Randomized Block Design with three replication during rabi season 2015-2016 at Pantnagar Centre for Plant Genetic Resources, G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar, Uttarakhand. The analysis of variance revealed highly significant differences among all the genotypes for all traits. High genotypic and phenotypic coefficient variation were observed for characters, namely the number of primary branches per plant, number of leaves at 30, 45 and 60 DAS, green leaf yield per plant, green leaf yield q/ha . The genetic advance recorded highest in green leaf yield q/ha (33.93) followed by green leaf yield per plant (21.20g). Highest percent of heritability were shown by 1000 seed weight (99.12%) followed by the number of primary branches per plant (97.18%). Green leaf yield q/ha showed high heritability and high genetic advance. These superior genotypes can be further used in crop improvement programs of fenugreek.

Keywords: genetic advance, genotypic coefficient variation, heritability, phenotypic coefficient variation

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Authors: Xiaoyang Zhao, Kaiying Wang

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The choice of stocking density in poultry farming is a potential way for determining welfare level of poultry. However, it is difficult to measure stocking densities in poultry farming because of a lot of variables such as species, age and weight, feeding way, house structure and geographical location in different broiler houses. A method was proposed in this paper to measure the differences of young broilers reared under different stocking densities by sound analysis. Vocalisations of broilers were recorded and analysed under different stocking densities to identify the relationship between sounds and stocking densities. Recordings were made continuously for three-week-old chickens in order to evaluate the variation of sounds emitted by the animals at the beginning. The experimental trial was carried out in an indoor reared broiler farm; the audio recording procedures lasted for 5 days. Broilers were divided into 5 groups, stocking density treatments were 8/m², 10/m², 12/m² (96birds/pen), 14/m² and 16/m², all conditions including ventilation and feed conditions were kept same except from stocking densities in every group. The recordings and analysis of sounds of chickens were made noninvasively. Sound recordings were manually analysed and labelled using sound analysis software: GoldWave Digital Audio Editor. After sound acquisition process, the Mel Frequency Cepstrum Coefficients (MFCC) was extracted from sound data, and the Support Vector Machine (SVM) was used as an early detector and classifier. This preliminary study, conducted in an indoor reared broiler farm shows that this method can be used to classify sounds of chickens under different densities economically (only a cheap microphone and recorder can be used), the classification accuracy is 85.7%. This method can predict the optimum stocking density of broilers with the complement of animal welfare indicators, animal productive indicators and so on.

Keywords: broiler, stocking density, poultry farming, sound monitoring, Mel Frequency Cepstrum Coefficients (MFCC), Support Vector Machine (SVM)

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Authors: Osama Ahmed Ibrahim Masoud, Mohamed Ibrahim Mohamed Abdelhadi, Ahmed Mohamed Seddik Hassan

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The problem of study focuses on thermal comfort realization in a residential building during hot and dry climate periods consumes a major electrical energy for air conditioning operation. Thermal comfort realization in a residential building during such climate becomes more difficult regarding the phenomena of climate change, and the use of building and construction materials which have the feature of heat conduction as (bricks-reinforced concrete) and the global energy crises. For that, this study aims to how to realize internal thermal comfort through how to make the best use of building services (temporarily used service spaces) for reducing the electrical energy transfer and saving self-shading. In addition, the possibility of reduction traditional energy (fossil fuel) consumed in cooling through the use of building services for reducing the internal thermal comfort and the relationship between them. This study is based on measuring the consumed electrical energy rate in cooling (by using Design-Builder program) for a residential building (the place of study is: Egypt- Suez Canal- Suez City), this design model has lots of alternatives designs for the place of building services (center of building- the eastern front- southeastern front- the southern front- the south-west front, the western front). The building services are placed on the fronts with different rates for determining the best rate on fronts which realizes thermal comfort with the lowest of energy consumption used in cooling. Findings of the study indicate to that the best position for building services is on the west front then the south-west front, and the more the building services increase, the more energy consumption used in cooling of residential building decreases. Recommendations indicate to the need to study the building services positions in the new projects progress to select the best alternatives to realize ‘Energy conservation’ used in cooling or heating into the buildings in general, residential buildings particularly.

Keywords: residential buildings, energy conservation, thermal comfort, building services, temporary used service spaces, DesignBuilder

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Authors: Sandra Toledo

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There is an increasing tendency in governments for a more evidence-based policy-making and a stricter auditing of public spheres. Especially when budgets are tight, and taxpayers demand a bigger scrutiny over the use of the available resources, statistics and numbers appeared as an effective tool to produce data that supports investments done, as well as evaluating public policy performance. This pressure has not exempted the cultural and art fields. Finland like the rest of Nordic countries has kept its principles from the welfare state, whilst UK seems to be going towards the opposite direction, relaying more and more in private sectors and foundations, as the state folds back. The boom of the creative industries along with a managerial trend introduced by Tatcher in the UK brought, as a result, a commodification of arts within a market logic, where sponsorship and commercial viability were the keynotes. Finland on its part, in spite of following a more protectionist approach of arts, seems to be heading in a similar direction. Additionally, there is an international growing interest in the application of cultural participation studies and the comparability between countries in their results. Nonetheless, the standardization in the application of cultural surveys has not happened yet. Not only there are differences in the application of these type of surveys in terms of time and frequency, but also regarding those conducting them. Therefore, one hypothesis considered in this research is that behind the differences between countries in the application of cultural surveys, production and utilization of cultural statistics is the cultural policy model adopted by the government. In other words, the main goal of this research is to answer the following: What are the differences and similarities between Finland and the UK regarding the role cultural surveys have in cultural policy making? Along with other secondary questions such as: How does the cultural policy model followed by each country influence the role of cultural surveys in cultural policy making? and what are the differences at the local level? In order to answer these questions, strategic cultural policy documents and interviews with key informants will be used and analyzed as source data, using content analysis methods. Cultural statistics per se will not be compared, but instead their use as instruments of governing, and its relation to the cultural policy model. Aspects such as execution of cultural surveys, funding, periodicity, and use of statistics in formal reports and publications, will be studied in the written documents while in the interviews other elements such as perceptions from those involved in collecting cultural statistics or policy making, distribution of tasks and hierarchies among cultural and statistical institutions, and a general view will be the target. A limitation identified beforehand and that it is expected to encounter throughout the process is the language barrier in the case of Finland when it comes to official documents, which will be tackled by interviewing the authors of such papers and choosing key extract of them for translation.

Keywords: Finland, cultural statistics, cultural surveys, United Kingdom

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Authors: Sadia Imran, Zenab Naseem

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Dengue fever is one of the most alarming mosquito-borne viral diseases. Dengue virus has been distributed over the years exponentially throughout the world be it tropical or sub-tropical regions of the world, particularly in the last ten years. Changing topography, climate change in terms of erratic seasonal trends, rainfall, untimely monsoon early or late and longer or shorter incidences of either summer or winter. Globalization, frequent travel throughout the world and viral evolution has lead to more severe forms of Dengue. Global incidence of dengue infections per year have ranged between 50 million and 200 million; however, recent estimates using cartographic approaches suggest this number is closer to almost 400 million. In recent years, Pakistan experienced a deadly outbreak of the disease. The reason could be that they have the maximum exposure outdoors. Public organizations have observed that changing climate, especially lower average summer temperature, and increased vegetation have created tropical-like conditions in the city, which are suitable for Dengue virus growth. We will conduct a time-series analysis to study the interrelationship between dengue incidence and diurnal ranges of temperature and humidity in Pakistan, Lahore being the main focus of our study. We have used annual data from 2005 to 2015. We have investigated the relationship between climatic variables and dengue incidence. We used time series analysis to describe temporal trends. The result shows rising trends of Dengue over the past 10 years along with the rise in temperature & rainfall in Lahore. Hence this seconds the popular statement that the world is suffering due to Climate change and Global warming at different levels. Disease outbreak is one of the most alarming indications of mankind heading towards destruction and we need to think of mitigating measures to control epidemic from spreading and enveloping the cities, countries and regions.

Keywords: Dengue, epidemic, globalization, climate change

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Authors: Hatice Torcu Koc, Zeliha Erdogan

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This study presented the investigation of the population structure of Upeneus moluccensis in order to provide further knowledge and to compare the data with the studies before and thus help in the management of the population in the İskenderun Bay. For this purpose, a total of 370 golden-banded goatfish were caught by a commercial vessel monthly at a depth of 50-60 m. from İskenderun Bay in the years 2016-2018. Von Bertalanffy growth equation,length-weight relationships, sex ratio, age, condition, and gonado and hepato-somatic index values of U.peneus moluccensis specimens were determined. For this, the lengths and weights were measured using a dial caliper of 0.05 mm and a sensitive balance. Total lengths were 7.2–17.5 cm in females and 7.0–17.9 cm in males, while total weight ranges for females and males were 3.91-64.26 g and 3.69-60.95 g., respectively. Length-weight relationship for all individuals was calculated as W=0.004*L³ ³⁸, R²=0.85. Growth parameter was determined as L∞= 20.75 cm, k=0.33, t₀= - 0.56. The age readings were done by using the Bhattacharya method. The population was composed of 3 ages (1-3). The sex ratio was found as 1:1.42, corresponding to 41.4% males and 58.6% females, in favor of females (p<0.05). Values of the average condition and hepatosomatic index were found to be shown a similar pattern for males (1.088, 1.104) and females (1.124, 1.177), respectively. According to GSI values, the spawning period started in March and increased to April, May, and September. It was estimated that total (Z) mortality, natural (M) mortality, and fishing (F) mortality rates were estimated as Z=0.94 year-¹, M=0.033 year-¹, and F=0.63 year-¹, respectively. As the exploitation rate was estimated to be E=0.67, it can be shown that the golden-banded goatfish stock was influenced by overfishing. The findings of this study are very important to point out the population of U. moluccensis, which penetrated into the eastern Mediterranean Sea of Türkiye due to global heating and the construction of the Suez Canal and to be basic data for the next fisheries investigations.

Keywords: biology, U. moluccensis, invasive, lessepsian, İskenderun Bay

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Authors: Thomas Njuguna Kibutu

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The ability to access justice is an important facet of securing peaceful, just, and inclusive societies, as recognized by Goal 16 of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Goal 16 calls for peace, justice, and strong institutions to promote the rule of law and access to justice at a global level. More specifically, Target 16.3 of the Goal aims to promote the rule of law at the national and international levels and ensure equal access to justice for all. On the other hand, it is now widely recognized that Alternative Dispute Resolution (hereafter, ADR) represents an efficient mechanism for resolving disputes outside the adversarial conventional court system of litigation or prosecution. ADR processes include but are not limited to negotiation, reconciliation, mediation, arbitration, and traditional conflict resolution. ADR has a number of advantages, including being flexible, cost-efficient, time-effective, and confidential, and giving the parties more control over the process and the results, thus promoting restorative justice. The methodology of this paper is a desktop review of books, journal articles, reports and government documents., among others. The paper recognizes that ADR represents a cornerstone of Africa’s, and more specifically, Kenya’s, efforts to promote inclusive, accountable, and effective institutions and achieve the objectives of goal 16. In Kenya, and not unlike many African countries, there has been an outcry over the backlog of cases that are yet to be resolved in the courts and the statistics have shown that the numbers keep on rising. While ADR mechanisms have played a major role in reducing these numbers, access to justice in the country remains a big challenge, especially to the subaltern. There is, therefore, a need to analyze the opportunities and challenges facing the application of ADR mechanisms as tools for accessing justice in Kenya and further discuss various ways in which we can overcome these challenges to make ADR an effective alternative to dispute resolution. The paper argues that by embracing ADR across various sectors and addressing existing shortcomings, Kenya can, over time, realize its vision of a more just and equitable society. This paper discusses the opportunities and challenges of the application of ADR in Kenya with a view to sharing the lessons and challenges with the wider African continent. The paper concludes that ADR mechanisms can provide critical pathways to justice in Kenya and the African continent in general but come with distinct challenges. The paper thus calls for concerted efforts of respective stakeholders to overcome these challenges.

Keywords: mediation, arbitration, negotiation, reconsiliation, Traditional conflict resolution, sustainable development

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Authors: Sina Abadzadesahraei, Stephen Déry, John Rex

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Climate research has repeatedly identified strong associations between anthropogenic emissions of ‘greenhouses gases’ and observed increases of global mean surface air temperature over the past century. Studies have also demonstrated that the degree of warming varies regionally. Canada is not exempt from this situation, and evidence is mounting that climate change is beginning to cause diverse impacts in both environmental and socio-economic spheres of interest. For example, northeastern British Columbia (BC), whose climate is controlled by a combination of maritime, continental and arctic influences, is warming at a greater rate than the remainder of the province. There are indications that these changing conditions are already leading to shifting patterns in the region’s hydrological cycle, and thus its available water resources. Coincident with these changes, northeastern BC is undergoing rapid development for oil and gas extraction: This depends largely on subsurface hydraulic fracturing (‘fracking’), which uses enormous amounts of freshwater. While this industrial activity has made substantial contributions to regional and provincial economies, it is important to ensure that sufficient and sustainable water supplies are available for all those dependent on the resource, including ecological systems. In this turn demands a comprehensive understanding of how water in all its forms interacts with landscapes, the atmosphere, and of the potential impacts of changing climatic conditions on these processes. The aim of this study is therefore to characterize and quantify all components of the water budget in the small watershed of Coles Lake (141.8 km², 100 km north of Fort Nelson, BC), through a combination of field observations and numerical modelling. Baseline information will aid the assessment of the sustainability of current and future plans for freshwater extraction by the oil and gas industry, and will help to maintain the precarious balance between economic and environmental well-being. This project is a perfect example of interdisciplinary research, in that it not only examines the hydrology of the region but also investigates how natural gas operations and growth can affect water resources. Therefore, a fruitful collaboration between academia, government and industry has been established to fulfill the objectives of this research in a meaningful manner. This project aims to provide numerous benefits to BC communities. Further, the outcome and detailed information of this research can be a huge asset to researchers examining the effect of climate change on water resources worldwide.

Keywords: northeastern British Columbia, water resources, climate change, oil and gas extraction

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Authors: D. Zhigulskaya, V. Anisimov, A. Pikunov, K. Babanova, S. Zuev, A. Latyshkova, K. Сhernozatonskiy, A. Revazov

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Electrophysiology of information processing in reading is certainly a popular research topic. Natural reading, however, has been relatively poorly studied, despite having broad potential applications for learning and education. In the current study, we explore the relationship between text categories and spontaneous electroencephalogram (EEG) while reading. Thirty healthy volunteers (mean age 26,68 ± 1,84) participated in this study. 15 Russian-language texts were used as stimuli. The first text was used for practice and was excluded from the final analysis. The remaining 14 were opposite pairs of texts in one of 7 categories, the most important of which were: interesting/boring, fiction/non-fiction, free reading/reading with an instruction, reading a text/reading a pseudo text (consisting of strings of letters that formed meaningless words). Participants had to read the texts sequentially on an Apple iPad Pro. EEG was recorded from 12 electrodes simultaneously with eye movement data via ARKit Technology by Apple. EEG spectral amplitude was analyzed in Fz for theta-band (4-8 Hz) and in C3, C4, P3, and P4 for alpha-band (8-14 Hz) using the Friedman test. We found that reading an interesting text was accompanied by an increase in theta spectral amplitude in Fz compared to reading a boring text (3,87 µV ± 0,12 and 3,67 µV ± 0,11, respectively). When instructions are given for reading, we see less alpha activity than during free reading of the same text (3,34 µV ± 0,20 and 3,73 µV ± 0,28, respectively, for C4 as the most representative channel). The non-fiction text elicited less activity in the alpha band (C4: 3,60 µV ± 0,25) than the fiction text (C4: 3,66 µV ± 0,26). A significant difference in alpha spectral amplitude was also observed between the regular text (C4: 3,64 µV ± 0,29) and the pseudo text (C4: 3,38 µV ± 0,22). These results suggest that some brain activity we see on EEG is sensitive to particular features of the text. We propose that changes in theta and alpha bands during reading may serve as electrophysiological tools for assessing the reader’s cognitive state as well as his or her attitude to the text and the perceived information. These physiological markers have prospective practical value for developing technological solutions and biofeedback systems for reading in particular and for education in general.

Keywords: EEG, natural reading, reader's cognitive state, theta-rhythm, alpha-rhythm

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Authors: Akanksha Lohmore, Devanshu Arya, Preeti Kapur

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Rarely does the human mind look at the positive fallout of highly negative events. Positive psychology attempts to emphasize on the strengths and positives for human well-being. The present study examines the underpinning socio-cognitive factors of the protest movements regarding the gang rape case of December 16th, 2012 through the lens of positive psychology. A gamut of negative emotions came to the forum globally: of anger, shame, hatred, violence, death penalty for the perpetrators, amongst other equally strong. In relation to this incident, a number of questions can be raised. Can such a heinous crime have some positive inputs for contemporary society? What is it that has held people to protests for long even when they see faded lines of success in view? This paper explains the constant feeding of protests and continuation of movements by the robust model of Collective Hope by Snyder, a phenomenon unexplored by social psychologists. In this paper, mixed method approach was undertaken. Results confirmed the interaction of various socio-psychological factors that imitated the Snyders model of collective hope. Emergence of major themes was: Sense of Agency, Sense of Worthiness, Social Sharing and Common Grievances and Hope of Collective Efficacy. Statistical analysis (correlation and regression) showed significant relationship between media usage and occurrence of these themes among participants. Media-communication processes and educational theories for development of citizenship behavior can find implications from these results. Theory development as indicated by theorists working in the area of Social Psychology of Protests can be furthered by the direction of research.

Keywords: agency, collective, hope, positive psychology, protest, social media

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Authors: Azadeh Razzagh Shoar, Hassan Sadeghi Naeini

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There is little doubt that concepts such as space and place have become more common considering that human beings have grown more apart and more than having contact with each other, they are in contact with objects, spaces, and places. Cafés, as a third place which is neither home nor workplace, have attracted these authors’ interests, who are industrial and interior designers. There has been much research on providing suitable cafés, customer behavior, and criteria for spatial sense. However, little research has been carried out on consumerism, desire for variety, and their relationship with changing places, and specifically cafes in term of interior design. In fact, customer’s sense of place has mostly been overlooked. In this case study, authors conducted to challenge the desire for variety and consumerism as well as investigating the addictive factors in cafés. From the designers’ point of view and by collecting data through observing and interviewing café managers, this study investigates and analyzes the customers in two cafes located in a commercial building in northern Tehran (a part of city with above average economic conditions). Since these two cafés are at the same level in terms of interior and spatial design, the question is raised as to why customers patronize the newly built café despite their loyalty to the older café. This study aims to investigate and find the criteria based on the sense of space (café) in a consumerist society, a world where consumption is a myth. Going to cafés in a larger scale than a product can show a selection and finally who you are, where you go, which brand of coffee you prefer, and what time of the day you would like to have your coffee. The results show that since people spend time in cafés more than any other third place, the interaction they have with their environment is more than anything else, and they are consumers of time and place more than coffee or any other product. Also, if there is a sense of consumerism and variety, it is mostly for the place rather than coffee and other products. To satisfy this sense, individuals go to a new place (the new café). It can be easily observed that this sense overshadows the sense of efficiency, design, facilities and all important factor for a café.

Keywords: place, cafe, consumerist society, consumerism, desire for variety

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Authors: Helene Eller

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The aim of non-profit organizations (NPO) is to provide services and goods for its clientele, with profit being a minor objective. By having this definition as the basic purpose of doing business, it is obvious that the goal of an organisation is to serve several bottom lines and not only the financial one. This approach is underpinned by the non-distribution constraint which means that NPO are allowed to make profits to a certain extent, but not to distribute them. The advantage is that there are no single shareholders who might have an interest in the prosperity of the organisation: there is no pie to divide. The gained profits remain within the organisation and will be reinvested in purposeful projects. Good governance is mandatory to support the aim of NPOs. Looking for a measure of good governance the principals of corporate governance (CG) will come in mind. The purpose of CG is direction and control, and in the field of NPO, CG is enlarged to consider the relationship to all important stakeholders who have an impact on the organisation. The recognition of more relevant parties than the shareholder is the link to corporate social responsibility (CSR). It supports a broader view of the bottom line: It is no longer enough to know how profits are used but rather how they are made. Besides, CSR addresses the responsibility of organisations for their impact on society. When transferring the concept of CSR to the non-profit area it will become obvious that CSR with its distinctive features will match the aims of NPOs. As a consequence, NPOs who apply CG apply also CSR to a certain extent. The research is designed as a comprehensive theoretical and empirical analysis. First, the investigation focuses on the theoretical basis of both concepts. Second, the similarities and differences are outlined and as a result the interconnection of both concepts will show up. The contribution of this research is manifold: The interconnection of both concepts when applied to NPOs has not got any attention in science yet. CSR and governance as integrated concept provides a lot of advantages for NPOs compared to for-profit organisations which are in a steady justification to show the impact they might have on the society. NPOs, however, integrate economic and social aspects as starting point. For NPOs CG is not a mere concept of compliance but rather an enhanced concept integrating a lot of aspects of CSR. There is no “either-nor” between the concepts for NPOs.

Keywords: business ethics, corporate governance, corporate social responsibility, non-profit organisations

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Authors: Teodorica G. Ani

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Economic activity requires an encouraging regulatory environment and effective rules that are transparent and accessible to all. The World Bank has been publishing the annual Doing Business reports since 2004 to investigate the scope and manner of regulations that enhance business activity and those that constrain it. A streamlined business environment supporting the development of competitive small and medium enterprises (SMEs) may expand employment opportunities and improve the living conditions of low income households. Asia has emerged as one of the most attractive markets in the world. Economies in East Asia and the Pacific were among the most active in making it easier for local firms to do business. The study aimed to describe the ease of doing business and its effect to economic growth among selected economies in Asia for the year 2014. The study covered 29 economies in East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia and Middle Asia. Ease of doing business is measured by the Doing Business indicators (DBI) of the World Bank. The indicators cover ten aspects of the ease of doing business such as starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, registering property, getting credit, protecting investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts and resolving insolvency. In the study, Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was used as the proxy variable for economic growth. Descriptive research was the research design used. Graphical analysis was used to describe the income and doing business among selected economies. In addition, multiple regression was used to determine the effect of doing business to economic growth. The study presented the income among selected economies. The graph showed China has the highest income while Maldives produces the lowest and that observation were supported by gathered literatures. The study also presented the status of the ten indicators of doing business among selected economies. The graphs showed varying trends on how easy to start a business, deal with construction permits and to register property. Starting a business is easiest in Singapore followed by Hong Kong. The study found out that the variations in ease of doing business is explained by starting a business, dealing with construction permits and registering property. Moreover, an explanation of the regression result implies that a day increase in the average number of days it takes to complete a procedure will decrease the value of GDP in general. The research proposed inputs to policy which may increase the awareness of local government units of different economies on the simplification of the policies of the different components used in measuring doing business.

Keywords: doing business, economic growth, gross domestic product, Asia

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Authors: Martin Wiseman, Rachel Thompson, Panagiota Mitrou, Kate Allen

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Since 1997 World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) International and the American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR) have been at the forefront of synthesising and interpreting the accumulated scientific literature on the link between diet, nutrition, physical activity and cancer, and deriving evidence-based Cancer Prevention Recommendations. The 2007 WCRF/AICR 2nd Expert Report was a landmark in the analysis of evidence linking diet, body weight and physical activity to cancer and led to the establishment of the Continuous Update Project (CUP). In 2018, as part of the CUP, WCRF/AICR will publish a new synthesis of the current evidence and update the Cancer Prevention Recommendations. This will ensure that everyone - from policymakers and health professionals to members of the public - has access to the most up-to-date information on how to reduce the risk of developing cancer. Overweight and obesity play a significant role in cancer risk, and rates of both are increasing in many parts of the world. This session will give an overview of new evidence relating obesity to cancer since the 2007 report. For example, since the 2007 Report, the number of cancers for which obesity is judged to be a contributory cause has increased from seven to eleven. The session will also shed light on the well-established mechanisms underpinning obesity and cancer links. Additionally, the session will provide an overview of diet and physical activity related factors that promote positive energy imbalance, leading to overweight and obesity. Finally, the session will highlight how policy can be used to address overweight and obesity at a population level, using WCRF International’s NOURISHING Framework. NOURISHING formalises a comprehensive package of policies to promote healthy diets and reduce obesity and non-communicable diseases; it is a tool for policymakers to identify where action is needed and assess if an approach is sufficiently comprehensive. The framework brings together ten policy areas across three domains: food environment, food system, and behaviour change communication. The framework is accompanied by a regularly updated database providing an extensive overview of implemented government policy actions from around the world. In conclusion, the session will provide an overview of obesity and cancer, highlighting the links seen in the epidemiology and exploring the mechanisms underpinning these, as well as the influences that help determine overweight and obesity. Finally, the session will illustrate policy approaches that can be taken to reduce overweight and obesity worldwide.

Keywords: overweight, obesity, nutrition, cancer, mechanisms, policy

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Authors: Lokesh Harshe

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The building construction sector is using 36% of global energy consumption with 39% of CO₂ emission. Professionals in the Built Environment Sector have long been aware of the industry’s contribution towards CO₂ emissions and are now moving towards more sustainable practices. As a result of this, many organizations have introduced rating systems to address the issue of global warming in the construction sector by ranking construction projects based on sustainability parameters. The pre-construction phase of any building project is the most essential time to make decisions for addressing the sustainability aspects. Traditionally, it is very difficult to collect data from different stakeholders and bring it together to form a decision based on factual data to perform sustainability analyses in the pre-construction phase. Building Information Modelling (BIM) is the solution where one single model is the result of the collaborative approach of BIM processes where all the information is shared, extracted, communicated, and stored on a single platform that everyone can access and make decisions based on real-time data. The focus of this research is on the Indian Green Rating System IGBC® with the objective of understanding IGBC® requirements and developing a framework to create the relationship between the rating processes and BIM. A Hypothetical (Architectural) model of a hostel building is developed using AutoCAD 2019 & Revit Arch. 2019, where the framework is applied to generate results on sustainability analysis using Green Building Studio (GBS) and Revit Add-ins. The results of any sustainability analysis are generated within a fraction of a minute, which is very quick in comparison with traditional sustainability analysis. This may save a considerable amount of time as well as cost. The future scope is to integrate Architectural, Structural, and MEP Models to perform accurate sustainability analyses with inputs from industry professionals working on real-life Green BIM projects.

Keywords: sustainability analyses, BIM, green rating systems, IGBC®, LEED

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Authors: Amizawati Mohd Amir, Ruhanita Maelah, Zaidi Mohd Noor

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As part of the Malaysia Higher Institutions' Strategic Plan in promoting high-quality research and education, the Ministry of Higher Education has introduced various instrument to assess the universities performance. The aims are that university will produce more commercially-oriented research and continue to contribute in producing professional workforce for domestic and foreign needs. Yet the spirit of the success lies in the commitment of university particularly the academic staff to translate the vision into reality. For that reason, the element of fairness and justice in assessing individual academic staff performance is crucial to promote directly linked between university and individual work goals. Focusing on public research universities (RUs) in Malaysia, this study observes at the issue through the practice of university contemporary performance measurement system. Accordingly management control theory has conceptualized that contemporary performance measurement consisting of three dimension namely strategic, comprehensive and dynamic building upon equity theory, the relationships between contemporary performance measurement system and organizational justice and in turn the effect on academic staff work performance are tested based on online survey data administered on 365 academic staff from public RUs, which were analyzed using statistics analysis SPSS and Equation Structure Modeling. The findings validated the presence of strategic, comprehensive and dynamic in the contemporary performance measurement system. The empirical evidence also indicated that contemporary performance measure and procedural justice are significantly associated with work performance but not for distributive justice. Furthermore, procedural justice does mediate the relationship between contemporary performance measurement and academic staff work performance. Evidently, this study provides evidence on the importance of perceptions of justice towards influencing academic staff work performance. This finding may be a fruitful input in the setting up academic staff performance assessment policy.

Keywords: comprehensive, dynamic, distributive justice, contemporary performance measurement system, strategic, procedure justice, work performance

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Authors: Ma'ruf

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Pilgrimage has a universal value, founded in every religion. No exception to Islam, has a ritual value, and became part of the religion, as well as the procession of a social culture in nature. The tradition of pilgrimage, especially in Indonesia, rooted in the society, because the Islam that entered into the archipelago through Sufism (tasawuf). In the Sufi tradition, the interconnecty of the human spirit (ruh) to the spirit (ruh) of God, must go through a guardian (wasilah) appointed by God himself ,the prophet Muhammad and wali. In the process of pilgrimage rituals usually by reading the prayer to praise God, the prophet and wali, then convey intent (hajat). In the pilgrimage procession, usually not only done in the house, but aslo completed the process by direct pilgrimage visiting the tombs of saints. The tradition of pilgrimage, especially in Indonesia continues to be maintained, and still attached to the traditions in Nahdiyin (NU followers). The relationship with God manifested in wasilah prayer to God, the prophet Muhammad, the best companions of the Prophet and Nine wali (Songo), who had been influential in spreading Islam in Java. The tradition of pilgrimage in Indonesia is also linked to the Shia community in Indonesia, along with a growing number of followers of the Shia in Indonesia, especially after the Islamic revolution of Iran after the 1979. Pilgrimage in the Shia community, Likewise NU members also pray with supplication of tawasul to the Prophet and Shia Imams. If NU members to make improvements pilgrimage to visit the tomb wali Songo in Java, residents Shia pilgrimage rituals abroad, usually one package with umrah trip, with a pilgrimage to the tomb of the prophet, proceed to the tomb of the Imam Shia, in Iran and Iraq. Trends of pilgrimage as a ritual in the Indonesian Shia tradition, together with the growing number of Shia residents increased, followed by increasing the awareness (syi’isme) - bond with the Imam, Shia. In every certain months (arbaeen, asyuro) Shia pilgrims routinely perform pilgrimage, along with increasing number spiritual travel.

Keywords: traditional approach, religious experience, culture, religion, pilgrimage, Syria

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Authors: Annika Kjallman Alm, Ove Hellzen, Malin Rising-Holmstrom

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Worldwide, the number of people who are living with dementia is increasing because of an aging population, which leads to increased financial and social costs, including reduced quality of life for people with dementia and their care partners. Most people who have dementia reside in the community. Aging in place could be described as having the health and social supports and services you need to live safely and independently in your home or your society for as long as you wish and are able. People with dementia are not different than people without dementia where they want to remain at home, if possible, with a sense of familiarity and engagement in typical everyday activities. So how do persons with dementia or cognitive decline see their possibilities to be socially involved and experience support? The aim of this study was to explore persons with cognitive decline's sense of involvement and support living in the ordinary dwelling. The study was approved by the Ethical Review Authority in Sweden prior to the interviews. Interviews were conducted with 20 persons living at home, either alone or in a relationship. The persons had perceived cognitive decline; some were under investigation or already had a diagnose of early dementia. Thematic analysis was used to identify, analyze, and report patterns within the data. Researchers extracted three main themes through participants’ interviews: a) Importance of social involvement with family and friends. b) Hindrances for social involvement. c) Struggling mentally with a new life situation. Results found that going to activity centers, staying involved, and meeting friends and family enhanced the sense of involvement and support. There were also hindrances to a sense of involvement and support as they struggled with the diagnose and the changes in daily life, such as physical problems, mental problems, or economic issues. The mental struggle of accepting the cognitive decline and the changes in daily life it brought was also an issue for some of the participants. A multidimensional support should be provided by the community to enable persons with cognitive decline to stay involved in family and community in the comfort of their own homes.

Keywords: aging in place, cognitive decline, dementia, sense of involvement

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Authors: Chinyama Lukama, Million Phiri, Namuunda Mutombo

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Background: Improving access and utilization to high-quality sexual and reproductive health (SRH) information and services, including family planning (FP) commodities, is central to the global developmental agenda of sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Despite the importance of family planning use in enhancing maternal health outcomes and fertility reduction, the prevalence of adolescents and young women using modern contraception is generally low in SSA. Zambia is one of the countries in Southern Africa with a high prevalence of teenage pregnancies and fertility rates. Despite many initiatives that have been implemented to improve access and demand for family planning commodities, utilization of FP, especially among adolescents and young women, has generally been low. The objective of this research agenda was to better understand the determinants of modern contraceptive use in adolescents and young women in Zambia. This analysis produced findings that will be critical for informing the strengthening of sexual and reproductive health policy strategies aimed at bolstering the provision and use of maternal health services in order to further improve maternal health outcomes in the country. Method: The study used the recent data from the Demographic and Health Survey of 2018. A sample of 3,513 adolescents and young women (ADYW) were included in the analysis. Multilevel logistic regression models were employed to examine the association of individual and contextual factors with modern contraceptive use among adolescents and young women. Results: The prevalence of modern contraception among sexually active ADYW in Zambia was 38.1% [95% CI, 35.9, 40.4]. ADYW who had secondary or higher level education [aOR = 2.16, 95% CI=1.35–3.47], those with exposure to listening to the radio or watching television [aOR = 1.26, 95% CI=1.01–1.57], and those who had decision-making power at household level [aOR = 2.18, 95% CI=1.71–2.77] were more likely to use modern contraceptives. Conversely, strong neighborhood desire for large family size among ADYW [aOR = 0.65 95% CI = 0.47–0.88] was associated with less likelihood to use modern contraceptives. Community access to family planning information through community health worker visits increased the likelihood [aOR = 1.48, 95% CI=1.16–1.91] of using modern contraception among ADYW. Conclusion: The study found that both individual and community factors were key in influencing modern contraceptive use among adolescents and young women in Zambia. Therefore, when designing family planning interventions, the Government of Zambia, through its policymakers and sexual reproductive health program implementers at the Ministry of Health, in collaboration with stakeholders, should consider the community context. There should also be deliberate actions to encourage family planning education through the media.

Keywords: adolescents, young women, modern contraception use, fertility, family planning

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Authors: Xiaojing Wang, Ann-Marie Ward, Tony Wall

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The problem of over-indebtedness has increased since deregulation of the banking industry in the 1980s, and now it has become a major problem for most countries in Europe, including Germany. Consumer debt issues have attracted not only the attention of academics but also government and debt counselling institutions. Overall, this research aims to contribute to the knowledge gap regarding the causes of consumer over-indebtedness in Germany and to develop predictive models for assessing consumer over-indebtedness risk at consumer level. The situation of consumer over-indebtedness is serious in Germany. The relatively high level of social welfare support in Germany suggests that consumer debt problems are caused by other factors, other than just over-spending and income volatility. Prior literature suggests that the overall stability of the economy and level of welfare support for individuals from the structural environment contributes to consumers’ debt problems. In terms of cultural influence, the conspicuous consumption theory in consumer behaviour suggests that consumers would spend more than their means to be seen as similar profiles to consumers in a higher socio-economic class. This results in consumers taking on more debt than they can afford, and eventually becoming over-indebted. Studies have also shown that financial literacy is negatively related to consumer over-indebtedness risk. Whilst prior literature has examined structural and cultural influences respectively, no study has taken a collective approach. To address this gap, a model is developed to investigate the association between consumer over-indebtedness and proxies for influences from the structural and cultural environment based on the above theories. The model also controls for consumer demographic characteristics identified as being of influence in prior literature, such as gender and age, and adverse shocks, such as divorce or bereavement in the household. Benefiting from SOEP regional data, this study is able to conduct quantitative empirical analysis to test both structural and cultural influences at a localised level. Using German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) study data from 2006 to 2016, this study finds that social benefits, financial literacy and the existence of conspicuous consumption all contribute to being over-indebted. Generally speaking, the risk of becoming over-indebted is high when consumers are in a low-welfare community, have little awareness of their own financial situation and always over-spend. In order to tackle the problem of over-indebtedness, countermeasures can be taken, for example, increasing consumers’ financial awareness, and the level of welfare support. By analysing causes of consumer over-indebtedness in Germany, this study also provides new insights on the nature and underlying causes of consumer debt issues in Europe.

Keywords: consumer, debt, financial literacy, socio-economic

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Authors: Apra Sinha

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The inverted U-shaped Environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) demonstrates(pollution-income relationship)that initially the pollution and environmental degradation surpass the level of income per capita; however this trend reverses since at the higher income levels, economic growth initiates environmental upgrading. However, what effect does increased environmental degradation has on growth is the missing feedback link which has not been addressed in the EKC hypothesis. This paper examines the missing feedback link in EKC hypothesis in Indian context by examining the casual association between fossil fuel consumption, carbon dioxide emissions and economic growth for India. Fossil fuel consumption here has been taken as a proxy of driver of economic growth. The casual association between the aforementioned variables has been analyzed using five interventions namely 1) urban development for which urbanization has been taken proxy 2) industrial development for which industrial value added has been taken proxy 3) trade liberalization for which sum of exports and imports as a share of GDP has been taken as proxy 4)financial development for which a)domestic credit to private sector and b)net foreign assets has been taken as proxies. The choice of interventions for this study has been done keeping in view the economic liberalization perspective of India. The main aim of the paper is to investigate the missing feedback link for Environmental Kuznets Curve Hypothesis before and after incorporating the intervening variables. The period of study is from 1971 to 2011 as it covers pre and post liberalization era in India. All the data has been taken from World Bank country level indicators. The Johansen and Juselius cointegration testing methodology and Error Correction based Granger causality have been applied on all the variables. The results clearly show that out of five interventions, only in two interventions the missing feedback link is being addressed. This paper can put forward significant policy implications for environment protection and sustainable development.

Keywords: environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis, fossil fuel consumption, industrialization, trade liberalization, urbanization

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Authors: E. Kotrotsiou, A. S. Topsioti, S. Mantzoukas, E. Dragioti, M. Gouva

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Introduction: The literature has demonstrated that individual and psychological factors have a direct effect on the perceptions and attitudes of women with cancer. Objectives: To investigate the relationship between the fear of cancer and anxiety. Aim: To examine the impact of the fear of cancer in women with state and trait anxiety of women. Methods: A community sample of 286 women (mean age 39.6 years, SD = 9.5 ranged 20-60) participated in the current study. The women completed a) State - Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) and b) questionnaire concerning socio-demographic information and questions for fear of cancer. Results: The perception of fear in women with cancer is statistically independent from their age (t–test, p = 0.58), their family status (χ2, p = 0.519), their place of residency (χ2, p = 0.148), the manifestation of gynecological cancer (χ2, p = 0.979) or the manifestation of any type of cancer in the family (χ2, p = 0.277). In contrast, it was observed that there was a dependence in relation to a total of phobias (χ2, p = 0.003), the fear of illness (χ2, p< 0.001) and the fear of heights (χ2, p = 0.004). Furthermore, the participants that responded that they feared cancer displayed greater level of stress both as situation (t=-3.462; p=0.001) and as a trait of their personality (t=-4.377; p<0.001), and at the same time they displayed greater levels of depression in comparisons with the other participants. Furthermore, following multiple linear regression analysis it was observed that the participants that responded positively to the question if they feared cancer had 8, 3 units greater stress level as a personality trait in comparison to women that responded negatively to the question if they feared cancer (B=8.3; p=0.016; R2=0.506). Conclusion: Women’s fear of cancer is statistically independent from their age, family status, place of residency, the manifestation of gynaecological cancer and with the manifestation of cancer any type in the family. In contrast, there is a dependency with the total of phobias, fear of illness and fear of heights. Women that state that they have a fear of cancer manifest greater levels of stress from the rest of the participants both as situation and as a trait of their personality (p = 0.001 and p< 0.001 accordingly). In specific, the study demonstrated that the participants that positively to the question if they feared cancer had 8,3 units greater stress level as a personality trait in comparison to women that responded negatively.

Keywords: fear, women health, anxiety, psychology, cancer

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Authors: Mohamed Moheyeldin Mahmoud

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Egypt suffers from a severe shortage of data and charts concerning the physical dimensions, measurements, qualities and consumer behavior. The shortage of needed information and appropriate methods has forced the Egyptian designer to use any other foreign standard when designing a product for the Egyptian consumer which has led to many problems. The urgently needed database concerning the physical specifications, measurements of the Egyptian consumers, as well as the need to support the Ergonomics given courses in many colleges and institutes with the latest technologies, is stated as the research problem. Descriptive analytical method relying on the compiling, comparing and analyzing of information and facts in order to get acceptable perceptions, ideas and considerations is the used methodology by the researcher. The research concludes that: 1. Good interaction relationship between users and products shows the success of that product. 2. An integration linkage between the most prominent fields of science specially Ergonomics, Interaction Design and Ethnography should be encouraged to provide an ultimately updated database concerning the nature, specifications and environment of the Egyptian consumer, in order to achieve a higher benefit for both user and product. 3. Chinese economic policy based on the study of market requirements long before any market activities should be emulated. 4. Using Ethnography supports the design activities creating new products or updating existent ones through measuring the compatibility of products with their environment and user expectations, While contracting a joint cooperation between military colleges, sports education institutes from one side, and design institutes from the other side to provide an ultimately updated (annually updated) database concerning some specifications about students of both sexes applying in those institutes (height, weight, etc.) to provide the Industrial designer with the needed information when creating a new product or updating an existing one concerning that category is recommended by the researcher.

Keywords: adapt, ergonomics, ethnography, interaction design

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Authors: Talal Alharigi, Kawther Alshlash, Mariska Weijerman

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The government of Saudi Arabia has developed an ambitious “Vision 2030”, which includes a Green Initiative (i.e., the planting of 10 billion trees) and the establishment of seven Royal Reserves as protected areas that comprise 13% of the total land area. The main objective of the reserves is to restore ecosystem balance and reconnect people with nature. Two royal reserves are managed by The Imam Abdulaziz bin Mohammed Royal Reserve Development Authority, including Imam Abdulaziz bin Mohammed Royal Reserve and King Khalid Royal Reserve. The authority has developed a management plan to enhance the habitat through seed dispersal and the planting of 10 million trees, and to restock wildlife that was once abundant in these arid ecosystems (e.g., oryx, Nubian ibex, gazelles, red-necked ostrich). Expectations are that with the restoration of the native vegetation, soil condition and natural hydrologic processes will improve and lead to further enhancement of vegetation and, over time, an increase in biodiversity of flora and fauna. To evaluate the management strategies in reaching these expectations, a comprehensive monitoring and evaluation program was developed. The main objectives of this program are to (1) monitor the status and trends of indicator species, (2) improve desert ecosystem understanding, (3) assess the effects of human activities, and (4) provide science-based management recommendations. Using a random stratified survey design, a diverse suite of survey methods will be implemented, including belt and quadrant transects, camera traps, GPS tracking devices, and drones. Data will be gathered on biotic parameters (plant and animal diversity, density, and distribution) and abiotic parameters (humidity, temperature, precipitation, wind, air, soil quality, vibrations, and noise levels) to meet the goals of the monitoring program. This case study intends to provide a detailed overview of the management plan and monitoring program of two royal reserves and outlines the types of data gathered which can be made available for future research projects.

Keywords: camera traps, desert ecosystem, enhancement, GPS tracking, management evaluation, monitoring, planting, restocking, restoration

Procedia PDF Downloads 117